Line Effect

This can be produced in crayon portraits made over a photographic

enlargement, or in free-hand crayons after the filling in just

described has been done. The lines are drawn to cross one another so as

to leave diamond shaped spaces. One of the important things in this

style of finishing is the line of direction, by which is meant the

lines or grains that represent the object to be drawn. We say that wood

is cross-grain d, meaning that the grains or fibers of the wood run

crosswise. If we were to represent a straight board in crayon drawing,

we would draw straight lines running lengthwise of the board, unless it

should have some cross-grained places in it, as that is the way the

grain of the board would be. If we should take the same board and bend

it in the form of a circle, we would in order to represent the board in

that position, draw lines running in a circle to correspond with the

grain and position of the board. The idea to be impressed is, that when

we want to represent an object with crayon and that object is flat, we

draw straight lines to represent its surface; and when the object is

round or partly so, we draw curved lines, conforming them to the

surface of the object. Light and shade in nature have each their

different qualities. Light expresses form while shade obscures it;

consequently, in the light places of an object we will see its grain or

texture, and that grain or texture will gradually become obscured as it

enters the shadow until it is entirely lost in the deepest shadows.

This grain will not show in nature as decided where the strongest

lights are as it will in the half shadows; and, therefore, in the

crayon representation the grain effect should show more decided in the

half shadows. If your crayon is not true in this respect, it will

appear coarse and fail to please as a work of art on account of its

falsity to nature. The line effect is produced throughout the whole

picture, in the background, face and dress.