Here are a few thoughts about drawing with pencils. First, have you noticed that when galleries tell the medium used in making a piece of art, they say things like “oil”, “watercolor”, “acrylic”, or “pencil”? “Pencil”???? Isn’t that actually graphite? In a sense, calling a pencil drawing “pencil” is somewhat like calling a painting “brush”.
Never mind.
The drawing has been temporarily removed from the blog because it is going to be a surprise for some people.
When the customers retrieved their pencil drawing with all those little bitty faces, they wanted to know how in the world I was able to make those tiny visages legible.
The way I got those tiny faces was with little itty bitty adjustments while working under a magnifying glass using these tools, working for many hours on nothing but those faces, refining with each pass, turning the photos and the drawing upside down in order to evaluate the shapes, the darkness, the blurry quality, and then mimic what I saw.
That teensy eraser came into being about 5 years ago. (Okay, if it feels like 5, it was probably 8 or 10 years ago.) How were we able to draw without such a tool?? There were other eraser sticks, but none so tiny. We relied on erasing shields to isolate small spaces, which were never small enough. Now, with the Tombow Mono Zero, we sometimes want an even smaller eraser.
Those sharpeners by Blackwing are designed to give a long point, using 2 different blades. First, use the hole on the left for a looonnnng lead (not actually lead—Pb—but graphite). The hole on the right makes an extremely sharp point, unless the blades have worn themselves dull, which mine have. I had to break out my new one, which I had been holding back on using because it cost $14!! For a pencil sharpener??
Since I no longer have one in reserve, it seemed prudent to buy another backup. Now they are $16 on Amazon. SIXTEEN DOLLARS FOR A PENCIL SHARPENER!
Sometimes it feels good to just sketch quickly, without anything other than a Blackwing pencil I usually keep with me, using any available blank piece of paper. It is a different kind of challenge, which is probably good practice.
Yeppers. Time to raise my prices.
P.S. SIXTEEN DOLLARS FOR A PENCIL SHARPENER?? I’m struggling with this concept, which you may have noticed.
6 Comments
I’m in awe of your artwork! And you have the right tools for the job. The tiny eraser is perfect. I’ve heard that Blackwing pencils are the best, but I’ve never tried one. They’re not cheap either! Yes, it’s time to raise your prices!
Thanks, Michelle. As I become more familiar with your artwork, I expect to be in awe of yours! I only use Blackwing pencils for writing, because they don’t have enough variety in the hardness/blackness of their leads. But their sharpeners are top-notch, and I always have one in my purse, my briefcase, by the phone (yeppers, a landline), by my chair, and everywhere a pencil is desired.
This is just…incredible. The level of detail is staggering. Your love of the craft and dedication to “getting it right” for the client is so evident. Well done!
Elisabeth, thank you. I did the entire drawing under a giant magnifying glass, with a lot of prayer too. Normally I would refuse this type of commission, but it was like quicksand as the conversation with the customer progressed. I kept thinking that I could back out or that they would change their minds (it was a pair of sister who ultimately made the decision to proceed). After awhile, I thought, “If I don’t do this, who will?? And I knew several of these musicians, so this is an honor!” Then I moved into, “WHEN WILL I EVER LEARN MY OWN LIMITATIONS!?”
Or, the list could read, “Brush,” “Brush,” “Brush,” “Pencil.” Then it would match!
Would you call sketching quickly “Plein Graphite?” That kind of looks like the back of me, but I don’t remember staring at a piano recently. . . .
Sharon, I suppose that sort of messy quick sketching could be called “plein air”, because that means “on location” or something similar. The sketch is my friend Ronda.
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