This is a continuation of the Series on Harold Speed’s book The Practice and Science of Drawing, published in 1913. Click Here for Part 1 of the series, and here for Part 2 of the series.
Chapter X – Rhythm
Rhythm is known as one of the principles of design, so it is no surprise that it makes an appearance in Speed’s writings on drawing. However, Speed proposes that the meaning of rhythm is the power in which the line possesses. The emphasis on the expression of what the artist is experiencing continues here in this chapter. An artist should be able to take a subject and turn it into a visual song. The rhythm of a song is what moves a person to dance, and the rhythm of a good piece of artwork is what moves a person to experience the emotion conveyed by the artist.
“… in painting, sculpture, and architecture there is a music that appeals directly to us apart from any significance that may be associated with the representation of natural phenomena.”
– Harold Speed, The Practice and Science of Drawing
This appeal that Speed mentions is to the soul. A reference to the “sublime” is also brough up in this chapter. A combination of lines, filled with an emotion brought about by the artist, are able to appeal to the viewer in a realm beyond the visual.
Variety and Unity
Variety and unity are also principle design called upon in this chapter. As a precursor to the next chapter, Speed discusses the importance of balancing these two principles. Where only unity produces a lifeless, boring piece, while variety without bounds creates chaos. He explicitly states that without the presence of variety, there can be no life. Which is objectively true. Without a variety of types of people, experiences, biodiversity… if everything was the same, life would not be worth living. Nor would it be able to survive.
As an example of this relating to architecture, buildings that are united in their presentation, such as the Egyptian columns. Straight, unvaried, and unwavering, these columns are also uninviting and boring. The Greek columns introduced a slight taper and curve. An introduction of variety. It gave their columns interest and life. Going forward many centuries to the architecture and design of the Rococo period, the variety and energy introduced in the endless shapes and swirls reaches the opposite end of the spectrum of variety versus unity.
Chapter XI – Rhythm: Variety of Line
According to Speed, the variety of line depends on curvature (or shape), relation to each other, and relation to the boundary of the panel. Later in the chapter, Speed adds variety of value and thickness to his qualities of line. From this definition, he goes forward to state that the most boring lines one can draw are a straight line or a line drawn in a circle. These two have the least amount of variety of curvature and therefore should be avoided almost always when trying to convey any sense of emotion.
In watercolor painting, there is a concept known as “lost and found edges.” Through this technique, the artist can suggest the importance of certain edges to the viewers by making them fade into each other, normally through the usage of wet-in-wet painting. Speed also alludes to this technique in pencil drawing. The importance of edges can be suggested by their relative thickness and strength. Where lines are irrelevant or weak, they can be made to fade away or softened.
Chapter XII – Rhythm: Unity of Line
In this chapter, one of the longest of the book, Speed goes into great depth about each type of line and its particular meaning. He provides examples and highlights the usage of the types of lines and their effects in great works of art by artists like Velasquez. He goes through vertical lines, horizontal lines, diagonal lines, curved lines, etc. He shows how these lines can be used in a composition to increase or decrease the dynamism, the action, or the tranquility. How the lines can be used to guide the viewer’s eye, create emotional connection to the individual, and complete the balance of the composition. It is a heavy chapter that is worth reading twice or three times to be able to fully understand the breadth of which Speed is investigating the drawings of the masters of the previous centuries.
Speed’s observations in the usage of line is also very useful in the design of spaces, particularly in the realm of architecture and design. Picking up the book simply for this chapter is worth it in my opinion and can be repeatedly referred back to time and time again.
Chapter XIII – Rhythm: Variety of Mass
Speed starts off this chapter praising the infinite variety nature has to offer in terms of her forms and shapes, rhythms, and repetitions. The artist will have difficulty creating a great variety of the same thing such as clouds, trees, etc. without first spending a significant amount of time studying nature. At the most advanced levels of artists, the depiction of nature is the symbolic suggestion of nature. Allowing the viewer to fill in the depiction through their own subjective experience.
Mass varies in a multitude of ways: shape, tone, value, edges, texture, and quality.
Tone of shapes is a straight-forward concept that gives some easy variety to a painting or drawing. Creating a misty landscape creates a variety of tones that simplify and make a complicated scene more serene and beautiful. Increased variety of tones causes more drama and contrast, while sticking to mid-tones creates more subdued and less intensity.
Variety of Quality and Texture is largely achieved through the presentation of natural textures and roughness of the actual physical object. Artists throughout time have been able to use the texture of their canvass and the accumulation of their oils or medium built up onto the canvass to be able to suggest this texture. Speed suggests that through the usage of conté crayon, charcoal, and other drawing mediums, the artist can achieve interesting textures and qualities of mass that can give interest to their drawings like in painting.
Variety of Edges are something that painting has paid more attention to. The watercolor methods discussed earlier of “lost and found” edges are pertinent here. A variety of solid, sharp edges mixed with soft edges make a composition shine in its variety and these can be further exploited to guide the viewer to experience what the artist is wishing to convey.
Chapter XIV – Rhythm: Unity of Mass
The unity of mass concerns itself more with the concept of composition. The arrangement of the masses and their relation to each other within the frame. Speed draws the reader’s attention to the way the old masters conducted their work through lowering the value of the sky in the distance to be able to concentrate the focal point more on the figures present in the composition. Painting the skin tone lighter than the sky was a commonplace tactic to draw the viewer’s eye to the figures rather than to the sky. In reality, the sky is normally the lightest tone, and lowering its value creates a foreboding and heavy mood to a painting.
Speed refers to the extent of lights and darks within a composition as notes within a scale. Referencing music once again. The artist must play within this scale of tones, since they are limited. A composition that is limited to a smaller range of tones can be seen as quieter and more reserved. Making full use of the entire range of tones within the scale can be more profound and impactful.
Speed makes one distinction: when the contract between tones of the objects are high, the objects must be simplified to make the best use of these contrasts. Having complicated objects with high contrast produces such a barrage of stimulus that it makes it difficult for the viewer to understand the scene. A good example of this would be a strongly lit facade of a building. The straight lines produce a sharp, simple edge, but the simplicity of the form and the sharp contrast from light to dark tone complement one another.
Another statement he makes along these lines is that when you have a strong contrast in color, the contrast in tone cannot be very different between them.
Artistic Instinct
This is not a chapter in the book but I believe it requires its own section. I believe Speed’s underlying conviction in this book is to let the reader know that they must cultivate a creative sense within themself. An “Artistic Instinct.” He tells the reader that they should not wait to be able to draw or paint well in order to express their artistic sensibilities. What is most important is that the artist is moved, can recognize when they are moved, and be able to translate that into their lines. Some of the best compositions that people, including myself, have made, are not the most technically accurate, nor are they the most impressive compositionally. However they carry a sense of emotion and drive to create something that the artist was feeling. This is arguably why heartbreak, struggle, and highly emotive experiences create great music, art, and works of literature. Art is essentially a reflection of human experience. If it gets jumbled through the lens of technique, composition, and rigid rules, the human experience is lost.
“A picture obviously composed is badly composed.”
– Harold Speed. The Practice and Science of Drawing