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INDEX

Unit – I ................................................................... 3

Lesson 1: Colour Theory ......................................... 4

Lesson 2: Colour Vocabulary ................................ 17

Lesson 3: The Munsell System of Colour Notation 24

Lesson 4: The Colour Wheel ................................. 30

Unit – II ............................................................... 39

Lesson 5: Colour Schemes .................................... 40

Lesson 6: Colour Psychology ................................ 59

Unit – III .............................................................. 73

Lesson 7: Graphite Pencils ................................... 74

Lesson 8: Colour Pencils ....................................... 83

Lesson 9: Pastels.................................................. 93

Lesson 10: Pen, Brush and Ink ........................... 103

Lesson 11: Markers ............................................ 111

Lesson 12: Texture ............................................. 126

Lesson 13: Pattern ............................................. 137

Unit – V .............................................................. 144

Lesson 14: Drawing & Sketching ........................ 145

Lesson 15: Light & Shade ................................... 151

Reference Books ................................................ 163

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Unit – I

COLOUR WHEEL & COLOUR THEORY

Lesson 1: Colour Theory

Lesson 2: Colour Vocabulary

Lesson 3: The Munsell System of Colour Notation

Lesson 4: The Colour Wheel

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Lesson 1: Colour Theory

Objectives

To examine colour and its effects in designing

Interiors. To identify and use he vocabulary of

colour. To develop an understanding of how a colour scheme is developed.

Structure

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Experience of Colour 1.2.1 Sensing Colour

1.2.2 Surface Define the Colours We See

1.2.3 The Eye Records colour Stimuli 1.2.4 Three Types of Receptors Produce our

colours

1.2.5 Feeling Colour

1.2.6 Colour and Object Become Cultural Symbol

1.2.7 We Perceive colour Depending on

What‘s Around Them 1.2.8 Two colour Can mix Appear Like a

Third

1.2.9 Some colours Make objects appear closer

1.1 Introduction

Colour is one of the most vital tools in the hands of an Interior Designer. It is the most perceptible and

prominent aspect of any interiors, and hence is

central to the success or failure of a design scheme. It is therefore very important that an Interior

Designer has the full knowledge and understanding

of this tool.

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1.2 Experience of Colour

Touching, tasting, smelling, hearing, and seeing—

these are the ways we get our information about the

world, about where we live and where we work. But the world of humans is primarily a world of sights,

with 90 percent of what we know of the world

coming to us through our vision.

What we see is colour. Objects, landscapes, faces all

register in our brains through the light that enters

the eye, sent to us from a luminous —or light-

producing—object (such as a red-hot iron or a glowing incandescent light) or as light reflects off a

non-luminous object (such as a tree or a table). The

eye‘s retina absorbs the light and sends a signal, or sensation, to the brain. This sensation makes us

aware of a characteristic of light, which is colour.

The visual equipment we use to see light and its characteristic colour is the same for everybody, and

when it‘s working, it works very well—the human

eye can distinguish over 10 million different colours.

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However, colour does more than just give us

objective information about our world: It affects

how we feel. To know this, we need only recall how

a string of grey, overcast days lowers our spirits or how working in a drab, dull room leaves us listless.

With so much of what we know and feel coming

from what we see, you‘d think we‘d all be experts on colour. In a way, we are. No one has to tell you

what you‘re seeing or how you‘re feeling as you sit

in the glow of a late summer sunset. But how would

you describe the pink of that sky? Dazzling? Fleshy? Glistening? Iridescent?

The qualities we assign to our perceptions of

colours—to the way they make us feel—are called indeterminate attributes. They cannot be measured;

rather, they arise from our intuitive experience of

colour.

These indeterminate attributes provide the mystery

of colour and range from the poetic language we

use to express our perceptions of colour to the

psychological effects of colour on our mood. Determinate attributes are another matter. They

can be measured by various instruments and

include hue, value, and chroma—(as some describe them) warm/cool, light/dark, and brilliant/dull

colours.

They have given rise to optics, a branch of science that analyses the mechanisms we use to perceive

colour—the rods and cones on the eye‘s retina—and

colourimetry, which measures the colour systems

developed to precisely communicate colour.

The mystery and the mechanics of colour are tightly

entwined. We seldom see a single colour in

isolation, completely independent from the influence of other colours or other external factors, such as

the light source, the surface of the object, and the

surrounding objects. Also, we never perceive colour

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without the modifying influences of psychological

and symbolic factors. In other words, our response

to colour depends on who we are and what our

culture tells us certain colours should mean.

As simple as it may seem on the surface, colour has

a depth that is worth fathoming. The more we

understand colour, the more we can appreciate the joy it brings to our lives and the better use we can

make of it. That use can be as focused as knowing

what to put on in the morning in order to look our

best or as broad as knowing how colour in environments, particularly the office, can influence

motivation and performance.

1.2.1 Sensing colour

Walk into an office and what do you see? Well, if

your eyes are open, in one sense you see

everything. Natural light streaming in through the

windows and artificial light from lamps flood into your eyes and bounce off everything in the room

and then into your eyes. But in another sense, you

see only what you want to see—the carpet, done in

the same lush green as the one you just installed in the family room; the fluorescent blue of the pin the

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receptionist is wearing on her red dress; the curious

yellow of the reception seating fabric.

For centuries everyone, from Greek philosophers to

Age of Reason scientists, considered only the first half of seeing—the mechanics. They believed our

eyes were merely receivers. Sir Isaac Newton

(1642-1727) called them ―visual equipment‖ that measures light waves much like a clock measures

time. Consequently, most research involved optics,

the branch of physics that describes how light is

produced, transmitted, detected, and measured.

Light allows us to sense colour. To a large degree,

sensing colour depends on four key factors:

1) The spectral energy distribution of the light, i.e., the conditions under which the colour is

perceived;

2) The spectral characteristics of the object in terms of how much light it absorbs, reflects, and

transmits;

3) The sensitivity of the eye in registering light and

then turning it into electrochemical impulses and sending them via the optical nerve to the brain;

and

4) The psychological factors, namely the experiences and the personality of the viewer, all

of which affect how colour is perceived.

Scientists define the first of these factors, light, as a form of radiant energy or, more precisely,

electromagnetic energy, a category of energy that

includes gamma rays at one end of the spectrum

and radio waves at the other. The light our visual system responds to in the experience of seeing,

called ―visible radiant energy,‖ is a very small

portion of the spectrum, falling between infrared and ultraviolet radiation. Bands of visible radiant

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energy appear to us as colour, and we call them

light.

1.2.2 Surfaces Define the Colours We

See

The second factor influencing our perception of

colour is the spectral characteristics of objects,

sometimes called ―surface‖ and ―surround.‖ How a

surface reflects, absorbs, or transmits light and how the colours and textures surrounding the surface

influence its colour give us the information we need

to understand the objects we perceive.

They help us know an object‘s shape and location,

although the interaction of surface and surround can also distort our perceptions— as when a yellow

office makes the faces of the people who work in it

appear jaundiced.

We experience the surface mode of colour as part of

a material or substance. The different visual

sensations we get from viewing two table tops—one

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with a gloss finish, the other with a matte finish—

illustrate the influence texture has on the character

of colour. Even though the colour of the two

tabletops may be identical, the gloss on one will create an internal refraction, or bending of the light

waves, making its colour appear more brilliant than

the colour on the matte finished top. Surface colour can also be the result of a material‘s structure.

Polar bear fur, blue jay feathers, and a kitten‘s blue

eyes are actually clear. Their structures refract, or

bend, the light that illuminates them to cause the colours we see.

1.2.3 The Eye Records colour Stimuli

In considering the third factor upon which our perception of colour depends—eye-brain

neurology—the focus turns from the world around

us to the world within. Light, whether from a

luminous object or reflected from the surface of a non-luminous object, enters our eyes and

photochemically activates key nerve cells on the

retinas known as rods and cones.

Rods operate at low light levels—for example, at

night or in a darkened, windowless room—and sense

blacks, whites, and greys, also called achromatic colours because they have no hue (the property of

colour that is perceived and measured on a scale

ranging from red through yellow, green, and blue to

violet). The cones in our eyes operate at higher light levels—for example, during the daytime or in a

lighted room—and sense chromatic colour, or hues.

When the cones are active during the day, the rods are dormant. At night, the rods take over and the

cones rest.

1.2.4 Three Types of Receptors Produce

Our colours

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Humans see colour with three types of reception

systems (red/green-, yellow/blue-, and black/white-

producing) from three types of cone photoreceptors

(red/blue/green-making). Because we create all the colours we see from red-, blue-, and green-sensing

cones, humans are known as trichromats. When one

set of colour-sensing cones fails or is missing, a form of colour blindness occurs—either

monochromatism (when only one of the three

photoreceptors works) or dichromatism (when two

of the three work). These dysfunctions are a gene trait carried by women and occur mostly in men—

about eight of every 100 men suffer from some type

of colour blindness, while only one in every 200 women does.

Some creatures, such as surface fish, bees, and

some birds, can see more colours than humans can

because they have more colour-making photoreceptors than we do. On the other hand,

many mammals, except for humans, have poor

colour vision. The expression ―to see red‖ comes from the anger of the bull as it charges the

matador‘s red cape. In actuality, however, cattle

have no cones in their retinas, so they can‘t

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perceive hues; what irritates the bull is really the

matador‘s twitching of the cape, not its colour.

The use of the names of colours in expres --sions

(―seeing red,‖ ―once in a blue moon,‖ or ―a red-letter day,‖ for example) actually has more to do

with the fourth factor influencing our perception of

colour— the experiences and personality of the viewer, or the process of ―feeling colour.‖

1.2.5 Feeling colour

Life would be dull if our brains merely registered the

signals sent to them by the rods and cones through the optic nerve. Instead, our minds bring memory,

imagination, and reason to the activity of sensing

colour. According to art historian Rene Huyghe, ―from the moment the sensation comes into

consciousness it is connected in time with what no

longer exists except in memory. The sensation of

colour does not just affect our psychology at the time when it occurs, it connects with all of our

experience in time.‖

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To look without preconceptions, then, is virtually

impossible. Colour is something we see, but we

adjust what we see based on our experiences.

Because our experiences occur within the context of the culture we live in, we develop symbolic ways of

sensing colour.

These differ from culture to culture. For example, white is associated with death in India, while for

most Westerners it immediately calls to mind purity.

1.2.6 Colour and Object Become Cultural

Symbol

Symbolic ways of sensing colour are almost always

tied to specific objects—white mourning clothes in

India, white wedding dresses in the United States—which is why one colour may have widely different

connotations from one culture to another, or even

within the same culture. To Americans, for example,

black is a symbol of death, yet a chair upholstered in black leather suggests affluence and

sophistication. According to colourist and art

educator Patricia Sloane, ―Response to colour symbolism is a response to colour preconception,

and is a predetermined response based on literary

and psychological ideas about colour, rather than a response to the nature of colour itself.

In part, man feels impelled to create symbols—and

to impute symbolic connotations to colour—because

he cannot help allowing his feelings and emotions, his literary, psychological and intellectual

preconceptions, from interfering with his direct

perception of the physical world.‖

In other words, humans can‘t resist the urge to add

to what they see how they think and feel about it.

Our human need to develop a symbology for

colours—reflected in fashion, culture, and tradition—is matched by our need to experience the joy that

sensing colour brings.

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1.2.7 We Perceive colours Depending on

What’s Around Them

The second brain phenomenon that affects how we

experience colour —simultaneous contrast—involves our tendency to perceive colours differently

depending on what is around them. Designers are

well aware of how grey carpets seem to shift in

colour, depending on the surrounding wall colour. This occurs because our perception of one colour

becomes tinged toward the complement (the colour

directly opposite another on a colour wheel) of the colour around it. For example, a grey square looks

reddish on a green background and greenish on a

red background.

When complementary colours of equal intensity are

next to each other, the afterimages (the ghostly tinges of colour we see when we look away)

heighten our experience of both colours. That is why

red/green or yellow/purple or orange/blue colour combinations are the most startling. It is also why,

when we study a painting, the afterimage of one

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patch of colour influences the next patch of colour

we look at.

1.2.8 Two colours Can Mix and Appear

Like a Third

The third brain activity that influences our

perception of colour—optical mixture—is the

opposite of simultaneous contrast. When an object‘s

patches of colour are so small that they pass below the threshold of conscious perception, we see the

colours as optically mixed.Sometimes, as when the

two colours on a topspin too fast to be seen individually, we perceive a third colour. This also

happens when viewing a multi-coloured brick

building from a distance. The building appears to be one colour, optically mixed.

Understanding optical mixture in interiors is

necessary for determining where best to use

patterns, especially in regard to their scale and location in a room. Choosing a coloured pattern

without evaluating it in the position it will occupy in

a space can be risky. A tack board covered in a fabric with a small pattern may look red and blue

close up, but from a distance the red and blue will

mix and the tack board will look purple among the other red and blue elements in the space. That

combination may not be what the designer intends

at all, or it can be a way of achieving a new colour

without actually using it in the scheme.

1.2.9 Some colours Make Objects Appear

Closer

Spatial dimension, the fourth of these internal

phenomena, occurs when our brains add or subtract distance, depending upon the colours perceived. We

tend to perceive warm-coloured objects—red,

orange, and yellow—as closer than cool-coloured ones—green, blue, and purple.

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This may have more to do with the focal point at

which we see the colours than with their perceived

―temperatures,‖ however. Red, orange, and yellow

may be ―warmer‖ in the sense that they are closer to us, since red has a longer wavelength and

therefore a closer focal point than blue does. The

shorter wavelength of blue and its longer focal point may mean, ―cool‖ as in ―distant.‖

The implications for interior spaces are obvious: If

you want to make a space seem larger, you choose

green, blue, or purple for the ceiling and walls because they appear to recede, giving the space a

more open feeling.

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Lesson 2: Colour Vocabulary

Objectives

To understand and use the vocabulary of colour.

Structure

2.1 Hue

2.2 Chromaticity 2.3 Saturation

2.4 Value

2.5 Luminance

2.6 Tints, Tones and Shades 2.6.1. Tints, Shades, Pastel Colour, Pastel

Tints and Pastel Shades

2.6.1.1 Tints 2.6.1.2 Shades

2.6.1.3 Pastel Colours

2.6.1.4 Pastel Tints 2.6.1.5 Pastel Shades

Colour is such a fun thing to look at and enjoy but it is often difficult to communicate about. The reason

is that the words we use to describe colour are

vague and frequently misunderstood. Not only are technical terms such as "value," "saturation" and

"chromaticity" confusing but even simple words

such as "bright," "pure," "shiny" and "dim" are hard

to use accurately. Even the experts struggle without a set of standardized definitions.

2.1 Hue: This is what we usually mean when we

ask "what colour is that?" The property of colour that we are actually asking about is "hue". For

example, when we talk about colours that are red,

yellow, green, and blue, we are talking about hue.

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Different hues are caused by different wavelengths

of light.

Therefore, this aspect of colour is usually easy to

recognize.

Hue Contrast - strikingly different hues

Hue Constant - different colours, same hue (blue)

2.2 Chromaticity: Think about a colour's "purity"

when describing its "chromaticity" or "CHROMA". This property of colour tells us how pure a hue is.

That means there is no white, black, or grey present

in a colour that has high chroma. These colours will appear very vivid and well, ... pure. This concept is

related to and often confused with saturation.

However, we will continue to use these terms separately because they refer to distinct situations,

as explained here.

High Chroma - very shiny, vivid

Low Chroma - achromatic, no hue

Constant Chroma - medium chroma similar vividness despite differences in hue; less purity

than top mage.

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2.3 Saturation: Related to chromaticity,

saturation tells us how a colour looks under certain

lighting conditions. For instance, a room painted a

solid colour will appear different at night than in daylight. Over the course of the day, although the

colour is the same, the saturation changes. This

property of colour can also be called intensity. Be careful not to think about SATURATION in terms of

light and dark but rather in terms of pale or weak

and pure or strong.

Saturation Const. - same intensity, different hues

Saturation Contrast - various levels of fullness, same hue

2.4 Value: When we describe a colour as

"light" or "dark", we are discussing its value or

"brightness". This property of colour tells us how light or dark a colour is based on how close it is to

white. For instance, canary yellow would be

considered lighter than navy blue which in turn is lighter than black. Therefore, the value of canary

yellow is higher than navy blue and black. Click here

to find out why humans are very sensitive to a

colour's VALUE/BRIGHTNESS.

Low Value, Constant - same brightness level

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2.5 Luminance: Although brightness is often

used interchangeably with luminance, we prefer to

use the term "lightness." This concept deals with many of the same variables as value but using a

different mathematical equation. Check out our own

definition of LUMINANCE/LIGHTNESS or more simply, think about the colour Wheel as colours

having equal luminance. Adding white will increase

lightness and adding black will decrease it.

2.6 Tints, Tones and Shades: These terms

are often used inappropriately but they describe fairly simple colour concepts. The important thing to

remember is how the colour varies from its original

hue. If white is added to a colour, the lighter version

is called a "tint". If the colour is made darker by adding black, the result is called a "shade". And if

grey is added, each gradation gives you a different

"tone."

Contrast of Value - grayscale = no chroma

Contrast of Value - stark differences in

brightness

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Shades (adding black to a pure hue)

Tints (adding white to a pure hue)

Tones (adding gray to a pure hue)

2.6.1 Tints, Shades, Pastel Colours, Pastel Tints and Pastel Shades

There are not many of us who have not, at some

time or another, consulted a paint manufacturer's

shade card. Shade card? No, the one thing it most certainly is not is a shade card. It should really be

referred to as a paint sample card. Neither should

we comment on such things as, "That's a lovely shade of pink," for the colour we are referring to

most certainly cannot be pink and a shade of a

colour both at the same time. The word "shade" is far too often misused when referring to colour, so

let us find out a little more about it.

