55. Control Of The Pencil

Control Of The Pencil. Before attempting any-work, even on the practice-prints, it will not only be necessary to understand how to hold the pencil properly, but you must also have a certain amount of training which will enable you to freely control the pencil, making light or heavy strokes as may be required. The pencil should not be held tightly, nor should your hand be doubled up in a cramped position, but hold the pencil loosely and in a position similar to that employed by expert penmen. See Figures 1 and 2 of Illustration No. 7.

56. Retouching, practically speaking, requires quite a steady hand. Beginners are apt to get nervous with their first attempt; therefore, it is advisable to practice the different movements on paper before attempting to work on a chart or negative. Observe Illustration No. 8, Figs. A and B, which represent certain movements which will be necessary in the training of the hand for the proper controlling of the pencil. Each movement should be practiced carefully.

57. Take your retouching pencil, which should have been sharpened as previously directed. Provide yourself with a few sheets of plain white paper and place them upon a table. Now, begin your practice by making circles, as in Fig. A, using the free-arm movement; i. e., the hand should be held in one position and the full movement controlled solely by the muscle in the arm. Having made these circles in one direction, reverse the direction of the pencil, as in Fig. B. Continue this practice until you are able easily to make circles the same height so that the

Illustration No. 8. Chart of Pencil Exercises.

See Paragraph 56.

edges of all circles form a perfectly straight line. This will give you excellent practice and enable you to quickly control the movement of your pencil.

58. After you are able to perform this exercise with the free-arm movement, rest the little finger on the paper and with the thumb and finger movement, go through the same exercises. This latter method will at first be found a little more difficult than free-arm movement. The circles you will make will not be as uniform in shape or height, yet exercise will tend to loosen the muscles of the fingers and give you perfect freedom of movement.

59. Following these movements, next in order take up Fig. C, the making of circles similar to the example shown, starting with the large circle and quite abruptly reducing the size of each succeeding stroke until you come down to a straight line. Follow this movement by reversing the direction of the stroke and make cones similar to those shown in Fig. D.

60. The next exercise is to begin with a straight line and work in the reverse manner, increasing the size of the circles as shown in Figs. E and F, making the strokes in both directions.

61. The next exercise will be the making of a series of figure 8s, as illustrated in Fig. G, and after having practiced this exercise, using both long and short strokes, practice making straight parallel lines at various angles, as shown in Fig. H. The lines forming each group should be of practically the same length.

62. Your next movement, Fig. I, represents a series of circles, one circle being as nearly as possible upon the other. In practicing these movements, first employ the free-arm movement, and then, resting the little finger on the paper, use the hand movement.

63. A final exercise, which should not be attempted until the others are quite well mastered, is the forming of semi-circles, permitting the pencil to bear heavier on the center of these semi-circles than on the ends, thus blending from the center to the ends. Fig. K of this illustration will

give you an idea of what is required. Practice this movement, making the strokes first to the right and then to the left.

64. Your first practice should be the making of semicircles about an inch in diameter and then gradually decreasing the size of the semi-circle, being careful, however, that the shading remains the same, the center being heavier than either of the ends. Continue your practice of these movements until you are able to produce results similar to those supplied in the illustrations and until this is accomplished, you should not proceed with the next movement.

Practice-Prints.

Note. - Enclosed in an envelope accompanying this volnme, you will find four practice prints and four transparent practice charts. Each one of these has been prepared for a specific purpose and is numbered to correspond with the instruction given in the text. Therefore, each print and chart must be prepared and used in its regular order.