Pen
and Ink Drawing 3
Applying
Tone with Pen and Ink
The
technique of cross-hatching
is used to apply tone to those parts of the buildings
that are sheltered from the light. Cross-hatching begins
to establish the overall form of the image. The shade
of tone can be increased or reduced depending on the
number of hatched layers applied: a lighter shade is
achieved with a single layer of hatching, while each
additional layer darkens the tone.
It
is advisable to build up the tones gradually across
the entire image rather than completing the drawing
in small sections. This way you are more able to achieve
an overall tonal unity throughout the composition.
Balancing
Tone
Once
you have established the basic areas of dark and light,
you can start to unify the overall tone of the drawing
by fine tuning your cross-hatching and stippling. You
may need to intensify the hatching and stippling of
certain areas in order to balance the different depths
of shade throughout the composition. You can also refine
the sharpness of the detail and the subtlety of the
texture with a more careful control of your cross
hatching and stippling.
Use
Dark Tones for Windows
View
our completed ink drawing in its actual size
After
some further tinkering with the tones and textures across
the image, the ink drawing is finally completed by darkening
the windows. This adds to the solidity of the buildings
by suggesting their interior depth. The windows in a
drawing are nearly always dark. The one time they can
appear bright is at night when they are illuminated
from within.
Overall
Unity of Tone and Texture
The
objective in balancing the elements of this or any other
drawing is to ensure that all the lines, shapes, tones,
textures and patterns work together in harmony, with
each element contributing its strengths to the overall
composition, without overpowering the qualities of the
others.