2.6.1.1 Tints

Tints are chromatic colours to which a quantity of white has been added. If we take a pure colour such

as red or orange and add to it some white, however

small this quantity may be it will make the colour lighter in tone than the original, and it becomes a

tint. If only a small amount of white is added the

difference may not be noticeable but when a large

amount is added to red, for instance, then the difference is noticed to such a degree that we call

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the colour pink. A tint, then, is a pure colour to

which only white has been added. Referring to the

last paragraph we can see that pink cannot be a

shade because it fits the description of a tint.

2.6.1.2 Shades

As we have seen this is the term most misused with regard to colour. Similarly to a tint, a shade is

formed by adding black only to a pure colour. We

have already seen what happens to a light colour such as yellow when black has been added to it- it

not only becomes darker but the natural order of

colour is reversed and it becomes discordant.

Similarly, when white is added to a dark colour it reaches a stage when it, too, becomes discordant. A

shade, then, is formed by the addition of black only

to a colour.

2.6.1.3 Pastel Colours

Pastel colours are again pure colours but in this case both white and black have been added in equal

proportions. They become greyer, softer, subdued

colours and are generally very pleasant.

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2.6.1.4 Pastel Tints

Having already dealt with tints it is quite easy to

deduce that a pastel tint is a colour to which has

been added a mixture of both black and white. Black and white added in equal proportions to a colour, as

we have seen, produce a pastel colour, so to

produce a pastel tint the proportion of white must be greater than the black.

2.6.1.5 Pastel Shades

A pastel shade is formed in a similar manner to a pastel tint, except that in this case the proportion of

black must exceed the white.

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Lesson 3: The Munsell System of Colour Notation

Objectives

To understand the numerical scales developed by

Munsell.

Structure

3.1 Hue

3.2 Value

3.3 Chroma

3.4 Munsell Notation

3.5 Munsell Colour Space 3.6 Munsell Colour Solid

The Munsell colour-order system is a way of

precisely specifying colours and showing the relationships among colours. Every colour has three

qualities or attributes: hue, value and chroma.

Munsell established numerical scales with visually uniform steps for each of these attributes. The

Munsell Book of Colour displays a collection of

coloured chips arranged according to these scales.

Each chip is identified numerically using these scales. The colour of any surface can be identified

by comparing it to the chips, under proper

illumination and viewing conditions. The colour is then identified by its hue, value and chroma. These

attributes are given the symbols H,V, and C and are

written in a form H V/C, which is called the Munsell

notation. Utilizing Munsell notations, each colour has a logical

relationship to all other colours. This opens up

endless creative possibilities in colour choices, as

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well as the ability to communicate those colour

choices precisely.

3.1 Hue

Hue is that attribute of a colour by which we distinguish red from green, blue from yellow, etc.

There is a natural order of hues: red, yellow, green,

blue, purple. One can mix paints of adjacent colours in this series and obtain a continuous variation from

one colour to the other. For example, red and yellow

may be mixed in any proportion to obtain all the

hues from red through orange to yellow. The same may be said of yellow and green, green and blue,

blue and purple, and purple and red. This series

returns to the starting point, so it can be arranged in a circle. Munsell called red, yellow, green, blue,

and purple principal hues and placed them at equal

intervals around this circle. He inserted five

intermediate hues: yellow-red, green-yellow, blue-green, purple-blue and red-purple, making ten hues

in all. For simplicity, he used the initials as symbols

to designate the ten hue sectors: R, YR, Y, GY, G, BG, B, PB, P and RP. The hue circle is illustrated in

Figure 1.

Figure 1: Munsell Hue

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Munsell arbitrarily divided the hue circle into 100

steps, of equal visual change in hue, with the zero

point at the beginning of the red sector, as shown in

Figure 2.

Hue may be identified by a number from 0 to 100,

as shown in the outer circle. This may be useful for

statistical records, cataloging and computer programming. However, the meaning is more

obvious when the hue is identified by the hue sector

and a step, based on a scale of ten, within that

sector. For example, the hue in the middle of the red sector is called five red, and is written 5R. (The

zero step is not used, so there is a 10R hue, but no

0 YR.) This method of identifying hue is shown on the inner circle.

Figure 2: Hue Designations

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3.2 Value

Value indicates the lightness of a colour. The scale

of value ranges from 0 for pure black to 10 for pure

white. Black, white and the grays between them are called neutral colours. They have no hue. Colours

that have a hue are called chromatic colours. The

value scale applies to chromatic as well as neutral colours. The value scale is illustrated for a series of

neutral colours in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Munsell Value

3.3 Chroma

Chroma is the degree of departure of a colour from the neutral colour of the same value. Colours of low

chroma are sometimes called weak, while those of

high chroma are said to be highly saturated, strong or vivid. Imagine mixing a vivid yellow paint, a little

at a time, with a gray paint of the same value. If

you started with gray and gradually added yellow

until the vivid yellow colour was obtained, you would develop a series of gradually changing colours

that increase in chroma. The scaling of chroma is

intended to be visually uniform and is very nearly so. The units are arbitrary. The scale starts at zero,

for neutral colours, but there is no arbitrary end to

the scale. As new pigments have become available, Munsell colour chips of higher chroma have been

made for many hues and values. The chroma scale

for normal reflecting materials extends beyond 20 in

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some cases. Fluorescent materials may have

chromas as high as 30. A scale of chroma is

Figure 4: Munsell Chroma

3.4 Munsell Notation

The complete Munsell notation for a chromatic

colour is written symbolically: H V/C. For a vivid red

having a hue of 5R, a value of 6 and a chroma of 14, the complete notation is 5R 6/14. When a finer

division is needed for any of the attributes, decimals

are used. For example, 5.3R 6.1/14.4.

The notation for a neutral colour is written: N V/.

(The chroma of a neutral colour is zero, but is is

customary to omit the zero in the notation.) The notation N 1/ denotes a black, a very dark neutral,

while N 9/ denotes a white, a very light neutral. The

notation for a middle gray is N 5/.

3.5 Munsell Colour Space

Munsell hue, value and chroma can be varied

independently so all colours can be arrange

according the three attributes in a three-dimensional space. The neutral colours are placed

along a vertical line, called the neutral axis with

black at the bottom, white at the top and all grays

in between. The different hues are displayed at various angles around the neutral axis. The chroma

scale is perpendicular to the axis, increasing

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outward. This three-dimensional arrangement of

colours is called the Munsell colour space. The

relationship of the three scales in three-dimensional

space is illustrated in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Munsell Colour Space

3.6 Munsell Colour Solid

All colours lie within a specific region of Munsell

colour space called the Munsell colour solid. Hue is

limited to one turn of around the circle. The scale of value is limited on the lower end by pure black,

which is as dark a colour can be, and on the top by

pure white, which is as light as a colour can be. For

a given value, there is a limit to the chroma that is possible, even with theoretically ideal colouring

agents. Real colouring agents, with less than ideal

characteristics, impose further limitations on physical representations of the colour solid. The

Munsell colour-order system itself is applicable to all

possible colours. The highest chroma yellow colours have rather high values, while the highest chroma

blue colours have lower values. Thus the Munsell

colour solid has the irregular shap.

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Lesson 4: The Colour Wheel

Objectives To understand the meaning and importance of the Colour Wheel.

A colour circle, based on red, yellow and blue, is

traditional in the field of art. Sir Isaac Newton

developed the first circular diagram of colours in

1666. Since then scientists and artists have studied and designed numerous variations of this concept.

Differences of opinion about the validity of one

format over another continue to provoke debate. In reality, any colour circle or colour wheel which

presents a logically arranged sequence of pure hues

has merit.

Colour wheels show how visible colours are related. Primary, secondary, and intermediate colours are

organized on a circular chart. Colour wheels help

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artists remember how to mix and think about

pigments.

Colour wheels are based on colour theory, which is

based on the physics of light. There are two common types of colour: additive colour and

subtractive colour.

Additive colour refers to the mixing of colours of light. Example 1 shows how the light from red,

green and blue flashlights would appear if shone on

a dark wall. The three primaries in light are red,

blue, and green. When all of the colours of the spectrum are combined, they add up to white light.

The colour wheels above are examples of

subtractive colour. Subtractive colour refers to the

mixing of colours of pigment, such as paint or the

ink in your computer's printer. This type of colour is

what is used in the art and design world. When learning basic colour theory, students typically use

familiar colours like red, yellow, and blue. Printers'

primaries—yellow, cyan, and magenta—are typically used by professional designers and printing presses.

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Example 2 illustrates subtractive colour by showing

how primary colours mix on a piece of white paper.

Here are some common colour wheels based on

subtractive colour and familiar colours like red, blue and yellow:

Colour wheel with

primary and secondary

colours

Colour wheel with primary, secondary and

intermediate colours

One of the most common teaching aids in

demonstrating how colour works is the "colour wheel". In theory, every colour in existence can be

found somewhere on the colour wheel.

Understanding the colour wheel helps you to

understand some of the basics of imaging such as hue, saturation, and brightness.

There is no definitive rule as to how many colours a

visual representation of the colour wheel should contain. However, using the millions of colours that

the human eye can recognize isn't very practical, so

the most common format is for a colour wheel demonstration to use a few dozen sample colours.

The colour wheel is divided into 6 triangular

segments. The three primary colours that occur in

nature (red, yellow, and blue) occupy 3 of the triangular segments.

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Each of the 3 primary colours, (red, yellow, and

blue) are then combined in equal amounts with their

neighbouring primary colours, to create the

secondary colours:

Red + Yellow = Orange

Yellow + Blue = Green

Blue + Red = Purple

In order to account for lighter and darker shades of

colour, we now add light into the mixture. Artists

sometimes say that "white is the presence of light,

and black is the absence of light."

This image shows pure red, orange, yellow, green,

blue, and purple, as they exist in the centre band of

the colour wheel. The colour wheel accounts for the need to create shades of these colours by adding

light to colours as they extend outward from the

centre band of the colour wheel, and removing light from colours as the extend inward toward the centre

of the colour wheel.

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The point at dead centre inside the colour wheel,

the point where light no longer exists, is pure

darkness or pure black. The area outside the

confines of the colour wheel, where light drowns out all colour, is pure lightness or pure white.

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Summary:

Colour is one of the most vital tools in the hands of

an Interior Designer. What we see is colour.

Objects, landscapes, faces all register in our brains through the light that enters the eye, sent to us

from a luminous —or light-producing—object. They

can be measured by various instruments and include hue, value, and chroma—(as some describe

them) warm/cool, light/dark, and brilliant/dull

colours. Surfaces define the colours we see. We

experience the surface mode of colour as part of a material or substance. The eye records colour

Stimuli. In considering the third factor upon which

our perception of colour depends—eye-brain neurology—the focus turns from the world around

us to the world within. The fourth dimension is that

we tend to perceive warm-coloured objects—red,

orange, and yellow—as closer than cool-coloured ones—green, blue, and purple.

Colours also have a vocabulary of their own. Terms

like HUE, CHROMA, VALUE, SATURATION are a bit confusing as they all are related to one word i.e.

‗colour‘. Hue: This is what we usually mean when

we ask "what colour is that?" The property of colour

that we are actually asking about is "hue". For

example, when we talk about colours that are red, yellow, green, and blue, we are talking about hue.

Chromaticity: Think about a colour's "purity" when

describing its "chromaticity" or "CHROMA". This property of colour tells us how pure a hue is.

Saturation: Related to chromaticity, saturation tells

us how a colour looks under certain lighting conditions.

Value: When we describe a colour as "light" or

"dark", we are discussing its value or "brightness‖.

The important thing to remember is how the colour varies from its original hue. If white is added to a

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colour, the lighter version is called a "tint". If the

colour is made darker by adding black, the result is

called a "shade". And if grey is added, each

gradation gives you a different "tone."

The Munsell colour-order system is a way of

precisely specifying colours and showing the

relationships among colours. Every colour has three qualities or attributes: hue, value and chroma.

Munsell established numerical scales with visually

uniform steps for each of these attributes. The

Munsell Book of Colour displays a collection of coloured chips arranged according to these scales.

Each chip is identified numerically using these

scales. The colour of any surface can be identified by comparing it to the chips, under proper

illumination and viewing conditions. The colour is

then identified by its hue, value and chroma. These attributes are given the symbols H,V, and C and are

written in a form H V/C, which is called the Munsell

notation.

Newton developed the first circular diagram of colours in 1666. One of the most common teaching

aids in demonstrating how colour works is the

"colour wheel". Understanding the colour wheel helps you to understand some of the basics of

imaging such as hue, saturation, and brightness.

There are 3 primary colours which are mixed to obtain secondary colours and then further mixing of

secondary and primary colours gives tertiary

colours. 12 colours are obtained by this kind of

mixing based on colour wheel.

Key words:

1. Iridescent: shimmering, shinning

2. Achromatic colours: black, whites, grey

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3. Trichomats: human who create all colours from

Red, blue and green sensing cones.

4. Monochromatism: when one colour sensing cone

is missing, a form of colour blindness occurs or dichromatism.

5. Hue: It is the actual colour.

6. Chroma: describes purity of colour.

7. Saturation: the intensity of colour to look or

weak and pure or strong.

8. Value: to describe colour as ‗dark‘ , ‗light‘

9. Luminance: the ‗lightness‘ of a colour.

10.Tints: when white is added to any colour

11.Shade: when black is added to any colour

12.Tone: when grey is added to any colour.

Munsell notation: H V/C

H stands for Hue

V stands for value

C stands for chrome

Assignments and learning activities

1. Students will be explained about colour as it is perceived by different people. Students shall be

asked to make compositions (abstract or real)

using colours with their own imagination.

2. To understand the importance and use of colour

in interiors, they will be collecting pictures from

various books and magazines and make collages

for residential and commercial areas, basically to understand the difference in colour used.

3. After understanding the terms like hue, value,

and intensity, using design plates, students will

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experiment with changing the hue, value, or

intensity of colour.

4. To understand the terms like tints and shades,

students can pick up any two colours and can experiment with them on ivory sheets.

Terminal Exercises

1. How does the human eye see colour?

2. Write short notes on the following:

a) Hue

b) Value

c) Intensity

d) Pigment

e) Chroma

Intext Exercises

1. Why is it important for an Interior designer to

have a very thorough knowledge of colour and colour theory? Explain with the help of examples.

2. Draw a geometric composition using tints and

tones.

3. What is the Munsell system of colour notation? Explain.

4. Draw a Colour Wheel on an ivory sheet and show

primary, secondary and tertiary colours in it using poster colours.

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Unit – II

COLOUR SCHEMES & COLOUR

PSYCHOLOGY

Lesson 5: Colour Schemes

Lesson 6: Colour Psychology

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Lesson 5: Colour Schemes

Objectives To develop an understanding of how a colour

scheme is developed based on colour wheel. To understand how a colour affects the

psychology of the viewer and what effects are

produced in a space by using different colours.

Structure 5.1 Types of Colour Schemes Based on the

Colour Wheel

5.1.1 Neutral colour schemes

5.1.2 Complementary colour Scheme

5.1.3 Triad Colour Schemes 5.1.4 Analogous Colour Schemes

5.1.5 Monochromatic Colour Schemes

5.2 A ‗Little‘ Technical Background on colour schemes

5.3 Colour Facts

5.4 Tips on using colours 5.5 Flooring & Colour

5.6 Walls & Colour

5.7 Ceilings & Colour

5.8 Window Treatments & colour 5.9 Furniture & Colour

5.10 Open Floor Plans & Colour

Introduction:

When you construct a circle out of the spectrum of

colours (basically the colours of the rainbow), you have a colour wheel. Primary colours on the colour

wheel are red, yellow and blue. The full spectrum of

colours includes red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. In a circle or wheel arrangement, it is

easy to see how the colours interact with each

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other. The Chroma of a colour is the intensity

(amount of lightness or darkness in the colour) and

purity in the hue. A neutralized colour is a colour

that has been muted or "greyed" so that it loses some of its intensity.

In the following descriptions, you can refer back to

the colour wheel see how they fall in comparison to each other. Lime green and shocking pink are

complimentary colours because they fall directly

opposite on the colour wheel. They are ideal colours

together because they intensify and complement each other.

5.1 Types of Colour Schemes Based on

the Colour Wheel

In reading the following, you may want to go back

and look at the colour wheel to see where the

colours (also their tints and values) fall compared to

each other.

5.1.1 Neutral colour schemes: This colour

scheme can be easier to live with than vibrant

colour schemes. Neutral colours are often used as background colours in rooms because they blend

well with other colours. Touches of accent colours

are usually added in this colour scheme for interest.

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5.1.2 Complementary Colour Schemes - When schemes that are built around two colours that are

on the opposite sides of the colour wheel, the

colours will intensify each other and make an

exciting and stimulating room. Colours can be pure and vivid or neutralized and muted. Examples:

burgundy and forest green yellow and purple

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5.1.3 Triad Colour Schemes - This scheme is

applied when a room's colours are based on three

colours on the colour wheel that are located at equal

distances from each other. Colours can be pure and vivid or neutralized and muted. Example: red,

yellow and blue.

