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BASIC
MATERIALS 
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Said
Hamlet to Ophelia,
I'll draw a sketch of thee,
What kind of pencil shall I use?
2B or not 2B?
Spike Milligan
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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). I find that smooth, dark areas
are best achieved by alternate layering and blending
rather than extra pressure. I may apply 5 - 6 (or
more) layers of pencil to an area of dark shadow
or hair.
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| Paper |
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Bristol
2ply heavyweight board is ideal... It's actually a
stiff paper with either a plate or a vellum finish
that stands up extremely well to the rigors of blending
and erasing that this method entails. A slightly cheaper
alternative is a good quality, heavy cartridge paper
although for practicing the technique, I'm sure any
fairly decent paper would do.
I do all of my drawings on A3 (11.5" x 16.5").
The vellum (regular)finish, with it's extra 'tooth',
makes the darks easier to achieve .
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| Tortillons
and Blending Stumps |
These
are spirals of wound paper that are used to blend
the pencil shading. They are very simple
to make and will last a long time if looked after.
It is important to keep these tortillons clean when
using in light areas but a selection can be kept in
varying stages of cleanliness using the blackest for
large dark areas ( hair) or even for drawing in shapes.
Most art shops carry these items.
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| Soft
Tissues, Kitchen Roll, Toilet Tissue, Chamois etc... |
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To
achieve smooth gradated skin tones on the larger areas
of cheeks, jaw, forehead and clothing, try a piece
of soft kitchen roll or toilet tissue folded over
the end of your finger. This spreads the graphite
much more evenly than the tortillon and is especially
suited to the smoother skin of younger subjects. Tissue
paper is also handy for resting the heel of your hand
on as you draw, protecting the paper from grease and
moistness. Try experimenting with tissues, felt, cotton
materials, chamois and other materials to discover
the various, subtle effects that can be achieved.
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| Emery
or Sandpaper |
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This
is simply a small piece of stiff card (mounting board
is ideal) approx. 4" square, on which I either
glue or double tape a sheet of medium emery/sandpaper.
This is then used to clean and shape the tips of my
paper tortillons.
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| Large,
Soft Brush |
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Rather
than wiping away eraser debris with the back of your
hand and spreading the graphite dust over your pristine
white paper, use a large, soft watercolour wash brush
to gently brush it away. Even blowing away these bits
is fraught with danger as the slightest bit of moister
can alter the surface properties of your paper leaving
small, dark, dust ingrained stains that are almost
impossible to remove.
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| Erasers |
I
use a variety of erasers for different effects.
The most versatile is the putty rubber... this can
be pulled and squeezed into many useful shapes and
the dirty bits are simply pinched off, try dabbing
as well as stroking, the tacky properties of this
eraser will gently lighten selected areas. A lovely
tip I picked up at Mike
Sibley's 'Studio' page, is the use of ordinary
'Blu Tack' ... I've tried it and it works perfectly!!!
One
of my favourite erasers is a large, round, white
one that sits in the palm of the hand, rather like
a bar of soap... this is ideal for lifting out the
larger areas on the forehead and cheekbones and
by reducing pressure at the end of each stroke,
a very soft gradation can be achieved. This eraser
cleans up by rubbing the thumb across the dirtied
part.
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| Circle
Template |
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You
can purchase a perspex template with circles of varying
sizes for drawing the pupils of the eyes... Actually
trying to draw 2 perfect circles of identical size,
freehand, is very difficult... and as the eyes are
without doubt the most important feature of the face,
it's vital to draw them correctly. I tend to make
a point of placing a single highlight in each eye,
overlapping the pupil and the iris... if there are
several highlights in each eye, often caused by studio
spots, I still only draw the one.
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| Fixative |
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I
tried the commercial fixatives when I first started
to draw and found that they spluttered and clogged
up constantly. Then a friend, who teaches at a local
Art College, suggested ordinary hairspray which they
use as a cheaper and more user friendly alternative.
It can also be used on pastel drawings. Fixing, apart
from protecting the pencil on your paper, also reduces
the shine that results from the darker, burnished
areas, giving a soft matt finish. Always spray the
whole sheet from corner to corner, top to bottom...
do not spray just the drawing in the centre, as this
creates buckling of the paper. Also be sure that you
have erased all unwanted pencil marks prior to spraying.
I usually spray 3 layers, allowing to dry on a flat
(unvarnished) surface between coats.
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| Celebrity
Photographs. |
I
very rarely sell my celebrity portraits, I started
drawing them simply as a means of practicing the
blending technique... The 'Coronation Street' characters
were my first 'celebs' simply because they were
the ideal size and featured regularly on the covers
of most TV magazines. I also found several subjects
on the covers of autobiographies Sean Connery, Norman
Wisdom, Humphrey Bogart etc. The local library is
a goldmine for subject matter... biographies, history,
sports etc. Another good source is the poster shop,
I've found that most of them sell 8" x 10"s
of past and present film and music stars either
studio posed or film stills. And of course the video
stores throw mountains of posters and other advertising
material away every week... have a word with your
friendly, neighbourhood manager!!!
You
will come across a lot of photographs that are just
too small for the gridding method... I'm lucky that
another of my hobbies is photography, I simply photograph
a selection of collected magazine pictures and print
them to the required size in my darkroom... you
probably aren't in this position... but you can
purchase 'Art Projectors' that enlarge smaller pictures
directly onto your drawing paper.
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Positioning...
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Have
you found, after you're already well into your
drawing, that it isn't sitting where you originally
intended...? Somehow it's drifted left, right,
up or down! This can put me off terribly and I
quite often abandon it and start again. It also
makes mounting more difficult and usually involves
trimming. |
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I
eventually got around this by reserving my drawing
area beforehand, exactly where I wanted it. I
work on A3 (11.5" x 16.5") bristol board
but my actual drawing area is A4 (11.5" x
8.5"). So, I position a sheet of A4 horizontally
central and slightly above vertical center and
lightly draw around it. |
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I
then work within my reserved drawing area. |
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When
the drawing is complete, I erase the surrounding
pencil border along with any other unwanted pencil
marks or graphite dust. I now have a nicely positioned
drawing that will require very little work to
mount correctly. |
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If
you intend to frame your finished drawing, do
use mounting board. Humidity changes can cause
your paper to expand and cockle slightly if secured
all around, so "hang" your paper from
the top only... this allows it to expand and contract
without those unattractive undulations. The mounting
board, apart from creating an attractive frame
around your work, also prevents contact between
the paper and the glass. |
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