Rendering in Pen and Ink: New Edition of the Classic Book on Pen and Ink Techniques for Artists, Illustrators, Architects, and Designers
Rendering in Pen and Ink: New Edition of the Classic Book on Pen and Ink Techniques for Artists, Illustrators, Architects, and Designers book cover

Rendering in Pen and Ink: New Edition of the Classic Book on Pen and Ink Techniques for Artists, Illustrators, Architects, and Designers

Hardcover – September 1, 1976

Price
$49.94
Format
Hardcover
Pages
256
Publisher
Watson-Guptill Publications
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0823045303
Dimensions
9.5 x 1 x 12.25 inches
Weight
2.85 pounds

Description

Arthur L. Guptill (1891-1956) who co-founded Watson-Guptill Publications and was co-editor of American Artist magazine, was an architect, a painter, an art director, an author, and a teacher. Born in Gorham, Maine, he graduated with a degree in architecture from Pratt Institute in 1912, and then studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A partner in Bearse & Guptill, architectural designers and illustrators, from 1919 to 1925, Mr. Guptill was a freelance specialist in design, freelance advertising artist, and advertising agency consultant from 1916 to 1937. The founder, president, and director of activities of the Amateur Artists Association of America, Mr. Guptill wrote numerous art instruction books. He taught at Pratt and the Brooklyn Museum and was a member of the Art Directors Club of New York and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in England. Susan E. Meyer was born and raised in New York City. She was graduated from the University of Wisconsin and attended the Universita per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy. Ms. Meyer has had a long history of involvement with Arthur Guptill's work. For over seven years, as managing editor of Watson-Guptill Publications, the company he co-founded, she compiled and edited his books. In that capacity, she also compiled, edited, and collaborated on a number of other books on watercolorists and their techniques, painting portraits, and designing with type. In addition, Ms. Meyer was editor of American Artist magazine, where Guptill himself was once co-editor. She is the author of over a dozen books and is currently the director of Roundtable Press, Inc. in New York City. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Features & Highlights

  • Arthur L. Guptill's classic
  • Rendering in Pen and Ink
  • has long been regarded as the most comprehensive book ever published on the subject of ink drawing. This is a book designed to delight and instruct anyone who draws with pen and ink, from the professional artist to the amateur and hobbyist. It is of particular interest to architects, interior designers, landscape architects, industrial designers, illustrators, and renderers. Contents include a review of materials and tools of rendering; handling the pen and building tones; value studies; kinds of outline and their uses; drawing objects in light and shade; handling groups of objects; basic principles of composition; using photographs, study of the work of well-known artists; on-the-spot sketching; representing trees and other landscape features; drawing architectural details; methods of architectural rendering; examination of outstanding examples of architectural rendering; solving perspective and other rendering problems; handling interiors and their accessories; and finally, special methods of working with pen including its use in combination with other media. The book is profusely illustrated with over 300 drawings that include the work of famous illustrators and renderers of architectural subjects such as Rockwell Kent, Charles Dana Gibson, James Montgomery Flagg, Willy Pogany, Reginald Birch, Harry Clarke, Edward Penfield, Joseph Clement Coll, F.L. Griggs, Samuel V. Chamberlain, Louis C. Rosenberg, John Floyd Yewell, Chester B. Price, Robert Lockwood, Ernest C. Peixotto, Harry C. Wilkinson, Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, and Birch Burdette Long. Best of all, Arthur Guptill enriches the text with drawings of his own.
  • From the Trade Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(340)
★★★★
25%
(142)
★★★
15%
(85)
★★
7%
(40)
-7%
(-41)

Most Helpful Reviews

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A deep dive into drawing with steel nibs

TL;DR Well worth the cost to purchase and the effort to study. A wealth of excellent information on classic pen and ink technique, superb gallery of pen and ink illustrations (many printed at the same size as they were drawn).

The operative word for this text is "Comprehensive". With that said, however, the applicability is narrow, although that is not necessarily a bad thing. Much of what I dislike in so many art books is their breadth (everyone is treated as a beginner or intermediate learner, and all materials and basic techniques are therefore treated over and over and over again in each new text).

Took much "learning" these days is done at this shallow level.

This book on the other hand takes a deep dive into a narrow area. Not only is it focused on ink work, but it's also almost exclusively applicable to flexible steel nibs (there is carry over to brush pens, technical pens, fountain pens, even ball-points, but it's only incidental, not the subject of the book).