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5.1.4 Analogous Colour Schemes - This colour

scheme uses two or three adjacent hues on the

colour wheel. It is a very harmonious scheme and

can be very restful. The accent colour in an analogous colour scheme is often a complementary

colour from the opposite side of the colour wheel.

Colours can be pure and vivid or neutralized and muted. Example: terra cotta, orange and gold

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5.1.5 Monochromatic Colour Schemes - This is

when only one colour family is used in a scheme.

Diverse tints and shades of one colour can be used

throughout the room. Colours can be pure and vivid neutralized and muted. Examples: white, ivory and

beige pale pink, rose and burgundy.

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5.2 A "Little" Technical Background on

Colour Schemes

Most rooms will typically be made up of 3 to 5

colours. One (or two) of the colours should be the dominant colour and will be used extensively

throughout the room. It will cover the majority of

the space, such as the colour on the walls or wall-

to-wall carpeting.

A secondary colour or colours are used a little less

than the dominant and will provide interest and

balance to the colour scheme. It might be the background colour of a printed upholstery fabric or

the colour of the fabric for the window treatment. It

will not be the main colour in the room, but will play a secondary role. There are usually only 1 or 2

secondary colours.

Accent colours are used the least, so often, a strong colour that makes a statement is used. Accent

colours breathe life into a room and are used in

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pillows, rugs, art pieces, or as contrasts on window

treatments.

There is no hard set way to determine which colours

in a room fall into which categories, you may have two designers think that a room has a different

secondary colour than the other. This doesn't

necessarily mean that one is right and one is wrong. With colour - everything is very subjective -

therefore, it helps to digest the above information,

but that doesn't mean that you can't bend the rules

a little. ....after all, Picasso did.

Neutrals are used to anchor a colour scheme.

Neutrals are not just white, ivory, off white and

grey. Almost any colour can become a neutral once it is "greyed" or neutralized with its complementary

colour. Neutrals are often used for trim work, but

can also be used as the dominant colour, the secondary colour, or even an accent in a room. A

room that is built around neutrals as the dominant

and secondary colours is often a very sophisticated

and elegant space Often, in traditional interiors the dominant colour is neutralized and accents are more

bold. There is no reason why you cannot do the

reverse and allow your accents to be the more neutralized colours in the room and the walls more

vivid. This is done frequently in contemporary

design.

5.3. Colour Facts

If you want a room to appear larger - the floor

colour should be similar to the wall colour. For

instance: a room with an ivory carpet will look larger with the walls painted the same shade of

ivory. A room with wood floors will look larger if

the walls are painted in a shade (although you can go a bit lighter) similar to the wood floor.

This will create an unbroken line and will room

will not seem as fragmented.

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The darker the colour of a room, the more

intimate and smaller the room will appear. Light

colours recede visually and will make a room

appear more spacious.

As an elderly person ages, the lens of the eye

yellows, therefore, when selecting paint colours

an elderly person is seeing more "yellow" in the colours than a younger person would.

Warm colours typically have a yellow or orange

undertone to them and cool colours typically

have a blue undertone. Example: Blue red (cool red) and Orange red (warm red).

A room on the North side of a house will

generally be more comfortable in a warm undertone colour. A room on the South side of a

house is more comfortable in a cool colour

scheme.

White will make colours around it seem paler.

Black makes adjacent colours appear darker and

bolder. The same shade of yellow will appear soft

next to white, but can appear bright and vivid next to black.

Matte (non shiny) surfaces look darker because

they do not reflect as much light, while shiny, high gloss surfaces appear lighter.

If you want to look great all the time, paint all

your walls in your house peach. This is the most complimentary colour to all skin tones. Think

about how much candlelight helps!

Blue will tend to make the skin look pale and

sallow. Blue also happens to be an unappetizing colour. If you use it in your Kitchen, throw in

accents of yellow or peach. However, blue is our

favourite colour (according to colour research) and is perfect for the bedroom because it is

soothing and calming.

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Orange has the unhappy honour of being our

least favourite colour - but this is only true in its

vivid and strong value. Generally people are very

fond of terra cottas and peach.

Colours in the yellow or orange family may

become too glaring and bright if used in a pure,

vivid colour over an extensive area. It may be wise to go a bit more neutral in an orange or

yellow colour than you originally intended.

5.4 Tips On Using Colours

If you're frustrated when attempting to select a colour scheme for a room, let any favourite fabric,

print or even a scarf be your inspiration. Begin by

pulling 3 to 4 colours you like from the print by matching the colours to paint chips. Decide which

colours you will use on the flooring, wall colour,

upholstery, etc. Whether you use the actual fabric in

the finished room doesn't matter, but by pulling a few colours from the print you have the benefit of

an exciting colour scheme.

5.5 Flooring & Colour

Floors can add quite a bit of colour to a room. The

floor is the foundation and base for an entire room

and its furnishings. It is always wise to use a more

neutral coloured flooring for the simple reason that

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it creates a foundation for everything else.

Remember, even a forest green or a muted blue can

be considered neutral if muted enough. Kelly green

or sky blue are not. If you decide to change your colour scheme in a few years, it will be easier to

work around a neutralized colour floor. Don't feel

you have to remain neutral with area rugs though. These are easily moved and replaced with another

in a different style or colour if you want to change

the room. To make your house appear more

spacious and less choppy, select one colour of carpet or flooring to go throughout your entire

home. This is another reason to go with a

neutralized colour on the floor so that each room's colour scheme will complement it.

Ceramic tile floors will last for many years, so it is

usually safer to go with a neutral or classic colour that enables you to easily change the colour scheme

of the room in the future. You can help to make

your tile flooring safer by selecting a floor tile with a

slip-resistance surface.

5.6 Walls & Colour

Walls are an extremely important part of a room.

The colour or pattern you use on the walls can easily become the dominant part of a room, because

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of the large amount of space covered. Decide if you

want the pattern in a room to be on the walls, the

furniture, a rug, or a lavish window treatment.

Typically, two very bold patterns in one space will fight each other and will not create a harmonious

room.

When you think of colour on the walls, don't rule out all the possibilities. You can expand the feel of a

room and add architectural interest to a plain room

by adding a mural to the space, such as the tree

and faux stone door moulding added to the kitchen wall below.

Flaws in the wall can be disguised (or,

unfortunately, can be amplified) depending on the sheen of the wall finish. The flatter or more matte

the finish, the less the flaws in the plaster or drywall

will show. If there are quite a few bumps or ridges in your dry wall surface, you should go with a flat or

satin finish, avoiding any shine. Flat and matte

paints also allow furniture and wall decorations to

become the focal points in the room.

Entrances, foyers, guest baths and corridors are

transitional parts of the house, and those walls can

be bolder or darker than areas in which you spend a great deal of time. A bolder or darker colour will

also help a small space make a bigger visual impact.

If you have a dark room that doesn't receive much sunlight, paint the walls in a light colour satin or

semi-gloss paint. The reflective surface, along with

a lighter colour, will reflect more light into the room.

5.7 Ceilings & Colour

There are many ways to alter the perception of the

height of a room. Ceilings have traditionally been

painted white to create an illusion of more height.

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However, if you do not want more height, then

consider painting the ceiling a darker colour. Always paint the ceiling before the walls. If you paint the

walls first, it is extremely hard to keep ceiling drips

and splatters off of the wall surface.

In a child's room, it is a nice touch to paint the

ceiling in a deeper colour. This will make the ceiling

seem lower and the room will be a more intimate space for a child. Consider painting a faux sky or

cloud effect on one of your ceilings. This paint

technique is especially nice in bathrooms and

bedrooms.

If you have a low ceiling you would like to visually

lift, paint the wall from floor to ceiling in one colour.

If there is a chair rail or dado, use the same colour or pattern on the wall above and below the

moulding and paint the chair rail in a colour close to

the wall colour. If there is large crown moulding,

you can paint or stain it the same colour as the wall which will also make the room appear to have more

height.

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5.8 Window Treatments & Colour

Windows are a natural focal point in a room.

Depending on your furniture arrangement, window

location or view from the window, you may want to either enhance the window as a focal point or have

it blend into the background of the room. If you

have a beautiful view, use window treatments to

frame the view, without covering it up. Similar to

how you would frame a work of art.

Don't ignore the view, light or the colours in nature your home receives from windows and skylights.

These magnificent features that windows provide in

a room should affect the colour and window

treatment choices you make.

If you have multiple layers on your windows

consisting of sheers, draperies and top treatments,

you can downplay the proportions and significance of the window by allowing all layers to be of the

same colour. To make the window a focal point, use

contrasting colours on the different layers.

If you choose to have the window treatment blend in with the room's decor, the fabric colour should be

close to the same colour as the wall surrounding the

window. This will also help to make the room visually larger, because the wall will be an

unbroken, continuous colour, even with an elaborate

window treatment.

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Regardless of the colour of your drapery fabric,

always use a white or ivory drapery lining. This will

assure that the windows blend with each other on

the exterior of your home. Even coloured window blinds can give your home an inconsistent

appearance on the outside.

Before purchasing sheers, you should do the following to view their true colour, which may be

hidden. Roll the sheer fabric up in a ball, this will

show the precise colour of the material. Ivory

sheers can have a hidden warm or a cool undertone colour that will become more obvious once hanging.

5.9 Furniture & Colour

Don't be afraid to mix furniture styles and finishes

within one room or space. Most homes that are

expensively decorated do not have matching pieces

of furniture, but have unique pieces that compliment each other. An eclectic design style may seem to

some as the easiest style to pull off, because

anything goes. To others, a traditional room is the simplest, because there are rules and guidelines to

follow. Whatever your style, the following tips on

using colour on furniture will help you make decisions.

For seating, a textured or patterned upholstery is

best to hide soil and can also pull together your

colour scheme. However, a solid colour or small print upholstery will make the room look larger.

Small patterns and muted colours on furniture will

create a more restful environment, while bold patterns and vivid colours will create a room full of

energy.

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Furniture that is upholstered in dark colours, heavy

textured fabric or skirted with fabric will look more

massive and can crowd a small room. Furniture in

light colours, smooth textures and exposed legs will tend to give even a small room a light, airy

appearance.

If you would love a white sofa, but have small

children or pets that make it impractical, use white accent pillows and throws on a neutral beige sofa

instead.

All the wood on furniture in one room does not have

to match exactly, in fact, it usually looks more interesting to have a mix of woods and stains. Just

make sure the woods undertones complement each

other. The orange undertones of oak next to the burgundy undertones of mahogany may not blend

well to your eye.

5.10 Open Floor Plans & Colour

Many homes built in the last few years are designed

with open floor plans. An open floor plan usually

involves a great room or living area, that is open to

the kitchen and dining room. Often, open floor plans can create a problem in selecting a colour scheme,

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because one room flows into the other. If you do

have an open floor plan, you'll want to make sure

that all areas flow well aesthetically, which can be

difficult. There are several things you can do to create uniformity while allowing each room to have

its own unique personality.

You don't have to use the same colour throughout, but do choose a colour scheme that you enjoy and

use it in the entire open area, changing the

dominant, secondary, and accent colours to give

distinction to each space. Use paint or apply wallcovering on the walls in each area with a

different colour within the pallet. For instance, the

kitchen could be a light beige, the dining room a

rich bronze and the living room a shade between the two. Just find a natural transition point, such as

a corner, to vary the colour of the walls. A long

straight wall, without a natural transition, will look awkward in two different colours or textures and is

best kept one colour. However, if there is a

horizontal break (such as a chair rail) the colours and/or textures can be different above and below

the chair rail.

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There are a few details that you will want to pay

attention to in order to retain flow in an open floor

plan. Have all trim work painted or stained the same

colour and the flooring should remain close to the same colour if you cannot continue the same floor in

all open areas. For instance, if the living room has a

light beige carpet and the dining room has a wood floor, it would look best to have a light wood floor as

opposed to a dark wood floor.

A consistency in the style and mounting height of all

the window treatments in an open area is important. You can vary the top treatment some,

but overall, draperies should compliment each other

in length and style. This does not mean that they have to match exactly, just make sure they

complement each other. The same colour will look

slightly differently in different areas of your home, depending on the lighting. This adds interest to your

colour scheme and helps each room become unique.

A wall painted peach in a room that receives natural

daylight all day will look different than the same peach paint will in a room on the north side of the

house.

Avoid using conflicting styles or colours within an open area. If you have a country kitchen, it will look

out of place flowing into a contemporary dining

room. Use colour in your accents (pillows, rugs and artwork) to pull the different spaces together if your

main colour schemes are different. Install dimmers

on your kitchen lighting to create a soft ambiance

when you're not cooking or preparing meals. This enables an open kitchen to blend in with the living

area in the evenings, particularly when you want to

create an elegant mood.

If your kitchen is open to the living area, make sure

that the kitchen cabinets complement the colours

and style in the adjacent rooms. If the cabinets are wood, determine if they are a warm or cool stain

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and then select warm or cool colours for your

schemes. If painted, make sure the colour

complements the colours in the other rooms. For

instance, if you have soft ivory in your colour scheme in the living area, you will probably not

want to paint the open kitchen cabinets bright

white, or they will look out of place. It would be better to paint them a soft ivory. If the refrigerator

is visible from the living area, think about having

the doors fitted with front panels to match and

blend in with the kitchen cabinets.

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Lesson 6: Colour

Psychology

Objectives To understand the psychological affects created by different colours on different persons and

places.

Structure 6.1 Red

6.2 Orange 6.3 Yellow

6.4 Green

6.5 Traditionally Blue

6.6 A combination 6.7 Literally

6.8 White

6.9 Grey

A remarkable number of references to colour are

expressed in our language using slang, metaphors

and colloquial expression. Some of them, such as

feeling blue, seeing red, or green with envy, associate colours with specific human emotions.

Others, such as blue blood, white cockade, and red

carpet originated in the Middle Ages. And still others, among them yellow journalism, the Red

guard, Purple Heart, Black Market all have an

interesting, although more recent history. Colour is the single most powerful decorating tool.

Colour can affect your mood, make rooms appear

larger or smaller, provide continuity or jumble, and

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provide welcoming warmth or alienating cold. This is

a lot of pressure to put on selecting your colours!

First, colours can evoke emotions and moods.

Colour conveys moods that affix themselves quite automatically to human feeling. Some of the

responses to colour are inborn, while other

responses are cultural perceptions or personal preferences. We'll review some basic colour rules,

but remember that these are only guidelines, and

that your personality and cultural upbringing can

influence your perception of these colours.

6.1. RED: The colour Red has been part of the

English language since about A.D. 900. It is the

primary colour at the lower or least deflected end of the visible spectrum. Its name is used for shades

ranging from very bright, bold red, to reddish yellow

or reddish brown.

Found not only in the lores of ancient medicine but in the superstitions of modern times, red has been

viewed as the vigorous colour of health. Red wool

was applied to relieve sprains in Scotland, sore throats in Ireland, and to prevent fevers in

Macedonia. The ruby, a precious gemstone with a

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brilliant red colour, was worn in China to promote

long life. The colour red has also been a

representation of love within a relationship between

two people. A red rose, given to the bearer's lover or mate has always been known as a symbol of

love. As well as the ever-popular red heart on

Valentine‘s Day. Red is a stimulating warm colour, defined by heat and fire in nature. Red exudes

passion, desire, royalty and sexuality. Want to spice

up your bedroom? Paint a wall red! Red can add

drama to a room by creating a hot focal point, perfect when used sparingly in bedrooms, kitchens,

and vibrant living spaces. However, if you want a

room to provide peace and comfort, the drama of the red colours can upset the balance.

6.2 ORANGE: Orange is the only colour of the

spectrum whose name was taken from an object,

the well known and popular fruit called the orange.

The fruit come from an evergreen tree, Citrus aurantius, and the word "orange", comes from the

Old French orenge. Since about 1300 it has used as

part of the English language. Because the tree is

evergreen and ever bearing, the colour orange became associated with fruitfulness.

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On the visible spectrum this reddish-yellow colour

lies between, red and yellow the two colours that

when blended together are the creators of the

colour orange. In folklore the colour orange stands for fire and flames, lust, vigour, excitement,

adventure and wholesomeness. Orange is an active

colour denoting motion and unrest. Used in softer shades it can be used as an accent colour to create

a cool trendy décor, think of pumpkin, terra cotta,

and peach.

6.3 YELLOW: The bright golden colour yellow

lies between green and orange on the visible

spectrum and is, along with red and blue, one of the

primary colours. Since about A.D. 900 the colour yellow has been integrated into the English

language, stemming from closely related words in

the Latin and various Germanic languages. In

heraldry, where it is called or (for gold) the colour

yellow stands for the positive virtues of faith, constancy, wisdom, and glory. It also has been

thought of as being a colour that represents

playfulness, light, creativity, warmth and an easy

going attitude about life. The colour yellow also has many negative associations as well. Among them

are jealousy, treachery, cowardice, aging, and

illness.

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Yellow is the colour of the sun, stimulating and

comforting all at the same time. Yellow, and related

tints such as cream, brown and beige, represents a

good base colour, balancing feelings of activity with tranquility. However, we have seen this colour at

times overused, with various shades of beige and

yellow room after room. In homes with this colour scheme, the mood can be shallow, unless dramatic

artwork and furniture, or more substantive shades

such as red or blue accent walls are added to liven

up the monotone appearance.

6.4 GREEN: Green is the colour of freshness

and renewal, and has been in Western culture since

the earliest of times. The word "green" comes from the Old English gréne, in turn from grêne in Old

Frisian and various related Germanic languages.

