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I started in charcoal, because I needed a medium that could be completed in ten minutes for public portrait drawing. I drew in charcoal for five years full time before adding pastel. Pencil came later because it is a more disciplined medium and harder to achieve a sense of flair in ten minutes.
I could not charge as much for it, and it took just as long. It is a more static medium and less forgiving than charcoal and pastel. Pencil was my first medium to study as a child, but the last one in which to gain any kind of mastery, if indeed I can say that I have a mastery in it.
Pencil is a fascinating medium to me. It is the most primary medium, all about basics. I use pencil in line mode first. I draw each line once, and build the drawing one line at a time, letting the form come as a result of carefully drawn lines.
A pencil sketch is ten minutes for me. It is not hurried, just simple. I like it that way. It is not the norm, I think. Most people use graphite in far more elaborate detail than do I. I consider myself a realist, in the sense that the goal of my work is to be a good likeness.
However, my work is impressionist due to the time frame I work in. I prefer the quick sketch to the long and labored oil, perhaps because I can make a little money with sketching, but would starve to death painting.
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