How to Draw with Graphite and Colored Pencils, Ch. 2

Happy Birthday, Trail Guy!

Hello, my guinea pig friends! Today I continue testing out my tutorial writing skills. 

The Next Steps

Step five: Straighten out the lines. It is NOT “cheating” to use straight edges. If it took a tool to build the actual item, it most likely will take a tool to draw it accurately. There is quite a bit of erasing at this stage, and I use the erasing shield to remove the tiny lines that are wrong. I want my work to be clean and accurate, without hairy or double (or triple) sketchy lines.

ANTI-SMEAR TACTIC: When you erase, you make crumbs. If you flick them with your hand, you will smear. If you blow, you might spit. (Yes, spit happens). Use a drafting brush, a soft paint brush, an antique shaving brush, whatever you have.

Step six: start shading. Shading is the fun part, the party! It is when things come alive with textures and depth. Because I am right handed, I start on the left and the top. This keeps me from dragging my hand across the shaded parts and smearing it. 

I start with a 4B, using the side of the lead. The photo has lots of indiscernible blobs in the window, so I chose to just do some fuzzy sloping strokes, almost a painting technique. Keep the pressure very light, because you can always add more, but it is a hassle to erase if you get too strong in the beginning. The scan looks much darker than the actual drawing because I want the texture to show.

PENCIL TALK: There is no industry standard, so the same pencils look different in different brands. “B” means black; “H” stands for hard. The higher the number with the B or H, the more of that particular quality. For example, 4B is blacker (and softer) than 2B; 6H is harder (and lighter) than 4H. HB is smack dab in the middle, and is the equivalent of a #2 pencil, which is a completely different pencil rating system.

Step seven: Continue layering. Over the 4B, I put 2B using the same type of strokes, and extended it to some new areas, then followed with HB layered on top of the previous layers, and ended with 2H, on top of the previous layers and on the rest of the glass on the window. I just kept layering, working on the glass and the wood surrounding it. I build my shades with many layers rather than pressure, and mostly use the side of the lead rather than the point. Then I come back with a point to sharpen the edges.

I think we will have about 2 more days of this tutorial, and then I’ll abruptly change topics so I don’t lose my readers who are bored with watching paint dry.

 

How to draw with graphite and colored pencils, Ch. 1

My colored pencil artist friend Carrie Lewis asked me to write a tutorial, showing the steps of completing a drawing with pencil and colored pencil. 

I said, “How do I do that?” 

She offered to type while I talk through the steps, but I realized we’d have to be on the phone for about 8 hours. 

So, I chose a photo, started drawing, photographing the steps, and writing about it. Well, yes, sort of, sort of not.

The first session was confusing. I took notes, was sure I’d remember what they meant in order to transcribe them later. 

I photographed a few things, and also scanned the drawing as I went along, but then it was tricky to figure out which order all the pictures went in. Then, I realized there is a lot of information that doesn’t fall in line with the steps.

I’ve decided to post the whole tutorial here on my blog, in 5 chapters. Maybe we can tighten it up together.

How to draw with pencils (and later, add some color) 

The first four steps

Step one: Choose your photo. I chose this because the red chair is a good candidate to be drawn in colored pencil, with everything else in graphite. You can just tint things at the end of a drawing or you can choose a specific item to do in full color. I prefer the latter method.

Step two: crop the photo. Beginners often feel chained to exactly what is in front of them. Over time and with experience, we learn what matters and what doesn’t, and eventually decide that we are the boss of our own artwork.

TOOLS: I use the items in the photo, working at a slanted drafting table. T-square, ruler (with picas so I don’t have to deal with fractions), drafting brush, erasing shield, calculator, pencil sharpener that catches its own crumbs, and Tombow pencils, from 4B to 2H, along with a couple of erasers that don’t show. I prefer the Mars white plastic, but seem to have lost mine. Because I began drawing so lightly, the kneadable eraser works, but it is too ugly to photograph. (It looks like gray chewed gum, gross.)

Step three: draw the borders, making a size that is proportional to the photo. Measure, use math, eyeball it—whatever works best for you. I measure and use tools. It is always best to have margins, so you don’t view the edge of your paper as the edge of your drawing. If you misjudge sizes while drawing, this will give your drawing room to grow. It also prevents a signing or framing problem, should you decide to get it framed. I draw the border with a sharp point on an HB, using a very light touch. I might want to move the border later, draw exactly up to it, or draw over it without it showing through.