Reappearing in springtime, after the dull, seemingly

colourless winter, it became a symbol of fertility and

growth, of abundance and external life. The colour green represents harmony, nature and radiates a

feeling of fullness. When thoughts of nature come to

mind, green, being the colour of grass, trees and plants, 99% of the time is the dominant colour of

one's mental images.

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On the visible spectrum green lies sandwiched in

between blue and yellow. Green is the colour of the

forest and meadows, and as such, provides natural,

restful comfort. Green acts as a great colour for blissful bedrooms, family and living rooms,

providing a place of peace, rest and relaxation.

Green is perfect for balancing the power and heat of red, particularly with yellow-greens like sage,

celadon, or avocado. It can also be used to

transition the depth of true blues by creating

turquoise or aqua.

6.5 BLUE: Traditionally blue is the colour of

constancy and faith, the colour painters used for the

Virgin Mary's robe, the colour of the heavens and

the oceans. The soothing colour blue stands for

sensitivity, peace, loyalty and ones desire to

nurture.

The word "blue", from Middle English blew and Old

English Blaw, has been used since about 1300 to

describe a colour of the spectrum. In the symbolism of heraldry blue is called azure and signifies piety

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and sincerity. Around the twentieth century it

became a symbolic representation of the male

gender. Pink being the colour representative of the

female gender. Young children are usually dressed using these two colours to distinguish the "boys"

from the "girls".

Blue is the colour of the ocean and the sky, generating moods of coolness and rest. The colour

is associated with sensitivity and thoughtfulness.

Many corporate logos use blue to denote feelings of

depth and stability. Blue can be used as an accent to relax the heat of red, orange, or yellow colour

schemes. Used in dark shades with abundance

however, the colour can cause a room to look small, and produce melancholy in your guests.

6.6 PURPLE: A combination of red and blue,

purple is a colour that has been associated with

royalty since ancient Roman times.

The colour purple is symbolic of power, leadership,

respect and wealth and has been worn by emperors,

military commanders, and other high ranking officials. The word "purple" comes from the Greek

porphura, a species of shellfish that yielded, through

an elaborate process, the dye called Tyrian Purple.

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Very expensive to produce, it was reserved for

special cloth and garments, such as those of kings.

Violet - the colour of flowers, violet has traditionally

been used for celebrations, ceremony and royalty. It is the coolest of colours in the spectrum. Violets and

purples can add a twist of the unexpected to a

neutral room. However, violet is difficult to work with to create the correct blend and mood, so if you

are wanting to add violet colour and accents,

consult with friends or even a professional to be

sure the effect is as intended.

6.7 BLACK: Literally, black means absorbing all

light, without reflecting any of its rays.

Yet long before the physics of light was understood,

the word black was in common use. In Old English it was blaec, closely related to its equivalents in Old

High German (blah, blach) and Old Norse (blakkr).

In many languages and cultures, black was

associated with evil (and white with good). Both in art and in religion black signified despair, sin and

mourning. Its use in mourning is very old, it

probably comes from the ancient Semitic custom of blackening the face with dirt or ashes to make it

unrecognisable to the malignant dead, as well as a

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mark of grief and submission. The tradition of

today's funeral is the wearing of black garments to

mourn the loss of a family member, relative, or

close friend. Despite the colour's many negative associations, in heraldry black, called sable, also

stands for virtues of constancy, prudence and

wisdom. Black - black is actually not a colour, but the absence of colour. When light hits a black

object, none of the light is reflected back, it is

absorbed. Black is a very modern and stylish colour

creating a dark, mysterious mood. However, for those mysterious amongst us we should remember

that black absorbs light, and when used in

abundance such as on a large sofa or a wall covering, it will make a room appear smaller and

require significantly more lighting. It is for this

reason that we suggest using black sparingly, for accent furniture and accessories.

6.8 White is, literally speaking the absence of all

colour. Or rather, it is the "colour" produced by

reflecting almost all kinds of light found in the visible spectrum.

This is why white clothing is considered cooler than

other colours on a hot summer day; since it reflects back sunlight (and heat) rather than absorbing it; as

black does. The word white comes from the Old

English hwít, which in turn is related to very similar

words in old Germanic languages. Symbolically white has long represented purity, goodness, light

and innocence. In heraldry white is also called

argent. This word comes from the Latin argentum, for silver. The colour white projects feelings of

calmness, relaxation and an inner peace with ones

surroundings and inner soul. White is a combination of all colours.

When light hits a white object, as opposed to black

which absorbs all of the light, the white object

reflects all of the light. White is the colour purity,

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peace and joy. White rooms appear larger, requiring

less artificial light to create a bright airy feeling.

White however can be difficult to maintain in its

clean pristine state.

6.9 Grey is a non-colour, a combination of black

and white. Grey is the colour of rain clouds, creating

a sombre mood.

Grey is a shade that needs to be used carefully,

although it will not make a room appear dark, too

much grey within a room will have a dull, monotonous feel. Grey is easy to use as an accent,

such as on a wall, combined with colourful more

dramatic art and window treatments.

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Summary:

Colour schemes are based on colour wheel. Study of

these colour schemes will help in making the best

use of colours. The basic colour schemes are monochromatic, analogous, complementary, split

complementary, double complementary, triadic, and

accented neutral as they relate to the colour wheel.

Revision Points

a) Neutral colour schemes are easy to live with.

They are used as background colours.

b) Complementary Colour Schemes are those that

are built around two colours that are on the

opposite sides of the colour wheel. Examples: burgundy and forest green yellow and purple.

c) Triad Colour Schemes - This scheme is applied when a room's colours are based on three

colours on the colour wheel that are located at

equal distances from each other. Example: red, yellow and blue.

d) Analogous Colour Schemes - This colour scheme

uses two or three adjacent hues on the colour wheel. Example: terra cotta, orange and gold.

e) Monochromatic Colour Schemes -This is when

only one colour family is used in a scheme. Diverse tints and shades of one colour can be

used throughout the room. Examples: white,

ivory and beige pale pink, rose and burgundy.

f) There are warm and cool colours, which affect

the temperature of the room. Warm colours

typically have a yellow or orange undertone to them and cool colours typically have a blue

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undertone. Example: Blue red (cool red) and

Orange red (warm red).

g) Matte (non shiny) surfaces look darker because

they do not reflect as much light, while shiny, high gloss surfaces appear lighter.

h) Colours have their own language. They speak for themselves. So we should always select the

colours very carefully keeping the factors like

flooring, ceiling, furniture and furnishings. They

all should blend with each other.

i) Colour is the single most powerful decorating

tool. Colour can affect your mood, make rooms appear larger or smaller, provide continuity or

jumble, and provide welcoming warmth or

alienating cold. This is a lot of pressure to put on selecting your colours!

j) Some of the responses to colour are inborn,

while other responses are cultural perceptions or

personal preferences. Different psychological effects are produced by different colours Red is

a stimulating warm colour, defined by heat and

fire in nature. Red exudes passion, desire, royalty and sexuality.

k) Orange is the only colour of the spectrum whose

name was taken from an object, the well known and popular fruit called the orange. Orange is an

active colour denoting motion and unrest.

l) Green is the colour of freshness and renewal.

The colour green represents harmony, nature and radiates a feeling of fullness.

m) A combination of red and blue, purple is a colour

that has been associated with royalty since ancient Roman times. The colour purple is

symbolic of power, leadership, respect and

wealth and has been worn by emperors, military commanders, and other high ranking officials.

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n) Blue is the colour of constancy and faith. Blue

stands for sensitivity, peace, loyalty and ones

desire to nurture.

o) Literally, black means absorbing all light, without reflecting any of its rays. Black is a very modern

and stylish colour creating a dark, mysterious

mood.

p) White is, literally speaking the absence of all

colour.The colour white projects feelings of

calmness, relaxation and an inner peace with

ones surroundings and inner soul. White is a combination of all colours.

Assignments and learning activities

1. Students will understand the importance of

colour and its many uses in interior design.Using

design plates, students will experiment with

changing the hue, value, or intensity of colour.

2. Paint the colours on the colour wheel beginning

with primary colours and then mixing two of

those to create the secondary combining a primary and a secondary colour to create

intermediate colours.

3. Students will identify the basic colour schemes: monochromatic, analogous, complementary, split

complementary, double complementary, triadic,

and accented neutral as they relate to the colour

wheel.

Terminal Exercise

1) What is colour psychology? Describe in detail the

psychological effects of the following colours‖

a) Red

b) Green

c) Blue

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d) Yellow

e) Purple

2) Draw and colour compositions using the following

colour schemes:

3) Monochromatic colour scheme

4) Analogous colour scheme

5) Contrast colour scheme

6) Split-complimentary colour scheme

Intext Exercise

1) Explain in detail any five kinds of colour schemes based on the colour wheel.

2) How can colour schemes help an Interior

Designer in creating ‗optical illusions‘ in a room? Explain by giving examples.

3) What kind of colour schemes would you provide

in the following areas:

a) Children room b) Library

c) Office

d) Bedroom of a teenaged boy e) Kitchen

f) Dining room

4) What factors would you keep in mind while designing an interior space and what colour facts

would you keep in mind related to to any given

space?

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Unit – III

RENDERING TECHNIQUES & MEDIUMS

Lesson 7: Graphite Pencils

Lesson 8: Colour Pencils

Lesson 9: Pastels

Lesson 10: Pen, Brush &Ink

Lesson 11: Markers

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Lesson 7: Graphite Pencils

Objectives

Learning to use the various colour and rendering mediums and to develop an understanding of

how to choose different mediums for presenting

various works.

Structure

7.1 Material

7.1.1 Clutch Pencils

7.1.2 Graphite Sticks

7.1.3 Graphite Powder

7.2 Techniques

7.2.1 Hard Line

7.2.2 Soft Line

7.2.3 Hard Scribble

7.2.4 Soft Scribble

7.2.5 Studio Pencil 7.3 Graphite Stick

Introduction: The most common of all drawing instruments, the

graphite pencil is by no means the easiest to use. Compared with many other drawing tools, its lines

can get small and fussy. They invite detail, and all

too often this leads the beginner into a trap -for it is best not to pay too much attention to detail at first;

far better to aim initially for the bold strokes and

outlines, or areas of tone, which make up the main

characteristics of a composition.

When it is mastered, however, the pencil is a

versatile drawing tool with which you can create

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beautiful, and finished pictures as well as make

rough outline sketches. Although not as bold and

chunky as some other materials, it has a varied

range, allowing for broad, heavy and light strokes, fine lines, and subtleties of shading.

A crystalline form of carbon, real graphite has

historic links with the English Lake District, where it was extensively mined and from where it was widely

exported. It is found in many parts of the world,

including North Carolina, Mexico, Sri Lanka and eastern Siberia. It is also manufactured artificially

both in iron furnaces and by electrical methods. The

graphite available on markets comes in pencil, stick

and powder form.

The term 'lead pencil' gives the wrong impression.

Early deposits found in England were originally

thought to be lead. The first graphite pencil was made in 1662 and the design of the pencil has not

changed greatly over the centuries. Early ones were

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rods of graphite (graphite mixed with gum or resin)

pressed into a grooved piece of wood, rather like

the modern pencil, or held in a metal holder very

similar to today's clutch or propelling pencils.

The Latin 'pencillus' referred to brushes, used with

ink in the Middle Ages, rather than to the pencil as

we now know it. A more closely related ancestor was silverpoint, a narrow rod made from lead and

tin. In the hands (artists as Leonardo da Vinci

(1452-1519) and Albrecht Durer (1471-1528),

silverpoint was made to produce beautiful pictures -fine lines, varied to create an immense range of

tones. Silverpoint has its drawbacks. It needed a

special ground which was time-consuming to make.

7.1 Material

The ordinary 'lead' pencil is a thin rod of graphite

encased in a hollow tube of wood -wrongly named

'lead pencil' because this was what some graphite deposits were originally thought to be when they

were first discovered, and because some pencils did

occasionally contain lead. The graphite rod is known as the 'lead' or the 'strip'. Pencils, of course, are

easily available from many types of shop but the

cheaper ones, for Use in offices or schools, tend to be crude compared with artists' pencils; they also

tend to be at the harder end of the range. It is a

good idea to buy superior quality pencils from art

shops. They come individually or in sets, and range in hardness from 9H to 9B -very hard to very soft.

Some manufacturers use numbers, starting at 1, 2

etc, with the low numbers designating the softest.

The pencil is ideal for detail, and for smaller-scale

working. It can be made to produce pictures with

amazing contrasts and subtleties of tone and textures. Generally speaking, soft pencils make

dark, thick lines; hard ones produce light, thin lines.

But many new types of drawing pencil are coming

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onto the market. Some of these are extra soft, with

softer, thicker strips than any in the standard range,

and these can be used for large-scale work. 'Studio'

pencils are also specialist tools - rectangular in shape, with a rectangular strip -and again, these are

good for bigger scale drawings, allowing you to vary

the thickness of the line by turning the pencil. Traditional carpenters' pencils were made to a

similar design.

7.1.1 Clutch pencils

Most ordinary pencils can be sharpened with a pencil sharpener, either manual or electric, as well

as with a craft knife or other type of blade. But the

flat studio pencils must be sharpened with a blade or knife. Instead of sharpening your pencils, you can

obtain clutch pencils or propelling pencils- which

hold the rods of graphite in place so that they can

be extended as necessary. These rods, too, come in a full range, from soft to hard, like the wood-

covered normal versions.

A wide variety of papers can be used for drawing

with pencils. Smooth boards and cards, cartridge, watercolour papers, tinted paper -all these are

suitable. The paper's texture dictates the effects and

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type of line. Generally, hard pencils do not take very

well on smooth surfaces, and very soft pencils can

be difficult to control on extremely coarse papers.

For lasting results, a finished pencil drawing should be fixed -and for soft pencils this is essential.

7.1.2 Graphite Sticks

For spontaneous and less detailed work, graphite can be obtained in chunky sticks. These are

especially recommended when operating on a very

bold, large scale. They allow you to achieve various

degrees of softness and thickness, coming in soft-to-hard ranges like ordinary pencils and also in

varying thickness. The lines can be altered by using

the point, the side of the pointed end, or the flattened length of the stick.

7.1.3 Graphite Powder

For special effects such as softly graded tones, graphite is available in the form of fine powder. This

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is obtainable in some art shops and is used to

produce varied areas of tone in a drawing. Rub the

powder on with your finger or with a cloth, and use

the smudged areas in conjunction with line. An eraser can be used to remove parts of the powder

and create white zones in the dark patches.

Graphite powder needs practice. It can be slippery, and must be fixed.

7.2 Techniques

7.2.1 Hard Line

Hard pencils produce a paler, thinner line than the softer grades, and are generally less popular with

artists than soft pencils. But the thin light line is

sometimes useful for an initial drawing which is required to be inconspicuous and not to smudge. So

choose a hard pencil when you specifically require a

lighter tone -you will get a cleaner line than trying

to use a. soft pencil lightly. Avoid the mistake of so many artists who tend to stick to one pencil, varying

the pressure to change the line. There is full range

of pencils to choose from, so use them! Here the

artist cross-hatches with a 2H pencil to create an

area of crisp, light grey tone.

7.2.2 Soft Line

Dark soft lines characterize the graphite pencils at

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the soft end of the range The cross-hatched lines

below are drawn with a 3B pencil. Without pressing

too hard, the artist is able to make a fairly concise

line by using a freshly sharpened pencil . Yet at the same time, the finished sample has a dark, mellow

quality. The slightly rough cartridge paper

contributes to the soft look, and close observation shows that the pencil lines are broken, with flecks of

white showing through.

7.2.3 Hard Scribble

The marks you can make with a hard pencil are limited to light grey, whether you are working in

line, tone or texture. Make the most of this

limitation; when you want to quickly block in a large area of pale texture and tone choose one of the H

pencils. There is a considerable difference between

an H and 7H pencil, so experiment and explore the

possibilities of the whole range. In the illustrations below, the artist is working with a 4H pencil, using

loose scribble on white cartridge paper. The result is a loose and natural texture which the artist

frequently employs to break up flat expanses of

background in figure and still-life drawing.

7.2.4 Soft Scribble

The B pencils, the soft ones, offer a range of deeper

tones. Here scribbled texture takes on a more

velvety appearance than that created by their harder counterparts. A 4B pencil is being used to

cover an expanse of white paper with wide, regular

scribbles. The soft, curved strokes are an ideal

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technique when dealing with sweeping landscapes,

where areas of sky, water, hills and fields require a

broad, expansive treatment.

7.2.5 Studio Pencil

A newcomer to the pencil family, these chunky

studio pencils have flattened strips. The advantage here is that, by turning the pencil round, you can

alter the width of your line. Here, the artist uses the

broad edge of the graphite to block in a flecked

texture of broad marks.

7.3 Graphite Stick

Graphite sticks allow you to make bold lines and to

block in solid areas. Try the 'various types -hard and

soft; thick and thin -practising their various effects. For example, in the illustration here the artist uses

the flattened edge of the point to lay an area of light

tone on rough paper.

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7.3.1 Blending

You can rub pencil lines to soften their effect. The softer the pencil, of course, the more effective this

type of blending will be. Rubbing hard pencil lines

will produce a slightly out of focus effect (1), with soft pencil marks, the result can look very smudgy

and dark (2). Most artists restrict such blending to

selected areas of a drawing - using it to contrast

with the linear character of most pencil drawing or to knock back a tone or texture which has become

too strong. Carry out your own experiments, fixing

the final effects so that your work does not become more blended than you intended!