The information, writing style and techniques utilized are all dated, although not so much so as to be difficult to read or unusable. Also the milieu of commercial illustration and architectural rendering in general is vastly different (i.e. most production is going to be done with graphics tablets and computers these days)... of course there is still a huge field of traditional ink work being done, particularly in comics, and this book has a lot to offer people who do that type of illustration, professionally or for fun (or both).

It's also got a huge amount to offer the urban sketcher in my opinion, with chapters dedicated to buildings, architectural details, and interior, which are rather comprehensive.

There is a good, albeit brief, summary of composition, with some good tip on how to treat this when you're working within the limitation of only being able to produce lines and dots of black ink. A good chapter on copying from photographs, including how to select good photos to draw from.

There are tons and tons of great illustrations from learn from, literally hundreds. As a gallery of excellent illustrations and sketches (many reproduced at the size they were originally drawn) it is worth picking up and learning from. I mean even if you only get it for the pictures, at $10-$15 (what I payed for a used hardcover) you're paying something like 5 cents a piece for full sized master drawings.

So, this book is still relevant, albeit in a very narrow domain. I personally love the look of old pen and ink illustrations, and enjoy using flexible steel nibs; they're simply a pleasure to draw with and my favorite instrument. This book is an excellent window into a world where they were a more relevant tool, and instruction on the techniques which were in use at that time.
24 people found this helpful
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Rendering in Pen and Ink: New Edition of the Classic Book on Pen and Ink...OUCH!!!

An old book in so far as text and writing...Let's say it might fall under the heading as a "classic."
And, I have to admit the seller was not truthful. Or maybe just neglectful in haste to make a buck.
I'm disappointment in this...and I think it is due to printing of this book all together. And, this was never disclosed in any descriptions via Amazon of book quality.

I found there are many blank pages within this book. Pages that never got printed...nothing.
There is referencing for the next page...but completely blank altogether.
i.e. Blank pages: 146 to 147....150 to 152...154 to 156....158 to 160..and page 228....all blank!

There is copy and referencing to the illustrations on previous pages leading up to blank pages...but, OUCH!...nothing!
Seller failed to realize this edition is a bad printing altogether. And, after a few e-mails negotiated thru the Amazon Dot Com Nation, I did finally
receive credit for my purchase. Yes, all ended well...Still disappointed in the book/blank pages. I'm surprised when this was discovered way back when first printed the publisher didn't call back defective books
6 people found this helpful
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Rendering in Pen and Ink

I highly recommend this book for any pen and ink artist, novice or experienced. It covers everything from the most basic to advanced. The writing style is charmingly post-Victorian (I think it was written during the 1930's), but it is not outdated in techniques and presentation. I have learned a lot from it, and I know I will continue to refer to it over the years. The other reviewers are right - it is probably the best and most comprehensive book on the subject, and stands the test of time.
4 people found this helpful
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I love this book. Very happy to have found it again.

Had this book years ago, somehow lost it. So happy to have it again. Really good book if you are into pen and ink drawing. As far as I'm concerned, finding this on Amazon.com was a treasure find.
1 people found this helpful
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and not in a 'this is full of useful information' way

So.... this book is dense, and not in a 'this is full of useful information' way. I picked it up in hopes that it would help with my line art, but I had a hard time slogging through it. It's dated, and while I'm sure it might eventually help me with my sketching, I just can't focus long enough to read it- and I'm an English major. Reading boring things is what I do.

If you want to learn to draw using a quill or calligraphy pen, this might be book for you- and that's why I gave it 4 stars instead of 3.
1 people found this helpful
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Buy this book first—THE pen-and-ink master class!!

An absolute classic pen-and-ink primer. Begins right at the beginning and takes you through to advanced techniques gently and thoroughly. This is *the* book that should be at the side of every really interested student—you'll return to it again and again and not outgrow it.
1 people found this helpful
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Great Instructions

I haven't made it past chapter 2 yet, but I have browsed the whole thing several times. The first few chapters start off nice and slow. And the get continuously more complex along the way. So there is plenty for all drawing levels. Yes, the book is pretty old looking. But it is a classic. Ageless. If you are serious about learning how to draw better, this is a great choice.
1 people found this helpful
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Rendering in Pen and Ink

For anyone interested in working in pen and ink, this is THE CLASSIC on the subject.
1 people found this helpful
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4 Stars

The book is quite old, somewhat dated, but the information is still mostly viable.
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Great book

Great book by a legend, now have to start drawing