Step four: Start figuring out where things are going to go. Look for the main items, in this case, the door and the chair. Draw very very lightly. My lines barely show, so I darkened the lines (just on the photo using my scanner) in order for you to see them.

DISCLAIMER: I chose to alter the picture, to appear as if we are looking straight on the scene rather than from an angle. In most pictures, vertical is always vertical. It is the horizontal surfaces and lines and edges that disappear off toward vanishing points. However, I decided to keep the horizontals and verticals all true to a straight on view rather than slightly angled, as the photo shows. THIS IS REALLY HARD TO DO WHEN YOU ARE STARTING OUT, so you will have less trouble if you just stick to the photo.

Tomorrow: the next steps.

Solds in November and December

Today’s post is a visual list of pencil, colored pencil, and oil paintings, some commissioned, some sold through galleries, some to people getting in touch via email, and from the one show that I didn’t do. You have probably seen all of these, but not in one big whack that makes me feel all puff-headed and successful.

Better When Scanned

This pencil drawing commission of a Mineral King cabin is finished. 

First, I went over the whole drawing with a giant magnifying glass and fixed everything that needed a bit of polishing.

Then, I scanned the drawing.

No matter how carefully I clean the glass on the scanner, there are always little black specks. No matter how many different ways I adjust the settings for scanning, there are always gray areas that should simply be paper white.

So, I clean it up with Photoshop Junior (Photoshop Elements).

Can you tell the difference? At this small size, it might be difficult to see the little improvements. However, I keep track of (almost) all my work, because I never know when I might need a good version for a calendar, some cards, some sort of advertising, to impress a potential customer. . . and to think I used to either make a photocopy or take a slide! 

Speaking of calendars, there are still some 2023 Mineral King HIKES calendars available here.

$20, including tax and mailing.

Drawing in My Little Studio

This is my studio when the flowering pear tree (a leaning tree) was at its peak fall color. The smaller building in the back is where I draw; the closer one with the open door is the workshop where I paint (and where the cats are fed and kept safe at night).

Where was I before all that irrelevant information?

Drawing. Drawing in the studio, using pencils. Drawing a cabin. Drawing a Mineral King cabin. Drawing a commissioned pencil drawing of a Mineral King cabin.

(There. That should satisfy that greedy search engine’s demands for short sentences and repetition.)

Remember this?

It morphed into a real drawing. Here are the steps, some of which you have already seen (but I understand that you actually have a life, and may have slept since then or perhaps even drank a bit.)

Meanwhile, the rains came down outside the studio, pingety-ponging off the metal roof. How’s that for a description of the blessed, life-giving, relief-bringing, green-making, dust-removing rain?

P.S. The drawing will be better when it is scanned, rather than photographed in low light with a substandard camera. Thanks for bearing with me on this process. 

 

Dabbling, Puttering, Inching Forward

This is a scarf, knit for a friend. The colors reminded me of her, and I couldn’t decide between 2 different yarns, so I got both. It is really a dark burgundy, but both the camera and the computer lie.

None of our three cats are allowed indoors. Oops. Is that Pippin in the living room again?

Stop puttering and get to work!

I have two 10×20″ oil painting commissions to complete and mail before Christmas. This is tricky to accomplish unless I put down the camera, put down the knitting, and plant my feet in front of the easels.

It might be tricky anyway, because the photos are less than stellar, less than clear, and full of murky indiscernible things. 

After getting the beginnings of both those oil paintings accomplished, I retreated to the studio for a bit of forward motion on the commissioned pencil drawing.

Inching forward. . . 

Experimenting with Alien Pencils

As a professional artist, it is important to keep my work consistent and to meet deadlines. This doesn’t leave much room for experimenting, something that I view as a luxury for hobbyists. Hobbyists can do anything they choose, whatever inspires them, no deadlines, no need for a signature look (called a “voice” in Art Speak).


A number of years ago, a drawing student/friend gave me a super generous gift of some pencils that I had never heard of. “Graphitint” by Derwent are water soluble pencils, described as having “a hint of earthy color”, but are neither graphite nor colored pencils. After making a chart to see what this “hint of earthy color” looked like, I tried a bit of water on the swatches, drew a small picture, decided it was hideous, and just put it all away.

Recently my friend Carrie Lewis asked me to write another article for her digital magazine, Colored Pencil Magic. At first I told her that I had already written everything I knew about colored pencils. Then I remembered my Graphitints, right there in my stack of colored pencil boxes and tins.