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Lesson 8: Colour Pencils

Objectives

To use the various colour and rendering mediums and to develop an understanding of

how to choose different mediums for presenting

various works.

Structure

8.1.1 Material

8.1.2 Ordinary Colour Pencils

8.1.3 Watercolour Pencils

8.2 Techniques

8.2.1 Cross hatching

8.2.2 Optical Mixing

8.2.3 Colour Mixing

8.2.4 Blending

The striking characteristic of coloured pencils over

the last few decades has been their coming of age.

They are no longer exclusively the playthings of children experimenting in the nursery. They are

sophisticated tools, continually evolving into more

refined products. This is not to criticize the activities of schoolchildren -what we learn with coloured

pencils in the classroom is probably the best

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grounding of all for potential artists and designers.

But nowadays, large sets of artists' pencils, some of

them containing a range of 72 colours, give the

adult artist command over an extremely subtle variety of tones. This vastly increased range can

even threaten to overwhelm the beginner.

Both ordinary coloured pencils, and their water-soluble versions (sometimes called watercolour

pencils), are extremely popular with illustrators and

animators. They produce a certain effect which has

become fashionable -a lightly-textured delicate finish seen in many animation films and children's

and magazine illustrations. This lightness, in fact, is

the symptom of a characteristic which, for the fine artist, can be quite a problem. It is difficult to build

up 'tonal contrasts; the white paper is rarely

completely obliterated. Even if you are using black, it is difficult to prevent the paper from playing a

lightening role. It is not easy to build up tone as you

would with paint, because the waxy nature of the

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pencil colours obliterates the slight texture of the

paper surface, the 'key', making the support

increasingly smooth with each additional pencil

stroke. Most artists take this into account, and use pencils for certain tasks and particular subjects,

working within these limitations.

For work on a smaller scale with coloured pencils, you can combine blocked-in areas of colour with

linear drawing, producing a detailed or naturalistic

finished picture. But one of the areas where

coloured pencils really come into their own is in mixed media work. Here you can combine the light

touch of the coloured pencil with the stronger,

denser tones of inks, paints and many other materials. These, and other adventurous

combinations, open up a range of unusual and

experimental effects.

8.1 Material

Coloured pencils are made from a mixture of clay

and pigment, bound together with gum, soaked in

wax and pressed into rods encased in wood. In recent years, there has been an enormous increase

in the variety of coloured pencils available in the

market. Not only has the range of colours been vastly expanded, but you-can now obtain

watercolour pencils -allowing you to dissolve or

partially dissolve the colours on the paper with

water. Ordinary coloured pencils differ according to the manufacturer and the series you choose. Some

of them are waxy and extra hard; others are soft

and crumbly, approaching the pastel pencils in texture and effect.

Factories produce billions of coloured pencils to a

high degree of precision, ensuring that once a hue has been established -careful measurements of

components churned automatically in huge drums -

the same colour is reproduced, exactly. The wood

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encasements are often made from soft Californian

cedar so that the pencils can be sharpened without

splitting.

Coloured pencils are more difficult to erase than graphite pencils. The only way to remove a heavy

coloured pencil mark is to scrape it back to the

surface with a sharp blade. However, this type of correction must be severely restricted because the

roughened paper surface quickly becomes

unworkable.

8.1.1 Ordinary Colour Pencils

You can buy ordinary coloured pencils individually or

in sets of up to 72 colours. Children's and general-

purpose coloured pencils are all right for quick

sketching and drawing, but they are less refined than those made specifically for use in the studio.

The pencils can be obtained in round or hexagonal

wooden encasements. They look practically indestructible - but like all pencils, they must be

handled with care. This is something a lot of people

do not realize -if you drop them or treat them roughly; the colour strips inside the wood will

fracture. Thus when you sharpen the pencil the

short crumbled pieces will simply fall away.

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Special coloured pencils are produced for use on film

and acetate. This type of pencil is used mainly by

illustrators and in animation studios, and is

unnecessary for ordinary drawing.

8.1.2 Watercolour Pencils

These can be used as ordinary coloured pencils, or

as 'painting' pencils. When using them in a painterly way, apply clean water with a soft brush to those

areas which you want to blend or soften.

Alternatively, you can dampen the paper first, so

that the marks made by the pencil will bleed and expand slightly to produce a broad, soft line.

Very soft, chunky jumbo-sized watercolour pencils

are now available, ideally suited to large-scale work. They come in sets, complete with their own pencil-

sharpener L standard sharpeners do not fit these

outsize materials.

8.2 Techniques

8.2.1 Cross-hatching

The secret of mixing coloured pencils is to make the

white or light tone of the paper work for you. Artists and illustrators who work frequently with this

versatile medium know that you cannot bully

coloured pencils into forming a particular colour -

you have to cajole them. For example, if you decided to mix green from blue and yellow: -and a

'mixed' green composed of flecks of yellow and blue

is far more interesting than a green which is merely picked from the box -you could not easily achieve

this by simply scribbling dense yellow over dense

blue. The result would be uneven and unattractive, and such closely worked strokes would

automatically prevent you from building up further

colour should you so wish, because the surface

would already have become shiny and unworkable. By far the best approach is to build up the colour

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gradually, using widely spaced lines with plenty of

white paper showing through -as the artist is doing in the illustrations on this page. Cross-hatching is a

good way of doing this because the fine, regular

lines give you maximum control over the final

result.

First, patches of regular blue hatching are applied

evenly over a fairly large expanse of white cartridge

paper -if the area is too small it will be difficult to appreciate the overall effect. Yellow hatching of a

similar texture is then worked on top of this. The

result is a lively, broken colour in which the pure yellow and blue are still discernible, yet which is

interpreted by the viewer as green.

8.2.2 Optical Mixing

The 'optical' mixing demonstrated here is simply a continuation of the cross-hatched colour

combination on the previous page. First, more blue

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is added to darken the tone; the artist then works in

a bright red, lending a warm tone to the overall

colour. Had they been laid over each other in dense

layers, the red, yellow and blue would have turned into a dull mass of uneven brownish-grey; the top

colour would have been the dominant one, and the

general effect become clogged and dull.

But, because the artist allowed plenty of white

paper to show between the strokes, the three

colours combine quite naturally to form a neutral

hue which is brownish-grey when viewed from a distance, but in which the yellow, blue and red are

still visible.

These illustrations demonstrate one of the basic principles of coloured pencil drawing, and they also

help to explain why the medium has become such a

popular one. With coloured pencils you can achieve glowing and shimmering effects by building up the

colours. And the more you can exploit these colour

combinations, the more interesting the result is

likely to be. Why use flat orange, for example, when

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you can create a whole range of exciting, multi-

colour oranges from red, yellow and tinges of any

other colour you care to add? The resulting mixtures

-often delicate and unusual -' have far greater visual impact than flat, commercially mixed colours. Try

your own colour mixing. The result will be

surprisingly effective and encourage you to experiment further with this innovative medium.

8.2.3 Colour Mixing

We have talked about the various ways of mixing colours - including cross-hatching, optical mixing

and overlaying. And with a little practice you will be

able to use the materials without any problem. But knowing how to blend and mix the pencils does not

actually tell you what colours to choose if you want

to make a particular colour. For this you need to

know a little about colour theory, and to experiment by trying as many colour combinations as possible.

Work through your pencil set, taking each colour in

turn and overlaying this with every other colour in the box. You might find it useful to keep a chart of

your discoveries, a handy reference to help you see

at a glance how to mix the colour you want.

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Water-soluble pencils can be blended with water.

After lightly overlaying the required colours, take a

soft brush and work the overlaid colours with a Little

clean water. The result is similar to .that of

watercolour paint, and often has the same delicate

transparent quality. There is one problem with this technique; the colours tend to darken and change -

sometimes quite dramatically - when they are wet.

It is not always easy to know what the result will be. Again, practice will help you to anticipate a likely

outcome. But in any case; you should not attempt

to imitate watercolour paint with watercolour pencils -they are essentially a drawing medium and are at

their best when blending is restricted to limited

areas.

8.2.4 Blending

On the previous pages we looked at effective ways

of mixing colour, of overlaying two or three separate

colours to create a new one. This was made possible by using the white paper and by building up the

pencil lines gradually in several easily controlled

stages. The 'blending' here -is done more directly,

by overlaying colours, one flat area on top of another. If you decide you want this type of flat

tone rather than the broken colours of optical

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mixing and cross-hatching, you must remember the

limitations of the material and proceed carefully.

First, apply the initial colour as lightly as possible

with the side of the pencil. This method does not completely destroy the key of the paper surface and

enables you to add one or two more colours if you

continue to work as lightly, as possible. Deeper tones can be created by building up two or three

flat, light colours but already the artist is finding it

difficult to add further red because the underlying

pencil is too dense to receive more colour.

The texture of the paper is important when blending

coloured pencils. Here the artist made the task

easier by using fairly coarse cartridge paper -the waxy colour got caught on the raised parts of the

support's surface texture, leaving the minute

indents as white, Regular sharpening is another essential if you want to keep the colours unfuzzy

and clear, and the surface of the paper as unclogged

as possible.

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Lesson 9: Pastels

Objectives

To learn the technique of using pastel colours and their areas of application.

Structure

9.1. Material

9.2. Choosing Supports

9.2.1 Oil Pastels 9.3 Techniques

9.3.1 Blending

9.3.2 Mixing

9.3.3 Side of the stick 9.3.4 Scribbled Texture

9.3.5 Texture

9.3.5 a Cross-hatching 9.3.6 Optical Mixing

9.3.7 Oil Pastel and Turpentine

Introduction

Where do pastels really belong? Some say they are really 'paints', and 'pastel painting' is often the term

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used for work done with them; but they are also

linear tools, and therefore they have a rightful place

in a drawing book. In many ways, they belong with

the chunky materials such as the colour sticks, but as they require more practice, they warrant a

section of their own.

Like colour sticks, pastels are ideal for large-scale work and suited to a free, interpretive use of colour.

They can be employed on a small scale but there is

a tendency for this to have a 'chocolate box' look if

you are not careful.

They come in two definite types -the familiar soft,

crumbly pastels and oil pastels. And two completely

different approaches are called for. With soft pastels, colours need to be built up; blended and

overlaid to obtain the right tone and colour. In this

respect they are similar to paints. You therefore need a large range of colours - several tones of the

same colour can be used to obtain a realistic effect.

Look at the pastels of Edgar Degas (1834-1917), a

formidable experimenter with techniques and materials. You will see flesh tones built up with bold

directional strokes of pinks, oranges, mauves and

browns to achieve the subtle, translucent effect of human skin. This technique, however, definitely

needs practice! An amateur's common mistake is to

start by using the colour too densely, making it difficult to add further colours. When you have

become used to them, pastels can be used to

produce a beautiful finished painting with as much

subtlety and detail as you may wish. Soft pastel needs fixing -a light, spray with fixative after each

stage will help stop the fine powder rubbing off as

you work.

The more recent oil pastels are another matter.

Here, there are fewer colours, with a limited range

of tones to each one. They are cruder, and it is difficult to achieve any subtle effects -usually a

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mistake to try. Oil pastels are best for large, bold

work -an immediate effect if you want a lively,

colourful and quick rendering of a subject. They are

extremely handy for outdoor work for this reason. Oil pastels can be dissolved with turps to achieve a

blend, but this is usually best kept to a minimum,

for there is no point using oil pastels if what you really require is a smoothly blended oil painting.

They belong to a quick, bold, instant approach -just

right if you want to build up confidence in drawing

with colour.

9.1 Material

The so-called 'soft' pastels are made from powder

pigment bound with resin or gum to hold them together in stick form: They can be square or round.

Soft pastels come in three grades -soft, medium and

hard. The harder pastels are mixed with extra gum

or binder, which detracts from the colour brilliance; and this is why the softest pastels are the brightest.

When working with soft pastels you need a wide

selection of shades or tints. The lighter the tint, the more white chalk it contains. You can buy the sticks

singly or in sets containing widely varying amounts,

from 12 to more then 300 sticks. You can also

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purchase 'landscape' and 'portrait' sets in which the

colours are biased towards either of these areas.

How the pastels are stored is important. Boxed

pastels are laid on strips of ridged cardboard to separate the colours. Loose pastels become very

grubby, rubbing off on each other until it is

impossible to tell the colours apart. One good idea is to keep loose pastels in a box partially filled with

grains of dried rice -the friction of the grains cleans

the pastels and keeps the sticks sparkling and fresh.

Many artists make their own pastels, by mixing up the pigments and varying quantities of zinc white

with distilled water and. gelatine. Despite the wide

range available, they still prefer to make colours to match their own particular requirements. The lighter

shades are made by increasing the amount of white

each time, so a very large range of tones of one colour can be achieved, to fit in with an individual

taste.

9.2 Choosing Supports

Supports for soft pastels are crucial. The colour of the support will become an important part of the

finished picture, and should be chosen to match the

subject. Papers with a matt or slightly textured surface are best for pastels. Smooth papers are less

suitable although vellum or calligraphy paper is

good for delicate, light pastel work.

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The paper must be of good quality in order to

withstand the layers of pastel work. Special pastel

paper similar to the very finest grade of industrial

sandpaper is available in art shops. Colours adhere thickly to this surface to give a strong, brilliant

effect. Ordinary sandpaper can be used but

produces a very definite effect which you may or may not like.

You need to fix the work, spraying each stage lightly

and allowing it to dry. If you overdo this, however,

you will create a shiny varnished surface which is unworkable. Fixing also alters the colours, so take

care. Many artists fix from the back- spraying the

back of the paper so that some soaks through. Some artists find this less effective, but it does hold

the powdered colour to some extent and does not

darken the colours.

Use a torchon to blend the colours -buy one or

make your own by rolling a piece of paper to form a

stick with a pointed end. Alternatively, you can rub

with tissue paper or fine cloth for larger areas. You can also use a soft brush to lift the colour, and a

kneadable eraser to remove colour.

9.2.1 Oil Pastels

These are heavy -more like oil paint than any other

drawing medium -and they do not crumble like

traditional soft pastels. They are therefore ideal for outdoor colour sketching. They come in bright

colours, usually available in sets. There are less

choices of tone, but oil pastels are' best for bold line work with the occasional block of solid colour or

texture. They are best used on a large scale. Use

strong paper. You can blend the colours with turps.

Limited colour mixing is possible by overlaying colours, but this is not easy to control.

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9.3 Technique

9.3.1 Blending

The secret of successful soft pastel work lies in

colour blending. With practised handling pastels are as versatile as paint, carefully blended to produce a

complete range of subtle tints and hues. These may

be either areas of flat tone, or textured broken

colour.

Here the artist demonstrates one method of

blending two separate colours to create a smooth, yet broken colour combination -an effect often used

to depict skies and water. Bold white streaks are

first drawn on to an expanse of flat blue pastel colour. This is then gently rubbed to remove the

harsh pastel lines and edges, thus merging the

colours.

9.3.2 Mixing

Providing you apply the colour sparingly and lightly,

pastels can be built up in several layers to produce beautiful and shimmering effects of mixed colour.

Only by experimenting and practising will you find

out how different shades and hues combine, and

how many pastel colours can be laid over each other before the paper becomes clogged and unworkable.

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In the illustration here, the artist starts by blocking

in an area of fairly solid purple, lightening this with

thin white streaks. Light red scribbling lends a

pinkish tinge to the overall colour. You might find it helpful to fix each colour with a light spray of

fixative, allowing this to dry before moving on to the

next colour.

9.3.3 Side of the Stick

Paper tone is an important element in pastel

paintings, and this can be better integrated into

your picture if you lay colour with the broad side of the stick.

This method allows the colour to adhere to the

raised parts of the matt pastel support, causing the

paper tone to show through. With a particularly

coarse support, such as watercolour paper, the

effect is even more marked, and has a rough, granular texture. In the demonstration, bright red is

laid evenly on a darker paper; the final tone is

influenced by the deeper tone showing through.

9.3.4 Scribbled Texture

Again, the tone of the underlying paper can be

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exploited by applying colour in scribbled or broken

strokes. This basic technique may seem obvious, yet

it is one of the most important underlying principles

of all pastel work. Practice the method extensively; starting as the artist is here, scribbling a colour on a

tinted paper to produce an area of loosely broken

colour. You can then develop this, lightly adding more colour and tone to achieve the exact

combination you require. Keep the scribbles loose

and wide apart to prevent the colour from becoming

too dense, otherwise you will lose the light, airy quality which this approach creates.

9.3.5 Texture

'Texture' is an all-embracing term which, to the artist, means the visual or tactile surface structure

of the work. Thus: all areas of pattern or built up

marks fall into this very broad category. Try out as

many textures as you can think of. In this way you will have at your disposal a store of techniques -a

sort of visual repertoire -to fall back on, and your

work will be more creative and lively as a result. Here the artist experiments with a texture of looped

scribbles starting with one colour and adding to this

with further colours worked in the same looped strokes.

9.3.5a Cross-hatching

Cross-hatching with pastel is unusual, simply

because it is not strictly necessary. There are quicker ways of building up colour and texture when

using pastels. However, hatching and cross-hatching

does produce a crisp linear effect which can often provide a welcome contrast to the soft, smudgy

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nature of much pastel work. Use the pastel in

exactly the same way that you would work with a

pencil or pen, building up small regular lines to

produce an overall criss-cross texture. Here the dark red paper shows through, deepening the colour of

the final effect.

