Time to Meet your Drawing Friends - Painting & Drawing Tips

Excitement is in the air

Supplies shinny and bright

Sketchbook ready, full of slick, clean pages.

Are you feeling "OMG! What do I do NOW?"

DRAW anything you SEE - Get into the Sketchbook HABIT.
 Sometimes it can make a very interesting combinations on your page

Creak open that book!

Skip the first page, anything you do there will get smudged by the cover page which is rougher than the pages. If you decide later you want it to be a title page you can always go back and draw something. Or glue a favourite picture/drawing there. This book is for you so make it yours.

Time to meet your Best Friends. Your pencils.

They are ready to go, sharp and eager to mark the page. Like children cooped up in classroom ready for recess. 

Take your materials for a TEST RUN

Take out your 2B. This is the workhorse of the group. For most of us, this will be our ‘first responder’. More on that later. For now let's see what he can do. Pressing as hard as you can, make a sweeping stroke on your page at less 1.5 inches long. Then keeping that same length slowly release your pressure getting lighter and lighter.  Label it 2B. You might feel this isn't ‘important’ enough to ‘muck up’ that wonderful book but it is. Understanding how your graphite pencils react to your paper/support is important. It is different for each type of paper. Try it on other paper and you will see.

     Try your 2H pencil. Now your 9B. Quite a difference eh?!

Things to notice:

1.  Texture: some areas will look very dark and slick while others will have little white flecks in them, making an interesting texture. It is important to see the difference and make it work for you.  The slick smooth dark would be awesome for drawing glasses. I love that textured look for rust and old things. Having both in a picture makes interesting contrast for the eye.

2.   Sound: did you notice how scratchy sounding the H pencils are. They are your hardest pencils meaning they leave the least amount of granite on the page. Your 9B is the softest pencil, leaving a rich black with lots of texture.

3.  Your pencil grip: did you notice this changes instinctively as you make hard and soft marks and whether you are doing tight details or covering large spaces.  There is no right or wrong way to hold the pencil, whatever works for you and is comfortable for your hand is best.

Early drawing of Steve and Rusty 1999 - Texture in the bench really gives nice contrast with clothing.  Soft light marks gives a sense of distance to the background

4.  The Darkest Mark: notice that several pencils will make very similar dark marks with the slickness/texture you want. The difference is the pressure or 'work' that is required.  We all have different hand pressure and so you will discover what pencil you prefer to get that dark that you need. I have a light hand so I am often using my 7, 8 & 9 B to get good darks.  I just can't put enough pressure (and I don't want to) with a harder pencil (2B or 3B) to get my darks. 

5.   The lightest Mark:  look at your light values. Just like your darks there are several pencils that will produce that value.  You need to decide which one is the most comfortable for you and gives the slickness or texture you want. 

Find your Layout Pencil

In most cases the 2B is a good layout pencil.  It can give you a soft line, easy to erase and a darker line for shading. Check it out. Draw some circles and lines up and down and across the page. If you find you can't get a light line move to a harder pencil HB, or F.  It means that you have a heavy hand.  You can practice getting lighter or move to a different pencil.  Try not to go any harder than an HB or F as the harder pencils can score your paper as you are laying things out. This makes it very hard to erase cleanly. 

Ok, your ready. Go ahead and draw a few things, fiddle with your pencils, Mark up a page.  Next post will get into some ideas as to how to get into the Sketchbook Habit. 

Don't have your materials yet?  See my last post "Ready to Start Drawing?" for a list of supplies. 

Are you looking to try your hand at drawing?  Are there things you would like to draw? Let me know and I will try and use some of them as examples. Some of my favourite things are flowers, birds and animals.  And I love drawing bark, logs, old fences; the texture from graphite just seems to bring them to life. Happy Drawing. 

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Open Studio -  Saturday, Sept 30 & Sunday, Oct. 1 – 10-4pm Daily

Special Hands-On Drawing Demos: 11 am & 1pm Daily.  

You are invited to Art by Wendy's Studio, N Surrey - Come and see the latest work, draw along with me, learn more about travel journaling and sketchbooking, enjoy my new doodles, check out my prints, cards, and more. I will be part of the Surrey's Art in City Event.  Maps & more on the event Here  Contact Wendy Here   See you there!!

Time to Move Inside and Draw
Drop-In & Draw starting: 5 Sessions starting Wed. Sept 20. Mon. Sept 25, Tues Oct 10, Tues, Oct 24, Tues, Nov. 7 10-12pm & 1-3pm
Expressions Art Gallery, 227 & Lougheed Hwy, Maple Ridge.  

Come for 1 or all 5, choose the morning or afternoon session. Bring your sketchbook or your project and come draw.  I will be happy to give you a few pointers as you work on your drawing.  $15 Pre-Register Required. Contact Wendy Here

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 Have a great artful day,
Wendy