by Lala Ragimov
This is my quick translation of excerpts of Jombert's
Methode pour apprendre le dessein , 1755. If you see mistakes or have comments, please write below or send me a
message.
The book is a compilation of extremely detailed drawing advice by different authors (I could recognise Goeree, de Piles, de Lairesse and Bosse, maybe there are others as well).
It contains illustrations by/after Cochin, Audran, Le Brun, etc. An earlier edition has a completely different set of illustrations, some by Abraham Bosse (download
here)
Charles-Nicholas Cochin's illustration in Jombert
p62
Of different ways to shade a drawing.
(borrowed from Goeree - L.R.)
Up to now we have spoken about the outline or contour, now we will explain about shading.
Shading can be done in three ways:
-hatching (
en hachant)
simply with the chalk, like in prints; that which is bad taste and is
almost not practiced except for those who are learning how to engrave;
- graining (
en grainant)
rubbing the crayon on the paper to prepare the masses of shadows and
then hatching on top to form them and stop them: this manner is called
"grainer" because this rubbing makes the grain of the paper appear.
- stomping (
en estompant)
that which is done melting the lights with the darks by the means of a
rolled piece of paper with the tip with which one lightly rubs the
drawing after it is shaded with the crayon:
p63
this rolled
paper is called an
estompe. It could be done with chamois leather
rolled that way, or one can even take powder of sanguine or other chalk
with the tip of the estompe and make the tints for shading as one does
with a brush: then one retouches it stronger with a chalk.
Polenich after Charles Le Brun
(illustration used by Jombert)
Way of shading by hatching with a chalk.
The manner of shading by hatching is done with lines
or hatch-marks which one redoubles ones on top of others in different
directions until one gives the necessary force to the shadow, taking
care not to cross them too much which makes the drawing hard and bad
taste.
That is why one should avoid crossing the lines at right angles
but rather to put the second layer diagonally which creates spaces between lines that that look
like lozenges (not squares).
I will not enter into more detail here, on the manner to arrange the hatch-marks see
le Traité de la Gravure à l'eau forte et au burin of which a new edition came out some years ago.
One
needs to be able to hatch in all directions without having to turn the
paper every time, and always with a thick crayon, even for the delicate
hatch-marks which one puts in the lights, supposing always that one is
drawing big, which is necessary if one wants to make progress in this
art. Thus one needs to get used
p64
to a thick chalk and to
sharpen it as little as possible. There are even masters who don't
permit their students to sharpen their chalks except one time. This
method is good and not that difficult because as the chalk thickens and its point blunts, it forms angles with which one may mark the most
delicate lines.
When one hatches all the shadows with chalk on
white paper, it is necessary to take care of the paper that serves for
the lights, especially when you use sanguine because it cannot be
completely erased with the bread, and it always leaves spots on the
paper. Black chalk dirties the paper less and is less greasy than
sanguine.
Manner of drawing by graining.
After
having finished your sketch by going over the traces of the first
outline with chalk, you "grain" with a lot of force and prepare the
drawing throughout: but before shading it completely make sure that your
outline is exactly like the original.
Because you want to draw in good taste don't arrange big lines (
tailles) and beautiful hatching slavishly except where necessary,
because if the drawing is only grained it will seem drawn too softly,
obliging you to hatch certain places
p65
to make
half-shadows and to stop the shadows with more firmness: but you need to
do that without affectation and that the resulting mix is a fat and
soft (velvety) (
moelleux) paste. To draw in a "fatter" manner
you put the darkest touches into the thickness of the shadow sufficient
to prevent the traits to cut too hard with what is near it and that they
hit the main force in the middle.
You should avoid making areas
of shadow too thin and too parallel. Notice also that the nature is
never perfectly round, but that one finds it composed of many angles and
planes (
méplats), but that one shouldn't overemphasize making
the contours angular similar to rocks. This defect would be even worse
than drawing too round: one should find the right mean between these two
ways of drawing.
A note by Jombert: Planes is a term peculiar to painting. The human body is not all round but is composed
of surfaces that are flat and rounded only at the edges, one needs to
make those different surfaces felt in the drawing.
Une manìere meplatte is that which makes the planes felt,
une manìere ronde is the one that ignores nature. (borrowed from Goeree - L.R.)
A way to shade by stomping
Sweetening (blending) what one has hatched before by rubbing with an
estompe. If the paper is white, all the half-shadows are done
p 66
by the
estompe alone, rubbing lightly because it's charged enough with the
colour. And one should reserve (
menager) the white of the paper for the
lights.
Sanguine is stomped like black chalk on white or grey
paper, but stomped sanguine is not as pleasant-looking as black chalk.
If the paper is grey it's heightened with chalk white; but you cannot stomp it. Finally one gives force to the greatest shadows by hatching
on top, but with little or no stomping.|...|
p67
|...| There
are people who give force to their sanguine drawings by retouching them
with a bit of black chalk, especially when they don't have dark
sanguine: others make flesh-tones with red chalk and the draperies with
black chalk to make their drawings more pleasant-looking by the variety
of colour.
About pen drawings
It seems that the pen suits people who draw well more than to beginners,
p74
because
once put down it can't be erased. There are nonetheless those who
believe that it's good for beginners to make them pay more attention,
but few people think this way because the habit of the pen leads to a
hard and dry style of drawing. For learning it nothing is better than
copying good prints where the burin is beautiful and where there is no
confusion about hatch-marks, such as prints of Carraccis, Melan and Le
Clerc. This manner of drawing is the best for those who want to
practice engraving.
For drawing with a pen plumes of the crow or
goose are usually taken, because they are harder and make a neater lin
on paper. The best are the tips of wings, those of right wing, those
where the side of the longest barbs looks at the thumb are the best in
the hand for drawing or writing. One should always chose the lightest
and thinnest ones: lightest because they cut (split) easier, and
thinnest because they will be easiest to cut for thin lines. The oldest
are the best as long as they stayed in a dry place. Crow quills are the
best for
p75
drawing the landscape. Swan quills are only
good for thick lines. Drawings done entirely with ink are only used for
architecture.
p122
Flowers and plants should be shaded with delicate and careful hatch-marks in the direction of the growth of their leaves
© Lala Ragimov - when citing my translation, please make sure to write my name next to the quote