9.3.6 Optical Mixing

All coloured drawing materials are ideal for mixing

colour optically, and the small flecks, which mix in

the eye rather than being blended together on the

paper, can be easily and quickly dotted in with pastel. The soft, broad tip of the stick produces a

largish

mark, and the slight flick of colour, created naturally

as you lay dots quickly, provides an irregular mark which prevents the pattern from looking too

mechanical. Here the artist combines light blue dots

with bright red ones, using the tone of the paper as a third colour in the finished effect

9.3.7 Oil Pastel and Turpentine

Oil pastels can be dissolved with turpentine or

white spirit, enabling you to blend colours smoothly

and completely. However, it is not a method which

should be overdone. For full effect, limit these blended areas to selected parts of your drawing,

and try blending the selected colours on a separate

sheet of paper first -the strength and tone of oil

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pastels increase a lot when diluted with turpentine.

Practise the technique by laying two colours next to

each other and using a brush or clean rag dipped in

turpentine to dissolve and work the colours together.

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Lesson 10: Pen, Brush and

Ink

Structure:

10.1 Materials 10.1.1 Technical Pens

10.1.1.1 Dips Pens

10.1.1.2 Ballpoints 10.1.1.3 Fountain pens

10.1.1.4 Quills and Reed Pens

10.1.2 Inks

10.1.3 Brushes

10.2 Techniques

10.2.1 Technical Pen 10.2.2 Quill Pen

10.2.3 Brush

10.2.4 Ballpoint Pen

This is a medium which was used by some of the great masters centuries ago and is still easily

available, not only in its traditional form but also in

a wide range of modern variations. When you sit down with pen, brush and ink, you may be working

directly in the tradition of past artists such as

Rembrandt (1606-69), who created drawings with

brown ink and wash -some as preliminary sketches for paintings but many as finished pictures in their

own right. Yet you are also working with a medium

which allows for a great deal of experiment, for it embraces some of the latest materials,

This creative medium allows you to combine line

with areas of colour and tone. If can be used in monochrome or in multi-coloured pictures. You can

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work with line alone, or you can use line with blocks

of colour. Our artist demonstrates a line drawing

with a technical pen; a bright circus scene with

blocks of pure colour enlivened with dip pen and line; and a quick sketch made with an ordinary

ballpoint pen.

You would be well advised to experiment with different pens. Get the feel of an old quill pen and

compare it with- modern fountain pens, ballpoints

and technical pens. The medium can be used for

finished works or for rapid on-the-spot sketching. Inks are now available in a huge range of colours,

some brilliant or even fluorescent; they also come

as concentrates.

There are various ways of exploring the possibilities

and limitations of the medium. You can experiment

with brush drawings, such as the Chinese 'boneless' style without outlines. You can start with line and

add colour, or begin with blocks of solid colour and

add line.

For the beginner, ballpoints and technical pens are ideal training tools. There are no precedents (no old

master ballpoint drawings!), and therefore you can

feel completely free to experiment. And the limitations of these tools can also be turned to

advantage for quick sketching -they produce rather

boring, unvaried lines in themselves. This means you can concentrate on getting down the

information without worrying about how the finished

drawing looks. You can work tight or loose, or

combine these two approaches in the same work. The uncompromising lines will also force you to

tackle directly some of the basic techniques of

drawing, such as hatching and cross-hatching, to achieve a tonal effect.

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10.1. Materials

These materials include the ordinary, everyday pens

which can be bought in stationery shops and also

some of the more technical types of pen. Even though there has been impressive technological

development in this field, the old-fashioned quill has

still not disappeared, and in fact is increasingly used by artists who like its characteristic, natural-looking

line. The quill is direct opposite, the modem

technical pen, is a rewarding challenge if you are a

beginner seeking to explore some of the basic principles of drawing. Our artist chooses a technical

pen to illustrate some of these principles.

10.1.1 Technical pens

The tubular nib of the technical pen produces a

regular, ungiving line. This is suited to graphic,

linear work, and our artist uses one in the still life

on page 70. Technical pens can be bought at art shops and graphic suppliers. You can obtain

different nibs -sometimes called 'stylos'- from very

fine to very broad. The number varies with the make. One manufacturer produces 19, another 12.

The tubular nibs can clog and must be cleaned after

use with a proprietary solvent cleaner. You can use special inks, made by the pen manufacturers and

obtainable along with the pens, to help prevent this

clogging. But if a nib does clog, soaking in solvent

cleaner can often save it.

10.1.1.1 Dip Pens

These are the pens once associated with

schoolrooms, where children made blots on their initial, scratchy efforts at handwriting. Dipping the

pen into the ink and controlling the lines on paper

was not easy for young schoolchildren at first,

because. the pen itself does not greatly restrict the flow of ink, and it responds to varied pressure on

the paper. It is for these very reasons that the dip

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pen is popular with artists. The pen gives a varied

and undulating line which can be turned to different

effects. Most art shops have a range of nibs which

are used in the same standard holder; and for tiny, extra-fine lines there are mapping nibs with their

own small holders. You need a good supply of nibs.

They don't last for ever, and with constant pressure they tend to spread.

10.1.1.2 Ballpoints

These are cheap and easily available. Although they

do not make interesting or varied line's, they are ideal for the quick sketch which is to be used as a

reference for later work in the studio or home. They

come in limited ranges of colour, usually red; blue, black and green.

10.1.1.3 Fountain pens

Fountain or reservoir pens are also useful for

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drawing. They offer a variable line -not quite as

interesting as that of the dip pen, but you do not

have to keep stopping to dip into the ink, so they

are useful for sketching. Remember, however, that the nibs are riot designed for drawing, and

consequently they can be comparatively short-lived.

10.1.1.4 Quills and Reed Pens

These earliest types of drawing materials have

maintained their popularity over the centuries

because of their ability to produce varied lines and

often beautiful effects. Quills are available in art shops, You will need practice in order to develop

their versatility. They require cutting frequently, to

form anew nib, because the tip soon softens; use a sharp blade or craft knife for this.

Reed pens can also be bought at many art shops

and these make a hard, jerky line, capturing the

linear effect of dip pens but on a completely different scale. You need to dip into the ink a great

many times with quills and reeds, and you should

experiment to collect the right amount of ink and avoiding flooding and blotting,

10.1.2 Inks

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The last few years have seen a big increase in the

range of inks. Water soluble and waterproof are the

main categories. Inks come in all colours.

Waterproof concentrates can be obtained in bottles, and they are very strong. The colours can be diluted

as required, allowing for some degree of

experimentation. They come in a 'very good range of colours. Some of these, however, are fugitive and

fade quickly.

10.1.3 Brushes

Any watercolour brushes can be used with inks. For line painting, sable has a nice, springy quality, but

sable- mixes and other hair brushes, are also

effective. Synthetic brushes are suitable, although they have less spring. Chinese and Japanese

brushes have soft, pointed bristles, good for flowing,

natural lines.

10.2 Techniques

10.2.1 Technical Pen

The technical pen forces you to use line, and only

line. Tone, texture and pattern must all be created from this single element, and you therefore need to

be as resourceful and inventive as possible when

using this piece of equipment. And the regular, mechanical line -so restricting in many ways -also

has its compensations. For example, the rigid

tul1ular nib can be relied upon not to flood and blot,

and you can exploit this constant factor by extensively weaving the fine lines into a wealth of

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different textures and surface patterns. Here the

artist builds up regular marks of cross-hatched tone,

using the smooth surface of white card to help

produce the final, graphic effects.

10.2.2 Quill Pen

The old-fashioned quill pen differs from the modem

technical pen in almost every way. Here, the problem is not one of how to make a mechanical

line more interesting, but rather one of having a line

which is uniquely interesting, but can also be too

irregular and sometimes difficult to control! The quill needs practice, and you will have to dip into the ink

frequently as you work. Do not attempt a neatly

rendered drawing-instead, make the most of the natural, undulating marks which your feather pen

produces. Here the artist uses a scribbly line to

produce an area of broken tone from the irregular

hatching.

10.2.3 Brush

Watercolour brushes make ideal drawing tools. The

finer the brush, the more delicate the line. But a

word of warning -the artist who draws with the brush, must be relaxed and well-versed in the

medium.

Tension or uncertainty will be reflected in the quality of the lines, and the smooth, articulate flow which

typifies the best brushwork will not be achieved. So

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spend same time getting used to the technique of

brush drawing. Ideally, decide where you want to

make the mark, and then apply it boldly and

confidently -don't work cautiously, or hold the brush too tightly. Here, the characteristic tapering lines of

the watercolour brush are used to create an area of

tone.

10.2.4 Ballpoint Pen

With ballpoint pens, you are not ain1ing for subtle

drawing. This everyday, familiar writing tool comes

into its own as a quick, convenient means of sketching when more conventional drawing tools are

unavailable. Its techniques are confined to

unexpressive line, hatching and scribbling, so get used to working within these limitations. Our artist

uses scribble tone a lot when sketching with a

ballpoint pen, usually starting with a loose, overall pattern, and then building this up to the required

darkness or density.

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Lesson 11: Markers

Structure

11.1.1 Materials

11.1.2 Markers

11.1.3 Felt-tip pens

11.1.4 Fine Liners

11.1.5 Techniques

11.1.6 Using Markers

11.1.7 Making Texture

11.1.8 Using Lighter Fuel

Technology is relentlessly improving upon the

marker and fibre-tip pen, and new products are coming on to the market all the time. There is no

need to recoil in puritanical shock from this brash

young medium -it is available for all types of artists to experiment with, even though they have come to

be associated norri1ally with the graphic artist's

studio. For the fine artist, the wide variety of

products available offers a whole range of colours and lines which can be used in a completely

different way from their normal commercial role.

The 'traditional' wedge tipped studio markers, with their thick rectangular drawing points, are

commonly used for presentation work, graphic

design and occasionally for animation. In the commercial studio, marker artists are specialists

who learn a whole range of techniques to fit the

product. Wood grain, reflective metal surfaces and

even the subtle gradations or tints of portrait and figure work can be miraculously rendered with

markers. However, without going to these lengths of

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expertise, and without producing the finish

necessary in studio work, markers can be borrowed

from their commercial settings to produce lovely

and unusual drawings. They exist in their own right as a colourful and chunky drawing material.

All artists use them in an individual way -creating

graphic pictures which exploit the crisp quality of markers; yet making the colours work in a

controlled manner. However, he has not forgotten

the basic characteristics of the medium. Remember

that you cannot produce traditionally-rendered pictures with a flat colour. There are limitations. The

secret is to choose a subject which suits this

medium, something which can be illustrated in a striking, graphic manner, rather than a subject

calling for traditional toning. Look for something

bright and bold -and have a go.

There are numerous felt-tip pens, liners, fibre-tip

brushes and other tools which come into this broad

new category. You don't have to become an expert

in them all. You are probably familiar with some of these pens as writing tools. Be open-minded and

experiment with the different marks. A good artist is

not dependent on conventional pens and pencils -a marker or felt-tip pen can be made to do -some

spectacular work.

11.1 Materials

As any artist knows there are thousands of markers, fibre-tip pens and related drawing implements now

on the market. Not only does every manufacturer

produce its own range of such materials, but these are changing and being developed all the time, with

superb and bewildering ranges to choose from.

For the fine artist, however, there is no need to worry too much about technical categories, or about

their specialist role in the designer's studio. Your

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interest will probably be of a more general and

experimental nature.

11.1.1 Markers

Wedge tipped markers come in sets or can be bought individually. Each marker has a broad,

obliquely cut felt tip which draws the ink from the

cylindrical, glass holder. This glass holder has a removable screw top to allow for refills. Many artists

prefer these traditional markers to some of the

more recent streamlined types because when not in

use they can be stood upright rather than left around the desk or table. Markers come in a wide

range of colours, and each colour is usually available

in a number of shades. For example, one product has nine cool greys and nine warm greys. The

colours are very accurate, but they do darken with

use. The life of a marker can be extended by

diluting the ink with lighter fuel, although this obviously lightens the colour.

Marker artists generally work on special marker

paper because the colours tend to bleed on ordinary, more porous surfaces. This makes them

unsuitable for the slick finish which markers are

most often used for. However, as a drawing and sketching medium this may not matter indeed, you

probably prefer a brighter, more spontaneous effect.

The marker ink is soluble in lighter fuel, making it

easy to spread the colour in graded washes. It is also an effective way of creating broken colour and

texture.

11.1.2 Felt-tip Pens

Broadly speaking, felt-tips are flexible arid wide.

Markers fall into this category. There are many

other brands available. Some, such as the luminous

'highlighters', are made specifically for office use. Others come in a range of colours and are available

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from art and graphic suppliers. Look at the label to

see if you are buying a soluble or waterproof

product.

'Brush' pens have a soft, pliable tip and produce lines similar to those made with a watercolour

brush. Some of these have a solid, pithy tip; others

are actually made like brushes, with tiny synthetic bristles.

Again, the choice is a wide choice. Try one or two

brands to see which suit you best. Some have hard

tips; others are more flexible; some pens are water soluble, others permanent. You can buy sets of felt-

tips in a wide range of colours -some of these are

manufactured specially for the artist, others for use in the office or playroom. The 'office' variety tends

to come in limited colours, often black, blue, red or

green.

For drawing and sketching, your main concern will

probably be with the width and type of tip. New tips

are usually rigid and produce a hard line, and

become more flexible after being used. Many artists keep two pens to hand -a new one for strong, hard

lines, and an old favourite with a 'broken in' tip for

softer shading.

11.1.3 Fine Liners

The terms 'fine liner' issued broadly for all those

synthetic tip pens which produce a characteristic

thin, spidery line. These pens are used in offices and graphic design and illustration studios. In many

ways the fine liner is a disposable version of the

technical pen – sometimes these drawings are almost indistinguishable from one done with a

technical pen. Fine liners are excellent for detailed,

illustrative work and for small-scale drawings and sketches.

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11.2 Techniques

11.2.1 Using Markers

Probably the most popular type of marker in use is

the wedge-tipped variety, so-called because of its broad chiselled end. With this one drawing tool you

can make three widths of line, lay broad areas of

colour and tone, and glaze one colour over another.

Practice is the key to successful marker work. Markers have definite limitations, and specialist

marker artists readily admit that their job consists

chiefly of finding ways round these limitations. However, if you are using markers solely as an

adventurous drawing and sketching medium, you

need not worry about these professional drawbacks. Your main concern is to familiarize yourself with the

materials so that you can use them confidently and

quickly. The techniques on this page are simple and

straightforward, but you do need to try them out several times before attempting to integrate them

into a drawing. Use good quality products -not only

are the results smoother and easier to achieve, but the colours are less likely to bleed and 'drag' into

each other when one marker is laid over another.

The wedge-tipped studio marker is capable of producing a variety of marks. Here the artist

uses different sides of the felt-tip to make broad,

medium and narrow lines. Practise this until you

achieve a smooth, even flow -by turning the marker as you draw, you can vary the width of a

particular line, producing a flowing, undulating

mark.

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To lay a flat

colour, work

quickly in broad;

horizontal lines, taking each line

over the edge of

the previous one before it has time

to dry. For a

large expanse of

colour, use lighter fuel to

spread the ink.

To overlay

colour, allow the first layer to dry

before working

quickly over this

with a second colour. Providing

you choose a

good quality product, work

quickly, and allow

the first colour to dry properly, the

second colour

should not 'drag'

or disturb the underlying

colour.

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11.2.2 Making Texture

1. Markers produce a steady flow of even colour.

This makes them excellent for some types of

work, but limits their use in other ways. For instance, to produce the light feathery texture

demonstrated here, the artist works in loose,

scribbly strokes, relying on the irregular, broken shapes of white paper showing through to

produce the textural effect.

2. Broad flecks of colour are laid with the wide end

of the marker strip. The pattern of such marks

can be varied to suit the subject in hand, and the flecks can be close and dense or wide apart,

depending on the required texture and density of

colour. Here the marks are laid in a loosely parallel fashion. The technique is often used by

this artist to block-in wide expanses of flat

ground -the direction of the marks being used to

indicate the direction of the flow of the landscape.

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3. Use the side of the marker strip for blocking in

broad areas. Again, the technique is useful for

wide, directional sweeps of colour. To achieve a

flatter effect, use lighter fuel with the marker (see following page).

11.2. Using Lighter Fuel

Lighter fuel-normally used to refill cigarette lighters-is extremely versatile and useful, and an essential

item in the marker artist's studio. Not only can it be

used to dilute the ink, thus extending the life of a

marker, but it can also be exploited to create a whole range of texture effects. Although most

marker manufacturers make proprietary solvents,

specially suited to their particular products, lighter fuel is a cheap, all-purpose alternative and works

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quite adequately with all petroleum-based markers.

You must, however, treat lighter fuel with respect.

It is highly flammable and it also gives off

dangerous fumes, so be sure to work in a well-ventilated area, away from cigarettes and naked

light.

Although markers can be used to create flat areas of colour, this becomes tricky if you have to cover very

large areas. The ink tends to dry in streaks before

you have time to blend the edges. However, if you

first spread lighter fuel over the area to be rendered, the marker colour remains wet long

enough for the marks to bleed, or blend together

and the result is completely even. This technique can be adapted to create multi-coloured 'washes',

and to lay graded colours.

Choice of paper affects results, especially when using lighter fuel to spread the colour. Proper

marker paper is sealed on one -occasionally, both -

sides. This stops the marker inks from bleeding,

thus producing brighter colours and also enabling you to produce crisp shapes and hard edges. Other

papers, not specially prepared for use with markers,

absorb colour and give a softer, amorphous effect. One drawback with 'non marker' papers is that the

colour soaks through to the reverse side. This can

be messy and will spoil any paper underneath, especially if you are working on a pad.

