9/28/12 rocbo : ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING by Wooster Bard Field

ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING

Practice Sheet. After the paper has been mounted, a practice sheet should
be laid out and ren- dered in monotone. Plate 18 is a suggestion for this sheet.
It contains an even wash, one graded from light down to dark, one from dark
to light, and the shades and shadows of two simple objects and two mouldings.
This sheet should be mastered before any other work in rendering is attempted.
A prac- tical size for the sheet is about 14 by 19 inches, divided into six equal
parts as indicated. The cylinder in the fourth space is i^ inches in diameter and
3 inches long and its center line is % inch in front of the wall on which the
shadow is cast. The Gutta in the next space is 2^ inches in diameter at the
bottom, i% at the top and is 2^ inches high. It is suspended from a 3% by i%
by ^-inch block and its center line is 3 inch in front of the wall. The mouldings
of the last space may be drawn approxi- mately as shown.
Laying the Washes. First prepare the india ink in the slate slab, then mix it
in three or four differ- ent intensities .in the china saucers. Wet the paper, using
the sponge and clean water, then take up all water which stands on the surface.
If the paper is not damp it will be difficult to prevent the color from drying
quickly and producing hard lines in the wash.
Find by trial on the border of the paper if the most dilute saucer of ink is of
the desired intensity for the first exercise. With the brush full of this ink begin at
the top of the space, and, working from side to side, lay on the wash as quickly
as possible, keeping the board slightly tilted so that the surplus color will drain
toward the bottom of the space. When the lower line is reached, squeeze the
color from the brush and take up the surplus color from the paper with the
brush tip. Care must be exercised to pre- vent one part of the wash from
drying more quickly than another as this is fatal to a smooth wash. The ability to
do this well can come only by practice.
The second wash is laid similarly except that the first brush full at the top of
the space is clear water. Then a brush of diluted ink from the next saucer is
used and so on, each brush full being darker than the other until the darkest
part at the bottom is reached. The even grading of the result will depend upon
the skill and care with which the darker color is added.
In the third rectangle the previous process has been reversed, the darkest color
used at the top and more water added as the wash progresses downward.
The objects in the lower rectangles are given to illustrate the fact that both
lights and shadows vary in intensity. The surface or part of a surface to which
the sun's rays are perpendicular, is always the brightest, and the degree of
brightness diminishes as the surface is turned away from this position. These
contrasts become less pronounced as the distance from the observer to the
object increases. This fact may be employed in rendering to give the effect of
relative projection of building parts. The walls nearest to the observer are
rendered more brilliantly than those at a distance and the detail of the distant
parts is kept less distinct than that close up. The student can observe this
everywhere in nature. The greater the distance, the more indistinct the detail
and color contrasts.
In rendering a curved object such as the cylinder of Plate 18, its lighted
surface should first be modeled by a very light graded wash as indicated,
showing the parts of greatest light intensity, etc. Then the shaded part and the
shadow should be similarly treated. It will be noticed that the shadow is slightly
darker than the shaded surface. This is caused by light being reflected back
onto the shaded surface from the bright parts of the wall on which the shadow
is cast. Because of this reflected light, the brightest part of the shade of a
curved surface is usually directly opposite the most intensely illuminated point.
The shade line of such a surface is not really a distinct, clean-cut line, but
shadow lines are always sharp and well defined. The mouldings illustrate the
principle of reflected light in shade and shadow.
The Attic base of Plate 14 will also serve to illustrate the varying intensities
of light and shade and the effect of reflected light.

44 I< < Contents > >I 45

[Link]/archi/arch_drawing/[Link] 1/1