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Arthur Guptill Renders a Window

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In 1935, Arthur Guptill demonstrated a sequential method frequently used by architectural illustrators for painting a window. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Guptill first draws the subject in pencil, giving careful attention to the perspective. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg5ITjJRoIu4miFR7yZFM1VfzcOeluJ8Jr3U2xsGL6OCrxwRm2JuwRWiiZLw0ZYrxMLKO3Gf3Rj97Vec2QK3sp8AFtTdyDQVRwWWJXut5kPaaJYHWGzgDfcfeAERkN5wHk-z1Zqll4Qr6u/s1600/Guptill_Window_Rendering.1.LG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg5ITjJRoIu4miFR7yZFM1VfzcOeluJ8Jr3U2xsGL6OCrxwRm2JuwRWiiZLw0ZYrxMLKO3Gf3Rj97Vec2QK3sp8AFtTdyDQVRwWWJXut5kPaaJYHWGzgDfcfeAERkN5wHk-z1Zqll4Qr6u/s1600/Guptill_Window_Rendering.1.LG.jpg" width="287" /></a></div>He rules the lines of the shutters very evenly. Then he lays down a warm wash in watercolor over the wall and the curtains, and sets up variegated flat colors for the stonework. He washes in the shutters in green.<br /><br />The dark interior spaces are painted over the mullions, but not the sash. The dull orange color of the interior gives a feeling of depth and transparency.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBvJJxIxBvGkWEnAatFCYydxc6F6bF-tOTayAyPMgnon37o0PTOF_Jv6_MlI_76PDBCJ3YdQMaMuUraHRQpqEpL98B1tf0PGoJ8zQSplYRlWrkCbR2AHbD9VretiNSDzINa-mEhE5b-RY6/s1600/Guptill_Window_Rendering.LG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBvJJxIxBvGkWEnAatFCYydxc6F6bF-tOTayAyPMgnon37o0PTOF_Jv6_MlI_76PDBCJ3YdQMaMuUraHRQpqEpL98B1tf0PGoJ8zQSplYRlWrkCbR2AHbD9VretiNSDzINa-mEhE5b-RY6/s1600/Guptill_Window_Rendering.LG.jpg" width="287" /></a></div>Next come the shadows cast on the curtains and the shade from the sunlight coming from the upper left. He then adds the darks of the mullions and the outer moldings with a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004XL1D26/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B004XL1D26&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=GXFAKATWGKATGQYD">ruling pen</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B004XL1D26" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyzBEsDZuEljFQyWCiFStwS8XVuGVHXMsYkkU1dROqqbW4glEsUMqplMuc3gAKUpk_sMy_V7a_x4IXB_p21MDB4jluh7zbBCaZPJHrG6ZlUquF8keINetIG-KP_N7dsonmBMaRzUJQ08Z/s1600/ruling_pen1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="43" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyzBEsDZuEljFQyWCiFStwS8XVuGVHXMsYkkU1dROqqbW4glEsUMqplMuc3gAKUpk_sMy_V7a_x4IXB_p21MDB4jluh7zbBCaZPJHrG6ZlUquF8keINetIG-KP_N7dsonmBMaRzUJQ08Z/s1600/ruling_pen1.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />If you're not familiar with a ruling pen, it's a tool for drawing a line of constant width, usually guided by a ruler that's raised a bit off the surface. It has two sharpened metal tips that taper together. The spacing of the gap between the tips governs the width of the line.<br /><br />That gap is controlled by an adjustable wheel on the side. Ink or watercolor, applied by an eyedropper (Edit: or a brush), sits in the gap and flows by capillary action.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8hPNBN7s1p6cKBLQW3Ud2BvyPWm9kiZWpN9MStor5nyNYgLGDl3AHwPbkYtNO-_Xug5Jz2P-Bha5XdaYXVUe67Xdp4EBqO4nf0u4KgC0QWdxMrzxguU-D3ftvDMrlMdeVd8nYFYzaKDoG/s1600/Window_Rendering3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8hPNBN7s1p6cKBLQW3Ud2BvyPWm9kiZWpN9MStor5nyNYgLGDl3AHwPbkYtNO-_Xug5Jz2P-Bha5XdaYXVUe67Xdp4EBqO4nf0u4KgC0QWdxMrzxguU-D3ftvDMrlMdeVd8nYFYzaKDoG/s1600/Window_Rendering3.jpg" width="287" /></a></div>Guptill then draws mullions with the ruling pen filled with opaque white watercolor, slightly yellowed. The consistency has to be just right. Too wet and it puddles out; too dry and it won't flow at all. When a ruling pen works well, it's a joyful feeling.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2j0jNrrrrzjUJtYCF19TocRcDwrtu4qJg3alGQn-6wOnK8NgT8UIZoK3WRJyThooGAsv9Bc5rH6Nn0uO3XRM90e1cz522DAPb_1Yfz8dSZp5RtaLcW8KeSPptrjx4cmtECZ9pLpQNcbo/s1600/Glen+Tait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2j0jNrrrrzjUJtYCF19TocRcDwrtu4qJg3alGQn-6wOnK8NgT8UIZoK3WRJyThooGAsv9Bc5rH6Nn0uO3XRM90e1cz522DAPb_1Yfz8dSZp5RtaLcW8KeSPptrjx4cmtECZ9pLpQNcbo/s1600/Glen+Tait.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Edit: After reading the post, blog reader Glenn Tait got out two of his old Kern ruling pens, ran some tests, and sent the photo, saying: "By rote, after so many years, I filled the pen by loading my brush (using M. Graham watercolors) and pulled it across the open side of the pen to fill it then, after adjusting the tip width, dragged it a bit along my left forefinger to get the flow started. The watercolour works great."<br />Thanks, Glenn. I'm going to throw one in my sketch kit, too.<br />-----<br />Arthur Guptill's classic book about rendering architecture in watercolor is called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0031U1YHY/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0031U1YHY&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=D6X6UNVCSZP3HJ42">Color in Sketching and Rendering</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0031U1YHY" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />.<br />.