1. To lay an area of flat colour, first sprinkle the

lighter fuel across the area to be blocked in.

Work on the sealed side of the marker paper, using enough fuel to cover the area properly, but

taking care not to flood the paper. Spread the

fuel with a clean rag or tissue.

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2. Holding the marker strip firmly between the thumb and forefinger, lay the colour with

parallel, overlapping stripes. As the marker ink

starts to run out, the colour becomes lighter.

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Summary: Students should understand the role of colouring

and rendering and decide on the medium most

suitable for a particular presentation work. The most commonly used and available materials are:

graphite pencils, Colour pencils Pastels, Pen brush

and ink and Markers.

The most common of all drawing instruments, the

graphite pencil, is by no means the easiest to

use.The pencil is ideal for detail, and for smaller-

scale working. It can be made to produce pictures with amazing contrasts and subtleties of tone and

textures. Generally speaking, soft pencils make

dark, thick lines; hard ones produce light, thin lines. Clutch pencils, Graphite Sticks, Graphite Powder etc

are used to get different effects.

Hard pencils produce hard lines that are paler,

thinner line than the softer grades, and are generally less popular with artists than soft pencils.

But the thin light line is sometimes useful for an

initial drawing which is required to be inconspicuous and not to smudge.

Soft lines are produced by soft pencils. Dark soft

lines characterize the graphite pencils at the soft end of the range.

The marks you can make with a hard pencil are

limited to light grey, whether you are working in

line, tone or texture which is just like a hard scribble.

The B pencils, the soft ones, offer a range of deeper

tones. A newcomer to the pencil family, these chunky studio pencils have flattened strips. The

advantage here is that, by turning the pencil round,

you can alter the width of your line. Graphite sticks allow you to make bold lines and to block in solid

areas. Blending

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You can rub pencil lines to soften their effect. The

softer the pencil, of course, the more effective

this type of blending will be.

There are ordinary Colour Pencils and water colour pencils. Cross hatching, optical mixing, colour

mixing and blending are the most commonly used

techniques.

The secret of mixing coloured pencils is to make the

white or light tone of the paper work for you. Colour

pencils can be used for optical mixing i.e. two-three

colours are mixed to produce a different colour by means of any rendering technique.

The so-called 'soft' pastels are made from powder pigment bound with resin or gum to hold them

together in stick form: They can be square or round.

Soft pastels come in three grades -soft, medium and hard. The harder pastels are mixed with extra gum

or binder, which detracts from the colour brilliance;

and this is why the softest pastels are the brightest.

Pastels are heavy -more like oil paint than any

other drawing medium -and they do not crumble

like traditional soft pastels. They are therefore ideal for outdoor colour sketching. They come in bright

colours, usually available in sets. The techniques of

using pastels are the same like blending, mixing, using the side of the stick etc.

Other than colours and graphite pencils, another

medium of rendering is pens. There are many

technical pens available like rotrings with very delicate and flat tip, ball pens, gel pens, fountain

pens.

The old tool of writing reed and quill pens, brushes and ink can also be used to create different style of

rendering. Markers can also be helpful in rendering.

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Assignments and learning activities 1. Students have to do exercises with the help of

the available mediums using two or more

mediums.

2. Students must do a number of assignments

using the all the materials discussed to gain

proficiency in work.

Intext Questions:

1. Discuss any two materials used for rendering and

their application and technique to use.

2. Write short notes on

a) stippling

b) scribbling

c) blending

d) cross hatching.

Terminal Questions:

1. On what basis would you choose the colour

medium for rendering any composition? Explain with the help of examples.

2. Transfer the following view on a ivory sheet and

render the same in the following mediums:

a) Poster Colours

b) Water Colours

c) Pen and Ink

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1) Transfer the following view onto a gateway

tracing sheet and render it in the following mediums:

a) Pencil Colours

b) Crayons

c) Technical Pens

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Unit – IV

Texture and Pattern

Lesson 12: Texture

Lesson 13: Patterns

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Lesson 12: Texture

Objectives To explore texture and the application to interior

design. To understand the importance of texture in any space.

Structure

12.1 Texture: surface

12.2 Overview

12.2.1 Find Relief with texture

12.2.2 The feel of texture

12.2.3 The look of texture

12.2.4 Texture affects colour

12.2.5 Patterns & Weaves produce

texture

12.2.6 Textures in a Room

12.2.7 Wall Coverings

12.2.8 Paints

12.2.9 Masonry

12.2.10 Hard Flooring

12.2.11 Fabrics

12.2.12 Trimmings

12.2.13 Straw, Cane, Rush

12.2.14 Pattern Creates Interest

12.2.15 Room Emotion by Texture

12.2.16 Combining Textures

12.1 Texture: Surface Attributes

Texture is the definition of surface attributes having either visual or actual variety. Soft velvet, rough

stucco walls, coarse sisal fibre flooring, colour

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alternation, smooth glass, and rock jaggedness to

name a few examples.

Except for colour, nothing adds so much interest to

a room as pattern and texture. Although technically, everything has texture, smooth surfaces lack the

three dimensional interest of rougher surfaces. The

shadow play that sets up in textural materials, creating changing patterns & subtle nuances of

colour, is part of magic.

Another element is the pleasure that many textures,

smooth or rough, give the sense of touch -a pleasure that is suggested just by looking at them

12.2 Overview

12.2.1 Find Relief with Texture

Surfaces that have character bring visual interest to

the room without sacrificing overall visual harmony.

The attention to detail becomes apparent when the

occupant gets closer to the texture. This invites feeling the depth or relief of the surface while

interacting with the room.

The rule for texture is the same as that for colour. Don't over do it. Just as a room lacking in texture is

bland, so one with an excess of textured materials,

or one with too many kinds, is distracting. What is needed is a delicate balance of smooth, pile & rough

texture, each one enhancing the other.

12.2.1.1 The Feel of Texture

Building bricks, gravel walls & burlap curtains feel rough to the touch. Satin feels smooth -so does a

painted window sill or a glass tumbler. Velvet feels

soft -so does a kitten's fur; & moss feels soft & cool. The skin of a peach feels fuzzy. Contrast the sharp

scratchiness of steel wool or sandpaper with cold,

slick feel of metal.

12.2.1.2 The Look of Texture

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Some textures spell enjoyment to you and you are

drawn to touch them; others indicate by their look

that you will dislike them & you avoid contact with

them whenever possible. You know when you look at it that a thistle or a thorn will be prickly, or that

steel wool will be rough. The rough look of some

ceramic cups might make you decide that you do not want to drink from them. So long as you do not

touch them, some imitation textures wallpaper that looks like cork, vinyl flooring that simulates brick -

can create the effect to the real thing.

12.2.1.3 Texture Affects Colour

A shiny smooth surface reflects light & the colour

appears clear & bright. Rough materials absorbs or

takes up some of the light & the colour may appear deeper and duller. Velvet because of its deep -cut

pile both absorbs & reflects light, so the colour

appears to be different in the folds of the fabric.

12.2.1.4 Patterns & Weaves Produce Texture

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You will find a difference in texture within the same

kind of material. Velvet made from cotton differs

from that made from nylon in feel & appearance.

Plastered walls may be smooth or rough. Wood may be sanded satin smooth, but the grain pattern gives

more texture to some types. Paper has many

textures: the smooth, thin look of tissue; the coarse roughness of construction paper; the many

variations in wallpaper and all the different kinds of

gift-wrappings available today. So pattern can

contribute to the textured look of materials

Small all -over pattern is upholstery or curtain

fabrics lose their detail & appears as a textured

fabric. The design gives it a textured look. Examine the plain weave & fine thread of sheer, crisp

organdie, the smooth finish of a percale sheet. Each

of the many different WPt1ves contributes to the final fabric texture, & each finds its own companions

in other materials.

12.2.2 Textures in a Room

12.2.2.1 Wall Coverings

Amongst those with real texture which you can feel

are grass, cloth, cork, bamboo, suede, and both

fabrics and papers with velvet like flocking. In addition there is a simulating everything from silk to

marble, including taffeta, damask, lines, bricks etc.

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12.2.2.2 Paints

There are some paints with texture incorporated

into the mixture to give a graining or stucco like

effect.

12.2.2.3 Masonry

Stone, bricks, Concrete, all have distinctive surface, often So three dimensional that the play of light and

shadow has particularly handsome effect

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12.2.2.4 Hard Flooring

You can use natural materials with tangible texture,

such as wood, marble, brick, terrazzo, stone, or ceramic tiles, or vinyl flooring that imitates these

material.

12.2.2.5 Fabrics

Use of curtains, draperies, upholstery, slipcovers, flooring coverings, bedspreads etc., and offer

limitless variations in texture. The basic meaning of

texture is "something woven".

Linen comes in all textures from a heavy basket

weave to the: finest gauze. Cotton ranges from silky percale to rugged corduroy, Wool is sometimes used

for fine-textured casement cloth but is found more

frequently in tapestry or frieze types or upholstery fabrics and in rugs and carpets. Silk is used for

producing velvet, brocade, damask, taffeta, crepe,

satin etc.

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12.2.2.6 Trimmings

Fringes, tassels, embroidery and appliqué are useful

for adding three dimensional interest to a smooth

fabric.

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12.2.2.7 Straw, Cane, Rush

Woven in a variety of ways, these contribute texture

to chair seats, headboards, cabinet doors, mats,

lamp bases and shades, screens, baskets, trays etc. The effect of texture may be formal or informal.

Silk, damask, satin, fine-grained woods, elaborately

carved surfaces are thought of as belonging in formal rooms; tweeds, muslin, chintz, brick, furs,

are informal ones. Textures can also affect the

dimensions of a room A high or shaggy piles of a

rug tends to 'fill' the room from the hot tom up and makes a low ceiling seem even lower.

12.2.3 Pattern Creates Interest

The presence of a design adds variety and excitement to any surface. Pattern is sometimes a

by-product of texture -as in a brick wall, or a tiled

floor -and this kind of pattern must be kept in mind

while planning a room. On the other hand, very small pattern lose their design when viewed from a

distance; the effect is simply to give the material a

textured look.

The safest course is to avoid using more than one

strong pattern in a room. However, some of the most striking effects are achieved by a combination

of designs. Two important patterns will live very well

together if they are related in design but different in scale. You might combine a pattern featuring a large

rose design with a small all-over rosebud print.

Another possibility for the second or third pattern would be a coordinated geometrical such as a plaid,

stripe or trellis motif.

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A pattern in the rug or carpet often dictates plain

walls and subdued designs in drapery or upholstery

fabric.

Like colour and texture, pattern can play tricks on you're eyes. A wallpaper with a vertical design

makes a ceiling look higher, while a strong

horizontal motif seemingly lowers the ceiling's height. A large pattern may seem out of scale in a

small room, while in a large room, a small pattern

tends to be overwhelming. A great deal of pattern in

a room seems to fill it up, while too much pattern

can made a room look crowded

Pattern can disguise architectural defects. A hall or foyer cut up by many doors can be given a unified

look by covering the walls and doors with an

exciting pattern. A small all-over pattern is good for

disguising patchy walls

A bold, strongly coloured, or splashy pattern is

usually better confined to a fairly small area, where

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it will provide a centre of interest. Used too lavishly,

it seems overpowering.

12.2.4 Room Emotion by Texture

Removed: sharp, repeating, radial, concentric

Open: smooth, shiny, reflective, rippled

Enclosed: soft, Rough, fuzzy, jaggy, velvet,

fibrous

Formal: grid, straight lines (like brushed

stainless steel)

Down to Earth: fibres, weaves, wicker, rough,

terra cotta

Functional: smooth surfaces clean easy but

reflect noise and light. Rough textures absorb

sound and light, but do not clean easily and untreated fibre can stain.

Texture can appear smooth or solid if the scale or

appearance of scale is small enough. This is

exaggerated by foreshortening when the areas of uniqueness or variety in the surface are no longer

discernable.

Bring the outdoors inward by providing textural transitions like rock and tile entryways, hard wood

flooring and natural fibre wall coverings. Create

visual interest without making the room feel enclosed, ornamental or busy, as large patterns

tend to do.

12.2.5 Combining Textures

Cohesive use of texture creates harmony. Mixing textures without context to one another, challenges

tradition and creates a mood of avant-garde.

Consider what an embossed fabric sofa in a room with sculpted carpet might look like. Would the

textures compete? What about a corduroy jacket

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with a velvet pair of pants or natural fibre shirt. Too

much texture or exciting and on-the-edge?

Combining patterns with more contrast of scale

helps the eye distinguish areas of interest and will prevent visual confusion. Textures lose their visual

variety when the viewer is further away; so small

textures capitalize on visual interest without visually cluttering the room.

Rough textured objects seem to advance, take up

more space, while smooth textured ones seem to

recede. A small object with a very textured surface will generally balance larger piece that has a

smoother surface. The texture of wall makes a

difference in the optical size of a room Smooth fabrics seem better suited to painted, delicately

styled furniture.

Heavier styles of coarse -grained woods may demand a sturdier fabric. Too much of the same can

be monotonous.

12.2.6 Expressions often used with

texture

The following terms may help to communicate the

intent of the designer internally or to a client.

Comparative perspective - the ability to discern and compare depth differences via

foreshortening.

Foreshortening - patterns, lines and shapes

becoming visibly smaller while the furthest edges of an object appear to close together toward a

single vanishing point in the distance.

Relief - surfaces having depth, dimension or varying shallow elevation.

Surface attributes - differentiation, depth or

variety of the surface

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Lesson 13: Pattern

Objectives

To explore pattern and its effects on designs. To

understand the importance of creating patterns

in any space to design

Structure

13.1 Combination of motifs

13.2 Overview

13.2.1 A Pattern for living

13.2.2 Combining Patterns

13.2.3 Expressions often used with pattern

13.1 Combination of motifs

Pattern is the combination of motifs like shapes,

lines, colours, textures, and relief used to form a composition. If each one of the motifs is large

enough to be seen readily, the composition is known

as pattern and may not be repetitive. If the motifs are too small or emphasize relief and depth that can

be felt, the composition is known as a texture.

13.2 Overview:

13.2.1 A Pattern for Living

Patterns exist in nature as well as man-made

materials. The ability to look at a composition and

see it overall or move around it to explore detail is what provides rich visual interest. An example of

this would be looking at a rocky cliff. From a

distance its main colours, shapes and depth can be seen. Moving close to it reveals veins,

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inconsistencies in colour, tonal changes, sharp or

jagged relief, cracks, and smaller areas of change.

During the Baroque era from 1600 - 1700 A.D.,

extensive ornamental pattern in tapestries, rugs, wall hangings, upholstery, and flooring were used to

create a sense of grandeur and formality. It was a

time of discovery about detail and pattern in both science and living.

The effective use of pattern is the metamorphosis of

sterile unbroken expanses into live, stimulating

surrounds of detail. It can make a large space seem smaller and more elaborate, establish a small

collection of furniture into its own environment

helping break up space, or create a painterly, cozy feeling for a small room.

Patterns help define shape and space. They are

mechanisms for comparative perspective. Depth perception for objects without pattern is dependent

on shading while a pattern provides depth through

shading and perspective. The motif of a floral print

appears smaller as it gets further away from the viewer. A great example is the pattern on the edges

of a throw pillow wrapping around which make it

appear to have more dimension.

13.2.2 Combining Patterns

How is it that we don't often see two different plaids

worn together? Very similar size, colour, style, or

tonal ranges of patterns being combined causes conflict, lacks harmony and just doesn't look good.

Competing detail can prevent fluid eye movement

from one area of pattern to the next.

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A single primary pattern can be selected from which

secondary patterns of different scale, saturation, colour or style visually support. This tends to keep a

room from overwhelming the viewer.

A contemporary effect can be achieved by

juxtaposing many strong secondary patterns together without a primary pattern. This can create

visual confusion and does not follow traditional

design.

By combining many subtle secondary patterns, a

room can maintain its openness yet look more

dimensional.

13.2.3 Expressions often used with pattern

The following terms may help to communicate the

intent of the designer internally or to a client.

1. Comparative perspective - the ability to discern

and compare depth differences via

foreshortening.

2. Composition - the unity of various elements either actual or implied that can be evaluated as

a whole.

3. Foreshortening - patterns, lines and shapes becoming visibly smaller while the furthest edges

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of an object appear to close together toward a

single vanishing point in the distance.

4. Motif - pronounced 'moe-teef'. A stylistic visual

expression or representation.

5. Relief - surfaces having depth, dimension or

varying shallow height.

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Summary:

Texture is the definition of surface attributes having

either visual or actual variety. Soft velvet, rough

stucco walls, coarse sisal fibre flooring, colour alternation, smooth glass, and rock jaggedness to

name a few examples. Surfaces that have character

bring visual interest to the room without sacrificing overall visual harmony. Some textures spell

enjoyment to you and you are drawn to touch them;

others indicate by their look that you will dislike

them & you avoid contact with them whenever possible. A shiny smooth surface reflects light & the

colour appears clear & bright. Rough materials

absorb or take up some of the light & the colour may appear deeper and duller. Pattern can

contribute to the textured look of materials.

Wall Coverings, Paints, Masonry, Hard Flooring,

Fabrics, Trimmings, Straw, Cane, Rush all have a different texture and hence create different feel in

the space.

Texture can appear smooth or solid if the scale or appearance of scale is small enough. Cohesive use

of texture creates harmony.

