Basic Rendering: Effective Drawing for Designers, Artists and Illustrators

220 Pages·1991·68.91 MB·English

by  Robert W. Gill

BAS C
ROBERT W. GILL
RENDERI
Effective Drawing for

Basic Rendering
1William Hogarth,
frontispiecetoKirby's
Perspecffve,Joshua
Kirby'seditionofDrBrook
Taylor'sMethodof
Perspective,1754.
'Whosoevermakes a
design withoutthe
knowledgeofperspective,
willbeliabletosuch
absurditiesasare shown in
thisfrontispiece.'
Robert W. Gill
BASIC RENDERING
Effective Drawing for Designers,
Artists and Illustrators
with 255 illustrations
~~. ~
T Thames and Hudson
& H
~
Anycopy ofthis bookissued bythepublisher asapaperback
issoldsubjectto thecondition thatitshallnot
bywayoftradeor otherwisebelent, resold,hired outor
otherwisecirculatedwithoutthepublisher'spriorconsent
inanyformofbindingorcover other thanthatinwhich
itispublishedandwithoutasimilarcondition includingthese
wordsbeingimposedon asubsequent purchaser.
©1991 ThamesandHudson Ltd, London
FirstpublishedintheUnited States in1991by
Thamesand HudsonInc.,500 FifthAvenue,
NewYork,NewYork 10110
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber90-71425
AllRightsReserved.No partofthispublication
may bereproducedortransmittedinanyformor byanymeans,
electronicor mechanical,includingphotocopy,recordingor
anyotherinformationstorageand retrievalsystem,without
prior permissioninwriting from thepublisher.
PrintedandboundinYugoslavia

Contents
Preface 6
The Seeing Process 13
Light 15
BasicOptical Laws 18
The Cone of Vision and the One-look Principle 20
AtmosphericEffect 25
Shade andShadow 52
TheBasicTonal Pattern 57
Light Reflection and Absorption 68
The Drawing 72
Contrast 82
Rendering Cylinders, Cones andSpheres 91
Rendering Glass 118
Rendering Water 131
Rendering Rocks, Brickwork and Stonework 139
Rendering Leather, Fabrics and Floor Coverings 144
Dry-Transferand Self-adhesiveMaterials 155
Skill-BuildingExercises 155
Sciagraphy 170
Overlapping 174
Gettingit AllTogether 177
Examples of Renderings 181
Style 191
Final Statement 201
Glossary 202
Bibliography 207
Acknowledgments 212
Index 214
2GiuseppeGalliBibiena,
JesuitDrama inSetting,
1740.Thisengraving
showsthatrenderinQisthe
meansbywhichtheIllusion
ofrealismisproducedina
linedrawing.
Preface
Rendering is one of the most exerting and challenging
aspectsofproducingpicturesinany areaofthe graphicarts.
Like every other aspect of the creative arts, rendering has
principlesthatare based on truthsevolved overanumberof
centuries.These principlesareusedto introducethe illusion
of realism into two-dimensional representations of three
dimensional objects and views.In this contextthe term 're
alism'meansphotographicrealism,whichisacceptedinour
societyas the graphictruth.
Though rendering is a broad and complex subject it can
be made muchsimplerifthebasicprinciplesare understood
from the very beginning.Theability to understand and use
these basic principles forms the foundation of visual lite
racy, which isessential to anyonewishingto practisein any
areaofart, design orgraphics, and isattained by first learn-
6