ARCHAEOLOGICALILLUSTRATION 171
In general, detail can be drawn with a 0.35 mm or
0.25 mm nib, with a 0.18 mm nib used for fine detail.
Remember, however, that if the drawing is going to
be reduced by more than 50 per cent, the finer lines
are likely to be lost.
Specialised ink erasers are available. Choose the type
suitable for the ink and drawing surface being used. It
is common practice to use a scalpel with a rounded
edge (no. 10) to scrap off mistakes on drafting film.
Special drafting powder is then used to buff the surface
prior to inking.
Measuring equipment is important because some means
of taking accurate measurements is required. Dividers
and rulers are also basic requirements and are available
in a wide variety of forms. Vernier callipers are very
useful (essential, in fact, for drawing ceramic vessels) and
should be available whenever possible.
Most drawings will require some form of labelling
or annotation. For registration and record purposes,
handwritten text will often suffice. For publication this
is rarely acceptable, unless expertly executed. Lettering
stencils are widely available and, although they take
practice to use well, they are cheap. Label printers are also
readily available: they allow text and captions to be typed
onto clear adhesive labels that can be stuck onto the
drawing or plan. A word-processor attached to a high-
definition printer (such as a laser printer) enables the rapid
and convenient production of lettering to an acceptable
standard. Lettering and captions can be printed out
as required and attached to the drawing for reproduc-
tion. Alternatively, a drawing can be scanned (to high
resolution) and an image-editing software package (such
as Adobe Photoshop) can be used to add lettering. It
is best practice to save the final drawing as a TIFF file,
and when scanning a drawing to do so as greyscale at
600 dpi minimum.
Other basic equipment that might be considered could
include a scalpel, set squares, an engineer’s square and
graph paper.
A designated area will be required for drawing activity
and it should enable people to work comfortably for
extended periods. Essential points to consider include
the working surface and lighting.
It is vital to have a suitable surface on which to sup-
port the drawing. A purpose-built, adjustable drawing table
is ideal but expensive. Drawing boards can be bought or
made. If making one, it is very useful to make sure that
one corner is machined straight so that it can be used as
a ‘T-square’. It can be very useful to tape a sheet of graph
paper onto the drawing board. If drafting paper is then
used, the lines on the graph paper will show through and
can be used to align drawings, labels and datum lines.
Drawing is based on observation and a strong, direct-
able light source will help enormously in picking out
detail that might otherwise be missed. An angle-poise
lamp can be ideal (figure 18.1). Conventionally, objects
are drawn as if lit from the top-left corner. It can be
useful, therefore, to place a lamp on the top-left corner
of the drawing board and also to position the board so
that natural light is coming from that direction. Examine
the object from a number of angles in different lighting
conditions; new features might well become apparent.
With experience comes a more extensive drawing toolkit.
More pens, an adjustable drawing table or a reducing
machine can all add significantly to the ease and conven-
ience with which high-quality work can be produced.
Accuracy and clarity, however, can be achieved with basic
equipment of the kind listed above.
Whether drawings are made on film or paper, they
should be stored in a safe, dry place. A plan-chest is ideal
because drawings can be laid flat and inspected with
ease. Variants in which the drawings are suspended from
racks are also available. If there are to be a lot of draw-
ings, then it can help if each sheet of paper or film has
its own number marked in a place that is easily visible when
the sheets are in storage. All artefacts drawn on that sheet
would have that sheet number attached to their record card
so that the relevant drawing can be found with ease. This
helps to prevent loss of information (see chapter 19).Drawing Archaeological Material
The point of archaeological illustrations is to convey
information, not to break up long passages of text.
Accuracy and clarity are of the utmost importance.Figure 18.1 Once the outline and other details of an
object have been recorded in pencil they are traced in ink
onto a clean sheet of tracing paper or film to produce
the final drawing. Note the well-positioned lamp and the
use of a cotton glove to avoid smears on the drawing
surface, which can reduce its ability to accept clean ink lines.
(Photo: Edward Martin)