Doing quick renders in your sketchbooks

[Bohh]

Hey all,

I've been unsatisfied with the way I render quickly for sometime now. Now, I think I do ok when I have a long time to do render something. And have the ability to gradually build up tone or even use blending stumps and stuff.

But I've sat here today looking at other peoples sketchbooks and trying to do what they do. When you're out sketching you don't have time to use blenders and stuff (at least I don't) and it looks like most people can effortlessly convey the way the light is with a few strokes of their pencil.

Like I've said, I've been trying and have no idea what I'm doing wrong. Does anyone have any tips for doing quick renders like you see in people's sketchbooks? When I do it, it doesn't look right. I have a range of attempts here ranging from scribbles to somewhat decent attempts but they are all lacking something.

Thanks a lot.

-Mike

[Bohh]

I sat down and tried to do different kinds of renderings that I think would be useable for quick sketches. I've taken a picture of that and it's below. I'm not really sure if any of these actually look good. I have no idea what I'm doing to be honest. I realize that there is a difference between the renderings of finished work and of quick sketches. The problem is I don't know how to render for either, so I thought I'd nail them down one at a time and decided to take on sketches first. Of what I did I'm thinking #6 looks best followed by #1 and then #7. I could be off and if I am let me know. Or if you have any tips please share them. I'd like to spend my time concentrating on drawing rather than decinding what rendering technique is best for me :$

http://img425.imageshack.us/img425/7665/dsc01334medium3ip.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Thanks a lot.

-Mike

[Hyskoa]

As has been told to me, try doing some barque drawings, if that doesn't teach you how to shade propperly, i don't know what will :)

Just do a search on the word barque.

This is ofcourse just my opinion :)

[the_allejo05]

Bohh.. i think your sketches are good...on my quick sketches..the way i approach rendering is just always thinking of 3 tones.. light,dark and middle tone..sometimes only two..light and shade..then a quick fill in with parallel lines (a la leonardo hehe)..i like using strokes in only one direction..left to right..I am more linear in my approach since i consider the pencil like a needle and a true draftsman barely smudges or uses a tonal approach (you know like a painter..) ..sometimes i used graining like in this quick drawing (this means swirling the pencil like a loose string in all directions very lightly trying to fill in all the ridges in the paper) ..(well specially like graining when i use sanguine conte :) you can see the arrows to remind me where the light is coming from..since the lighting was bad during this session

http://images.artwanted.com/large/91/18782_319491.jpg

also you can try using pen and ink , in which you will use washes for the areas of shade which is a more painterly approach....like this ..although i would recomend you doing a light sketch with the pencil..then add the shadows and at the end the pen lines..since here you can see i put the shadows afterwards..hence the bleeding..hehe
http://images.artwanted.com/large/04/18782_319604.jpg
Sometimes squint your eye to concentrate on the big shadow patterns of the object your drawing (like mosaic flat pieces of tone.) no outline whatsoever and then start adding some lines and accents ,sometimes i just draw the obect in pure line and add the shadows ,sometime I follow with strokes that go with the form (like in an engraving/etching ) and example of this tecnique..here in the mastercopy by Durer (he is great on this approach of rendering it mainly helps you to give solidity to a drawing..)
http://images.artwanted.com/large/41/18782_329541.jpg
Sometimes to you can lay down a few lines with the pencil/chalk or whatever you have at hand and then smudge the shadow area with your finger..no stumps here hehe... I would recomend you to look at master of art to see their quick sketches..or even the artists here..dont be afraid to imitate what they do...thats what artists are there to help ya..later..

[Bohh]

Thanks a lot to both of you. You're examples really helped, allejo. There seems to be ton's of ways to render. Like I said, I appriciate your examples. I'll try some out and see if any of them 'fit' me.

Thanks again you guys,

-Mike

[AndreasM]

I skimmed through this thread, so I hope I won't repeat. Basically, I see rendering as modelling. You lay down value to describe form and volume. Technique doesn't matter much if you aren't familiar with the shapes. Doing long studies is requiered to get familiar with the shapes - there is no other way around it.

No knowledge = bad quick rendering.

Here are some aproaches that has helped me alot:

Outline the shapes of the shadows. Then, fill in with a single tone. Don't use a smudgestick. Relying completely on a smudgestick won't produce any good results, due to one fact: Shadows have edges.

Render along with the form, not "against" it. For instance, if you render a relaxed arm hanging alongside the body, vertical strokes will be alot more effective in describing the shape than short and rigid horisontal strokes.

There is alot more to it than this, but I think you have to discover the ways to fully comprihend it yourself. I could try to write an essay on this, but it would be a bad one. There are alot of tutorials and resources on this site. I have learned tons from just browsing and trying to figure out the different aproaches and why they work.

Good luck and have fun :)

[johnny78]

Apart from what n0fish and the others mentioned you could try something else:

concentrate on the values.

I´m very impatient when it comes to rendering (nowadays). So I went away from drawing thousands of pencil lines or smudging and try to capture the lights and darks only. Of, course, this works better when you work with inks (or ink pens), but pencils can do it as well. It just takes longer. Try to see the shadow as an abstract area. This not only works with big shadows, but with textures also. (Have a look at the first pic in my sketchbook to see what I mean :)

Hope it helps.

[the_allejo05]

Nofish is right..you can approach rendering as modelling..modeling will help you to attain a 3d mentionality..is like sculpting with your pencil..little by little.. the "tonal rendering" is basically doing many washes of tone 9be it with pencil/watercolor or wahtever)over and over until you get the desire 3d ness..that is basically thinking of tone as air..which i think was used in chiaroscuro..both will help you.. you cannot scape one or the other...