Like colour and texture, pattern can play tricks on you're eyes. Pattern is the combination of motifs like

shapes, lines, colours, textures, and relief used to

form a composition. If each one of the motifs is

large enough to be seen readily, the composition is known as pattern and may not be repetitive. If the

motifs are too small or emphasize relief and depth

that can be felt, the composition is known as a texture.

Patterns help define shape and space. A single

primary pattern can be selected from which secondary patterns of different scale, saturation,

colour or style visually support. This tends to keep a

room from overwhelming the viewer.

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Assignment and learning activities 1. Students have to understand visual and tactile

texture.

2. Make pencil rubbings of an object with tactile texture. Students may create design plates of

painted visual and tactile textures.

3. On a design plate, paint a smooth and a rough surface with the same paint. Notice the colour

differences on the painted surfaces.

4. Students can even explore the light reflection

from various textures and how this affects the amount of light in an area.

Terminal exercises:

1. Explain the following terms:

a) Motif

b) Surface attribution

c) Foreshortening

d) Relief

2. Where all can a texture be used in a room? Give

examples in each.

Intext exercise

1. What do you understand by the term ―texture‖?

What is the difference between visual and tactile

texture?

2. What points should you keep in mind while choosing textures for a room?

3. Explain with the help of examples how textures

can assist in creating optical illusions.

4. What is the relationship between texture and

pattern?

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5. What are the prominent areas in a room where

you can use textures? Explain with the help of

examples.

6. How does texture effect colour and vice versa. Discuss in detail.

Key words:

Comparative perspective - the ability to discern

and compare depth differences via

foreshortening.

Composition - the unity of various elements

either actual or implied that can be evaluated as

a whole.

Foreshortening - patterns, lines and shapes

becoming visibly smaller while the furthest edges

of an object appear to close together toward a

single vanishing point in the distance.

Motif - pronounced 'moe-teef'. A stylistic visual

expression or representation.

Relief - surfaces having depth, dimension or varying shallow height.

Surface attributes - differentiation, depth or

variety of the surface.

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Unit – V

Sketching

Lesson 14: Drawing & Sketching

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Lesson 14: Drawing &

Sketching

Objectives

Learning to use free hand drawing as an

instrument for explaining and presenting ones

ideas on paper.

Introduction:

Everything in the world is a subject for a drawing;

yet what you draw is not important. That you enjoy drawing, and feel you are learning more about the

visual world as a result, is of the utmost

importance. This chapter explains simply and clearly

some of the underling principles 0f drawing. It helps you to see every subject with a fresh eye and,

above all, it aims to remove the mystique which,

sadly, surrounds this fascinating and rewarding activity.

There is nothing magical, for example, about

understanding perspective, about 'measuring' the subject, or about drawing negative space. They are

all 'learnable' principles which, once mastered, will

help you tackle any type of subject with confidence

and enthusiasm. Although such fundamentals are important, try not to treat them as 'musts', to be

slavishly followed.

Drawing is a subjective occupation. The best artist is the one who understands the principles and rules,

but who interprets rather than copies them.

Composition is a prime example of this. Convention dictates that a pictorial composition must be

harmonious; should not contain any discordant

elements, such as a figure looking toward the edge

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of the picture; and should avoid absolute symmetry

at all costs. Yet, we only have to look at some of the

Old Masters to know that such rules can certainly be

bent, if not broken.

Making the first mark on a pristine sheet l)f paper is

rather like being the first person to trample across a

perfect patch of freshly fallen snow - it seems such a shame to spoil it! When learning to draw, the

problem is even worse, because most of us have

such grand and preconceived ideas of what the

finished picture will look like that we are almost doomed to disappointment, even before we begin.

It is therefore a good idea to regard drawing as a

process, a way of thinking and recording rather than a means of producing a perfectly rendered picture at

every attempt. If getting going becomes a real

stumbling block, and the thought of marking the paper is actually inhibiting, then try warming up

with a few quick, throw-away sketches of the

subject, This is a tried and tested method for

overcoming tension and inhibition, and an excellent way of getting into the right mood.

The secret of successful drawing depends upon

careful observation and the ability to put down on paper what you can see. So before starting, take a

good look at what is in front of you. Decide how you

are going to approach the subject, and where it will be placed on the paper.

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No two artists approach a subject in exactly the

same way. The sequences on this page show two

different approaches. In the first, the artist develops

the whole subject concurrently, starting with a rough outline, then working across the image,

gradually bringing up the whole drawing at the

same pace. The second sequence shows a different approach. Having decided on the scale and position

of the subject on the paper, the artist starts drawing

in one place and works across the image, bringing

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Outline and Internal Contours

Unless we are familiar with an object, an outline

drawing of that object will not necessarily tell us

what we are looking at. In the outline drawing

(below), we only recognize the subject as being a model of a hand because we know what a hand

looks like, and we know that such an outline is likely

to be that of a hand. But we need the added information of the second drawing to really know

and understand what we are looking at.

The first drawing contains a flat shape; the second drawing describes a three-dimensional form. By

The 'Growing' Drawing

1. Here the artist

starts in one place -in

this case the top of the shoe, making sure this is

in the correct position on

the paper, and leaving plenty of space for the

rest of the subject.

2. From here, the lines are extended to

show more of the shoe -

the finished drawing

'grows' outwards from its starting point.

3. The artist

completes the work by putting in remaining

undrawn areas and

details.

Developing the

Subject

1. For this

traditional approach, the artist starts by

establishing the main

lines of the subject. At this stage, the drawing

is kept fairly sketchy

and loose to allow for redrawing and

correction as the

image develops.

2. From the initial sketchy construction

lines, the artist works

into the subject, using the line to describe the

form of the shop

3. Finally, the drawing is completed

with further line and

detail.

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drawing into the subject, the artist has turned a

silhouette into a solid object.

These internal lines are similar to the contour lines

we see on maps. Just as geographical contours describe the form of a hill by mapping out the relief

pattern of its surface, so an artist draws contours to

describe the form of a subject. The artist, however, must look at the subject to decide where the

internal lines should be; they cannot be placed

scientifically, at regular intervals, as with maps and

diagrams. The hand, for example, has natural contours - the finger and wrist joints, and the wood

grain which runs lengthwise down the fingers, hand

and arm.

Internal lines are as important as the outline so don't automatically start by drawing the outline and

then filling in the rest. Ideally, you should try to

develop the two together, looking carefully at the subject to see how the inside lines and outside lines

combine to describe the form. However, there is no

reason why you should not try to draw from the

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inside, and leave the outline to last. Light and shade

can also be exploited in a drawing to give a sense of

form to an object, changing it from a flat shape into

something real and solid. But remember, the areas of light and shade are not independent of the

internal contours. They are directly related to them.

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Lesson 15: Light & Shade

Structure

15.1 Tone

15.2 Types of Shading

15.3 Colour and surface texture

15.4 Describing Forms

15.4.1 Planes

15.4.2 Planning the Picture

15.4.3 Negative Shapes

15.5 Perspective

15.5.1 Linear Perspective

15.5.2 Measured Drawing

We are able to see three-dimensional objects because of the light which falls on them. Without

light, and the shadows it creates, all objects would

be seen as flat shapes. Strong, directional light casts harsh, defined shadows on and around the

objects; it also creates bright highlights and

reflections. The effect of diffused light is more

subtle. The apple illustrated here was drawn in the artist's studio, with a strong window light falling

from the top left -hand side, hence the highlights on

the top, and the dark shadow across the right-hand side of the fruit.

15.1 Tone

To indicate light and shadow on an object means

picking out the pale and dark areas. These darks

and pales are known as 'tones'. The tonal range

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runs from black to white, and includes all the greys

in between. To pick out the tones, or values, you

should ignore the local colour as much as possible,

and this can be difficult- especially if the subject is complex or highly patterned. This apple was actually

red and green, but the artist was concerned only

with the tonal, monochrome effect of the light and shadows, and chose to illustrate this in black and

white. Any other single colour could have been

chosen.

15.2 Types of Shading

These are various techniques for blocking-in

shadows. Probably the most common way is to build up a shaded area with a series of parallel lines, a

technique known as hatching. When the lines are

drawn close together, the tone is dark; widely

spaced hatching produces lighter tone. Whichever method you use, it must have this flexibility -you

must be able to vary the tone.

1. Cross-hatching. Shading built up in patches of tiny crisscross hatching. The cross-hatching

becomes finer and more spaced towards the lighter

areas

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2. Scribbled hatching. Regular parallel lines are

unsuitable for the rounded form of the apple, so the

artist adopted a looser type of hatching.

3. Blending. Soft shadows, blended with the

finger, eraser or cloth, are only possible with soft

drawing materials. These include charcoal, pastel, and soft pencil.

4. Stippling. Tiny dots can be built up to depict shadows -the denser the dots the deeper the

shading.

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15.3 Colour and Surface Texture

Texture and local colour are factors to be considered

when assessing the tonal values of an object: For

example, a matt surface will have less tonal contrast than a shiny surface, which often contains bright

reflected highlights. Local colour too, affects tone.

Two identical objects, one light and one dark, will not be the same in a monochrome drawing -the

lights and shades on the darker object will be

tonally darker than those on the lighter.

15.4 Describing Form

When rendering shadows, you can often give a

further feeling of three-dimensional form to the

subject by paying close attention to the direction of the strokes as welt as to the tones which the

strokes represent. In other words, be logical about

the direction of the shading - draw with the form,

not against it.

For example, the hatched lines on the apples are

taken round the curved shape of the fruit.

15.4.1 Planes

Objects with gradually curving sides, such as

spheres and cylinders, are simple to draw: the

shapes are regular, and light and shade are evenly

distributed, making it easy to both recognize and describe the form.

Not all subjects, however, are so straightforward,

Natural forms have always been favourites of the artist, but they are inevitably irregular and often

complicated, Plants, flowers, animals, birds and

human figures are fascinating and challenging subjects, but they are notoriously complex and

irregular when it comes to drawing them, Light falls

on their surface in an unpredictable way, making it

difficult to see, let alone draw, the subtle areas of light and shadow.

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The best approach is to find a way of simplifying

what you see.

Try to ignore distracting detail and small surface

irregularities, and to break the subject down into basic areas of light and shade. These simplified

areas are called ‗planes'.

The illustrations here show a cylinder and a human face, simplified into planes of light and shade. The

lightest planes are those areas which receive direct

light; the darkest are those turned away from the

light. The greys, or mid-tones, describe other planes in varying degrees of light and shade. On the face,

the light is falling from the top left, catching the

forehead, cheek, nose, the convex area between the nose and mouth and the lower lip. These are the

lightest areas in the drawing and the artist depicted

them with the bright. light tone of the paper. The darkest tones, down the right side of the head and

neck are drawn in black.

By simplifying the face in this way, the artist has

tackled the problem of form and structure before attempting to create a realistic image. But, with this

basic solid structure established, the artist is then

free to develop detail and to blend and break up these large, rather crude planes into softer more

blended areas.

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The technique can be adapted to any object and will

help you to draw both simple and complicated

forms.

COMPOSITION

15.4.2 Planning the Picture

When we talk of 'composition' we are really referring

to the way the subject is arranged on the paper.

This may be a single object -a vase of flowers, or a figure. Or it might be an arrangement of objects, or

a complete scene.

Whatever you are drawing, it is important to give some thought to the composition before you start.

These still-life drawings illustrate just four possible

arrangements of the same subject, and there are an infinite number of other possibilities. Notice how the

background plays an important part in each one.

The basic division of the drawing into the blue and brown shapes is just as important as how the mugs

and coffee pot are arranged. The artist has avoided

a horizontal division, preferring a more interesting

and unusual solution in this case.

No subject fits conveniently into a rectangle or

square -the shapes we generally work on. When we

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look at the subject, what we actually see is an

amorphous shape with an indistinct outline -and our

eyes can only focus on one part of that shape at a

time. The rest of the image is blurred. The most immediate problem, therefore, is defining the edges

of the composition finding the most suitable shape

for the subject and fitting the subject into that shape. This applies even with a figure study, an

isolated drawing which does not actually touch the

edges of the paper. It is still necessary to place the

subject properly on the paper, leaving enough space around the figure to prevent it looking cramped, but

not so much that the subject looks small and lost.

An excellent way of looking at the subject through 'rectangular eyes' is to cut the shape from a piece of

card. This can then be moved around until you find

exactly the composition you want. In this way you can actually see the shapes of the space around

your subject -the blue wall and brown table in the

case of the illustrations on this page.

Scale too, is an important consideration. Variation of scale within a composition is usually more

interesting than one which has no contrast between

distance and foreground. This is especially true of landscapes, which can be very dull if everything is

small and distant.

15.4.3 Negative Shapes

When planning a composition, remember to include in your calculations the space between the subjects.

If these are not taken into account, your drawing

will, at best, lack cohesion and a sense of design. At worst, it will be wrong, because if the 'negative'

shapes are inaccurate, this will be reflected in the

rest of the drawing.

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The leafy twig illustrated here was~ done, not by

drawing the shapes of the leaves, but by drawing the shapes of the spaces between the leaves - the

negative shapes. By working in this way, the artist

has successfully created a satisfying composition, with every area carefully considered and, brought

into the overall design.

Notice how the subject is extended to the edges of the paper, the straight edges of the support thus

forming part of some of these outer shapes.

Drawing the negative shapes forces an awareness of

the composition as a whole. It also discourages a tendency to draw what we know rather than what

we see. For example, we know what a leaf looks

like, so why bother to check that we have drawn it right?

However, because we have no such preconceived

idea about the shape of a space, it becomes necessary to look very carefully at what we are

drawing. The purpose of the exercise is not to

produce a drawing in which the negative shapes are

as important is the positive ones -in this case the eaves. Rather it is a device for drawing the positive

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shapes correctly n relation to each other by

drawing, the spaces between them correctly.

Practice the technique. You will be surprised how

much easier it is to make correct drawings once you) become aware of negative shapes. Chairs,

tables and stools are ideal for this type of exercise,

because their legs and crossbars create a variety of geometric patterns of empty space. Other good

subjects are winter trees, with their twisted and

splayed branches and spindly twigs; household

objects; and groups of figures.

15.5 Perspective

15.5.1 Linear Perspective

Imagine standing in the middle of a completely straight road, looking into the distance. You will

notice that the edges of the road appear to come

together and disappear at a spot on the horizon.

The scene demonstrates perfectly the principle of linear perspective -that all such parallel lines on the

same plane appear to get closer as they recede into

the distance. The point at which they appear to meet is called the 'vanishing point'. The practical

applications of linear perspective are important

because if the perspective of a drawing is wrong, this distorts the whole composition.

If two sides of an object are visible, two vanishing

points are necessary; more rarely, three sides of an

object call sometimes be seen, in which case three vanishing points are required. In the drawing below,

two 'sides' of the ship are visible, and the artist has

plotted the two vanishing points.

Aerial Perspective Objects appear to get fainter as

they recede into the distance.

For example, hills and mountains look bluer and

paler, the further away they are. This is because the

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intervening atmosphere interferes with our

perception of them.

For the artist, aerial perspective can provide a

useful means of indicating space. By making distant objects fainter, and by drawing with finer lines, it is

possible to create an illusion of recession. In the

bridge drawing below, the artist used a soft pencil for the heavy foreground lines; for the distant

objects, a hard pencil was chosen to create thin,

pale lines.

15.5.2 Measured Drawing

By holding the pencil upright at arm's length, you

can use it as a measuring device to help you to

establish the correct proportions of the subject. Start by choosing one 'distance' on the subject as

your measuring unit. Use the top of the pencil to

mark one end of this unit, and your thumb to mark

the other end. Everything else can then be plotted accurately in, relation to this one measurement.

For the tulip drawing below, the artist first took the measurement of one bloom, and worked out the

position and size of the vase and the other flowers

in relation to this chosen unit. For example, the height of the bunch of flowers was exactly six times

that of the measured tulip head, and this was duly

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plotted in. Before drawing a single line, the

composition was thus plotted out in some detail- the

position of each element was indicated with a series

of marks. In this particular drawing, the artist worked in coloured pencils, so each mark was

plotted in an appropriate colour -red flowers, green

leaves, and so on.

When drawing the figure, the obvious measurement

to start with the height of the head. Generally,

however, it does not matter which part of the

subject you choose, as long as it is consistent and easily visible.

Of course, the literal measurement of the chosen

unit has no bearing on the size it is on the paper. If this was the case, you would have no choice at all in

the size of your drawing! It is the relative size which

is important.

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Assignments and learning activities

1. The students are required to maintain a

sketchbook and sketch at least one sketch a day.

The sketches could be quick or detailed sketches depending on the subject matter.

2. Students have to understand the various types of

shading and make compositions describing forms, planes, negative space etc.

Review Questions

1. How important is ―Composition‖ in a drawing?

What points would you keep in mind before starting a drawing?

2. What do you understand by the term ―Negative

Space‖? Explain with the help of sketches.

3. This being a practical topic the students are

required to maintain a sketchbook and sketch at

least one sketch a day. The sketches could be

quick or detailed sketches depending on the subject matter.

Stationery Requirements

The following material/equipment is to be used for answering the review questions:

1. Ruled sheets of A4 size shall be used for

attempting the theory questions.

2. Use cartridge or ivory sheets wherever any drawing/colouring work is to be done.

3. Use gateway or other superior tracing sheets for

rendering in pen and ink.

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Reference Books

1. Colour Harmony 1 and 2

2. Rendering in Pen and Ink by Robert W. Gill

3. Interior Design: Illustrated by Francis D.K

Ching

4. Drawing: A Creative Process – Francis D K Ching