The smoother the drawing surface the smoother the lines
that can be drawn. Drafting film (permatrace) has a very
smooth surface but it is expensive. Paper is available
in a wide range of thicknesses. In preference, choose a
medium weight, double matt smooth paper. Thin, ‘bris-
tol’, board can also be used. If in any doubt, the staff
of a shop specializing in equipment for graphic art
and technical drawing should be able to offer plenty of
advice. CS10 paper is favoured by many illustrators
because it is ideal for artwork and has a very smooth
surface that can be carefully scraped to remove mistakes.
It is always worth asking about the long-term stability
of the drawing materials on offer (ink, paper, drafting film)
and the suitability of the ink and pens for the draw-
ing surface. Ink that fades quickly and paper that readily
tends to yellow and distort should be avoided. Tracing paper
is particularly unstable.
Having pencils in a range of hardnesses should
allow for work on drafting film as well as paper (4H to
HB should cover most situations). Note that when work-
ing on drawing film, a 4H can behave more like a 2H.
Mistakes will occur, so accept the inevitable and buy a good
eraser as well.
Drafting pens, also known as technical pens, are avail-
able in a range of sizes. The 0.35 mm nib is a frequently
used size for many outlines, although 0.5 or 0.7 mm
may be required for larger drawings that will be greatly
reduced for publication whereas a 0.25 mm nib may be
used to outline a small drawing that will not be reduced.
T
he old adage that ‘a picture is worth a thousand
words’ is particularly appropriate to the field of
archaeological recording. Drawings and illustra-
tions of various types provide a convenient way of
conveying a great deal of information very quickly. For
detailed information about archaeological illustration,
the reader is referred to existing literature (see the Further
Information section at the end of the chapter). This
chapter offers basic advice about equipment and techni-
ques for small-finds recording and the range of different
methods for presenting information in archaeological
drawings. Information on the recording of larger finds,
particularly appropriate to underwater archaeology, is
provided in appendices 1 and 2.
Basic Drawing Equipment
There are several volumes available that deal compre-
hensively with the options in terms of drawing equipment
(e.g. Green, 2004 and Griffiths et al., 1990): therefore,
only a brief guide is offered here. A few basic items
are all that is required to start with. An archaeological
drawing ‘toolkit’ can be accumulated over time and
this is sensible because the range of equipment required
is dependent on the type of drawing undertaken. A
list of initial purchases might include paper/drafting
film, pencils, drafting pens, erasers, measuring equip-
ment, etc.
Contents
u Basic drawing equipment
u Drawing archaeological material
u Recording ‘by eye’
u Recording decoration and surface
Detail
u Recording constructional and other detail
u Post-fieldwork photography and laser
scanning
u Presenting a range of complex information
18 Archaeological Illustration
Underwater Archaeology: The NAS Guide to Principles and Practice Second Edition Edited by Amanda Bowens
© 2009 Nautical Archaeological Society ISBN: 978-1-405-17592-0