Arthur Guptill Renders a Window

In 1935, Arthur Guptill demonstrated a sequential method frequently used by architectural illustrators for painting a window. Guptill first...

06:38

ImagineFX Article on Composition

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The new issue of <a href="http://beta.imaginefx.com/shop/magazine/november-2014">ImagineFX magazine</a>, coming to newsstands soon, has an article that I wrote about composition. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUEBBjUteNSDzYvl4gZmOmqWEbMPlKQcW4U4u6B1Z5okwaqON8WfZ7TMY-wWHbaI3j85TD8zEALqI7T-lUzgcP6pVPUXeQ6ltmHufWtmNn4mJXm_FZtZPhxWy1QVzwvPae0pt2BbrbxikC/s1600/IFX+CompositionMontage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUEBBjUteNSDzYvl4gZmOmqWEbMPlKQcW4U4u6B1Z5okwaqON8WfZ7TMY-wWHbaI3j85TD8zEALqI7T-lUzgcP6pVPUXeQ6ltmHufWtmNn4mJXm_FZtZPhxWy1QVzwvPae0pt2BbrbxikC/s1600/IFX+CompositionMontage.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It begins by resisting the usual approaches to composition, which typically lay out systems of geometric grids, or talk about controlling the eye, or present a series of design prohibitions. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In fact, I begin by <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2013/01/mythbusting-golden-mean-part-1.html">mythbusting the theories of the golden mean</a> that are often taught in composition classes. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But wait! If you take away those elegant systems, what's left? I struggled a bit with this because, like my hero Howard Pyle, I'm suspicious of rules on this subject, and I believe composition is best taught on a case-by-case, picture-by-picture basis. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the end, I decided to approach the topic from a completely different direction. I thought the best place to start is by identifying the core emotion or idea of the piece. Then I offer some basic aesthetic tools to help get that idea across to the viewer. My topics include:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">• You've got to feel something first.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">• Do lots of thumbnails.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">• Choose the supreme moment.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">• Think about the viewpoint and eye level.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">• Simplify extraneous details.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">• Downplay the secondary areas. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">• Push extremes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">• Eliminate the inessential.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">• Add photorealistic focus to the focal point.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">• Make the color suit the emotion.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">• Create contrasts.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">• In a sequential work, vary the compositions.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://beta.imaginefx.com/shop/magazine/november-2014">ImagineFX 114 November 2014</a></div>

ImagineFX Article on Composition

The new issue of ImagineFX magazine , coming to newsstands soon, has an article that I wrote about composition. It begins by resisting the ...