PENCIL 2 PIXELS
ARIJIT BHATTACHARYYA
CEO
VIRTUAL INFORMATION & COMMUNICATIONS
All drawings and text within this book are the property of their respective copyholders and should not be reproduced
All drawings and text within this book are the property of their respective copyholders and should not be reproduced
DEDICATED TO MY GRAND PA.
DRAWING-BASIC SHAPES
It’s a simple loop but if you cannot draw a round then………..
Please don’t start out with that old theoretical talk, “I couldn’t draw a straight line.” If we need a straight line, we can use a ruler.
HELLO DEAR!
Who am I? Oh, just one of Arijit Bhattacharyya’s little funny character. I’m the spirit of the book. I represent all the blue in here. He just calls me "Chankey’’ and lets it go at that. Now, I’ve got a few interesting things to tell you.
Since Arijit cannot talk to you personally, he put me in here so we can really get together. Now this plan of action is based on the use of simple forms that are already known and familiar to you, and which you can certainly draw. From these simple, known forms, we build other forms, which without some constructive plan would be too complicated to draw. For instance, the top of the head, or cranium, is nearer to a ball in shape than anything else. We thus "arrive’’ at the outlines that are needed instead of guessing at them. Only the most talented end experienced artist can draw at once the final outlines. That procedure is most difficult, and is the reason most people give up drawing. But knowing how to "construct’’ makes drawing simple and easy, and a delightful pastime to anybody. By building preliminary shapes and developing the outlines on them, we know WHERE TO DRAW OUR REAL LINES. There is hardly anything that cannot first be constructed by the use of simple forms.
The simplest Forms we know are the sphere, the cube, and oval.
I say, “Draw a line.’’ You cannot know just what I mean. A straight line? A curved line? A jagged line? A wiggly line? There are a thousand kinds of lines; be more specific. But if I say draw a ball, a cube, an egg, a cylinder, a pyramid, a cone, a rectangular block, in each case the image you get is perfect. You know exactly what I mean. Instead of “line,’’ we shall think in terms of concrete and tangible “form,’’ and proceed as if we were handling lumps of clay. You can appreciate the value of such a method, for you know the fundamentals even before you start; they are obvious to anybody. If you never saw a ball, you should quit right now. As you proceed to build all sorts of shapes out of simpler ones, it is amazing what you can do with them, and how accurate and "solid’’ the resulting drawings will appear. The surprising part is that, when the construction lines are erased, very few could guess how it had been done. Your drawing appears us complicated and difficult to the other fellow as mine might seem to you now.
A circle is a flat disk. If you draw the “inside” contours, it becomes a solid ball, with a third dimension. We shall build other forms, like lumps of clay, onto this solidity. The construction will be erased, but the solid appearance will remain, giving form or the appearance of reality.
The simplest Forms we know are the sphere, the cube, and oval.
I say, “Draw a line.’’ You cannot know just what I mean. A straight line? A curved line? A jagged line? A wiggly line? There are a thousand kinds of lines; be more specific. But it I say draw a ball, a cube, an egg, a cylinder, a pyramid, a cone, a rectangular block, in each case the image you get is perfect. You know exactly what I mean. Instead of “line,’’ we shall think in terms of concrete and tangible “form,’’ and proceed as if we were handling lumps of clay. You can appreciate the value of such a method, for you know the fundamentals even before you start; they are obvious to anybody. If you never saw a ball, you should quit right now. As you proceed to build all sorts of shapes out of simpler ones, it is amazing what you can do with them, and how accurate and "solid’’ the resulting drawings will appear. The surprising part is that, when the construction lines are erased, very few could guess how it had been done. Your drawing appears us complicated and difficult to the other fellow as mine might seem to you now.
A circle is a flat disk. If you draw the “inside” contours, it becomes a solid ball, with a third dimension. We shall build other forms, like lumps of clay, onto this solidity. The construction will be erased, but the solid appearance will remain, giving form or the appearance of reality.
Get a pencil and paper quickly! Draw lightly all you see printed in blue. Take one stage at a time, on one drawing, until the last stage; then finish, with strong lines over the light ones, the lines we have printed in black. That is all there is to learn! These are "selected’’ or "built in’’ from the basic forms. I call the basic drawings “Blocs,’’ after myself.
I promised you that all you need to know, to start this book, is how to draw a lopsided ball. Whatever shape you draw can be used as a foundation for a funny face. Do the best you can, even if the ball looks more like a potato.
THE FUN STARTS!
The big idea is to start with a “form.” Then develop other “forms” on it. Build your final lines in by selecting, eliminating the lines you do not use. I leave mine in to show how it’s done.
The big idea is to start with a “form.” Then develop other “forms” on it. Build your final lines in by selecting, eliminating the lines you do not use. I leave mine in to show how it’s done.
Now, if the first drawings you do are not the last word in cleverness, don’t be discouraged. You will soon get the idea. When you begin to sense form, you will have the whole works. Then we’ll polish up, and they will have to admit you are good.
You need some practice on these. Never mind if they are a little off.
The better you can draw these balls in any old position you wish, the better you are going to be. The line from the top to bottom is the “middle” line of the face. The horizontal line, which looks like the equator, is the “eye line,” and it also locates the ear.
Look at the diagram. This last line goes completely around the ball, thought the axis at each end, and cuts the eye line just halfway round on each side of the middle line. The ear joins the head at the point of intersection of the eye line and the ear line.
Always construct the head from the cranium down. There is no other satisfactory way. You can see by now that the position of the ball determines the pose of the head. The pieces you build on determine the character.
TRICK STUFF
Draw a circle. Attach two smaller circles, not far apart, anywhere. You can put a third above and between them. Then draw the middle line so it passes between the two small circles. Proceed as usual.
Draw a circle. Attach two smaller circles, not far apart, anywhere. You can put a third above and between them. Then draw the middle line so it passes between the two small circles. Proceed as usual.
Draw three balls, one of them small, in any position. Connect the larger balls. Draw a middle line under the small ball. This suggests a head. Now use your imagination to complete the drawing.
Comic Figure
You know, I’ve a hunch you have been itching to get into this portion of the book. Well, it is really going to be great fun to create little people of your own, doing anything you want them to. There is nothing hidebound in this plan either. Take it in easy doses for the fun that’s in it. When the little youngster starts to draw, he instinctively does a better job than he does later on. He goes to essentials, a crude representation of the bulk without the detail. Soon he forgets the body and starts drawing buttons and clothes with a face on them. Result: he gets discouraged and transfers his attention to some pretty blond curls or a new bicycle. In all seriousness, I say that Nos. 1 and 2 of the marginal drawings have great possibilities; 3 and 4 still have hope. But 5 verges on those awful drawings in public places. Now we start with something very much like 1 and 2.
All we need do is add some sort of box for a pelvis, some pads for hands and feet, some balls at the joints, and a straight line across for shoulders.
We thus give him the following characteristics.
Head is a ball.
Chest is a ball.
Pelvis is a box slanted out at back and in at the sides.
The spine does not go through the chest ball but around the back of it. The legs are not straight but curve in to the knees and out toward the foot.
Forearm is slightly curved.
Chest ball is divided by a line through the middle and flaring lines at the bottom, like a Y upside down.
The reason for the curve on the bones is that they thus become “springy” and shock absorbing.
Without those curves we would be nervous wrecks before we were in short pants or panties as the case may be.
Every limb is movable in practically all directions. The chest ball is fixed to the spine but the spine bends in all directions. It can also twist or turn, so that there is a wide range of movements possible between spine and pelvis. Below we show a variety of comic exaggerations.
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