I couldn’t very well write an article stating I had tried them ten years ago and then shoved them aside. 

So, I decided to learn more about these alien pencils. I chose a photo to work from and started another chart to pick the right colors and get a feel for them.

What alien creatures – soft like 6B graphite, but still different than colored pencils. I thought back to a great drawing teacher I’d had who only let us use 6B pencils, keeping a super sharp point. That gave me the confidence to dive in here. After all, it’s only paper, and I do know how to draw.

It was enjoyable, because I listened to Peggy Rowe read from her book Vacuuming in the Nude and Other Ways to Get Attention, (on her son’s blog “The Way I Heard It”). And it was enjoyable because I love to draw, even with alien pencils.

Enough. Many layers, like colored pencils. Lots of ad libbing, along with severe editing, and this little 5×7″ drawing with alien pencils was finished.

Artistic License On a Pencil Drawing

Asking for a commission

Someone contacted me about visiting my studio, along with visiting Mineral King to find the cabin where her dad spent time as a child. I put her in touch with the current owner of the cabin, and then let her know that I accept commissions and can draw the cabin for her to give to her dad.

Gathering photos, making sketches

She was very happy with that idea, so she sent a few photos, the current cabin owner sent more, and I took a few too. Then I worked up different sketches for her to choose from. She chose A, and asked that I draw it 11×14″ instead of the original 9×12″ size chosen.

Beginning the drawing

I had a day without many interruptions, a day to just park in my studio and draw. That has become a real treat in November, consistently my busiest month. 

Instead of printing out photos or ordering good quality prints from Shutterfly, I chose to work from the photos on my laptop. That is now a regular method; it is a real bonus to be able to greatly enlarge a photo for the details.

After a full day at the drawing table, this is what I had.

Taking artistic license

There is a bit of artistic license being taken here, with permission from my customer, of course. In the olden days, I felt bound by reality, enslaved by the photos, and handcuffed by indecision when I ventured away from exactly what was there in person and appeared in the photographs. These days I feel a lot more freedom. Is it because of needing and learning to make things up with oil painting? Is it because I have so much more experience? (I’m kind of old-ish, being well ensconced in the S’s.)

Whatever the reason, the process is enjoyable and challenging. It makes me feel like a real artist instead of a copy machine. 

Calendars

2023, Mineral King HIKES, still available here: Calendars

To see the back of the calendar, you will need to click/tap on the link. 

 

Art Emergency

A long time customer has regular art emergencies. She is Important, and works with Important People. Sometimes those Important People suddenly retire, and then she needs a custom pencil drawing on fairly short notice.

For clarification: she was a friend long before she became Important, but all my friends are important to me. The friendship factor is what keeps me saying yes to her when she calls with an art emergency.

Previous pencil drawings for art emergencies

 

 

The beginnings

The request appeared one month before the piece was needed. The photos arrived about a week later. Since I didn’t take the photos, I don’t feel free to publish them. They were downright scary, but I am a professional, and I managed to suppress my fear (although I whined to my drawing students, warning them to NEVER say yes to projects like this–small size, design complications, poor photographs, tight deadline).

Here it is in progress. This is when I decided that 9×12″ is probably too small to be cramming in this many scenes, particularly with this many tiny windows. (Two years ago I decided that 8×10″ was too small.)

I felt fairly certain that the recipient of the drawing doesn’t follow my blog (our paths have crossed a few times, but he has been Important since I was a kid, so friendship isn’t a factor here.)

Finished!

I was able to finish the drawing in a timely manner, and even was able to deliver it.

Congratulations on a long a fruitful career, 31 years of serving the City of Visalia, Mr. Important Person!

 

 

Five Different Reasons to Send a Note

Everyone loves to get real mail, and as Crane Stationery used to advertise, “No one has ever cherished an email”. (This was before texting, which has made email look personal and handcrafted.)

The other morning I wrote a bunch of notes. A list had accumulated of people I needed to communicate with, and each one needed to be handwritten. Sometimes email just doesn’t do the trick.

As I carried them to the mailbox, it struck me that each note was written for a different reason.

  1. Thank you
  2. I’m sorry for your loss (any of my cards, blank inside, would work for this).
  3. Get well soon (any card with a blank interior will work for this)
  4. Happy Birthday (nope, none of my cards actually say this inside, but I have great confidence in your ability to write those words)
  5. An invitation (I used a blank card for this too)

There are many other reasons to use cards and hand-write notes to people.  

I’ll give you some other ideas tomorrow.