For
successful shading
and blending, I've used an ordinary 0.5mm or 0.7mm mechanical
pencil loaded with 2B since I started drawing... this gives
me a fine line at all times without the need to constantly sharpen.
These pencils are usually sold with HB leads, so be sure to
purchase a pack of 2B to replace them. Unlike the wooden pencil,
you can't use the side of the lead to shade large areas, instead,
the shading
is kept very tight and the varying tones are achieved by gradation
and layering, with the pencil strokes always following the shape
of your object (unlike cross hatching)....
Graphite
will act very much like fingerprint powder and adhere to areas
of paper where natural oils from the fingers have been deposited.
To achieve smooth, silky blends, try to keep skin contact with
the paper to an absolute minimum. Try resting the heel of the
hand on a piece of tissue or paper to prevent unnecessary contact.
NEVER try to blend graphite with the
fingertips!!!...
The
prospect of drawing an accurate copy probably seems rather daunting...
but the grid, placed over it, has divided everything into a
collection of fairly simple shapes. If you progress square by
square and simply draw the contents of each one, you'll find
that you should be able to draw very accurately. Your first
couple of attempts may not be perfect, of course, but with just
a little practise, this method will be an invaluable tool to
aid you in producing lifelike portraits...
Erase
lightly so that the previous layers show through, this gives
the impression of depth to the hair. Notice how the lighter
areas of these drawings change shape slightly, this is due to
erasing to re-establish the highlights. The drawing on the left
has just the two layers, I would probably do a third or even
a fourth layer to give a more luxuriant look. Always finish
by softening the outside edges with the blender...
When
drawing the lashes below the eye, don't have them sprouting
out of the eyeball... note the lash line. And for a more natural
effect, try to avoid the spider's legs type lash but draw them
in clumps. Finally, because of the many tiny blood vessels and
shadows cast by the lashes themselves, the white of the eye
isn't actually white... in fact, making it too white will make
it appear flat and give the impression of being pasted onto
the face...
A
tortillon is a tightly rolled sheet of paper, the inside of
which is pushed out into a pencil shape and used by pencil,
pastel and charcoal artists to blend and push colour around
on the drawing paper, softening edges and graduating tones.
You may want to try experimenting with various types of paper,
the commercial tortillons that I've come across are made from
a rather loose fibre paper, similar to thin blotting paper but
I've found that just about any paper will do. I make mine from
ordinary copy paper straight out of my printer. Very little
practice is required to produce your own homemade tortillon...
For
this particular demonstration I've selected a black and white
photograph of Matt Le Blanc taken from one of my daughter's
magazines. A quick study of the face shows that the light is
quite high and slightly to the right of the subject casting
shadows beneath the brows, nose, top lip, bottom lip, chin and
jawline. These shadows are actually defining the features and
shape of the face. You will notice that there are no outlines
around the lips, eyes or nose. This is probably the most common
fault with peoples drawings, resulting in a cartoon or caricature
rather than a realistic portrait. What I hope to demonstrate
is, the use of shapes and tones to produce the finished drawing...
I
boughtLee Hammond's book in September 1996.
I took it home, read the first chapters on materials, gridding,
shading and blending and then, using what materials I had, drew
my first portrait of John, a family friend, onto a sheet of
copy paper using an ordinary wooden 2B pencil.
Okay, so it's a bit messy, and you can still see the initial
gridding in places... but apart from my recent watercolour attempts
I hadn't really used a pencil since my school days, 35 years
earlier, so the drawing above astounded me on completion...
I could actually recognise John.
At the time, I assumed that was as good as it got...
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