Sketching on Canvas

[ReNae Stueve]

I've a question about materials to use for my sketch on canvas that I like (need) to do before I begin to paint. I'm reminded of the lesson I learned using graphite under pastels. Nope, pastel won't adhere to graphite. So, can I use charcoal or better yet graphite, (my strength)without worry about bleeding or flaking?

Lemme know what you know.

Thanks

[Anne Hall]

From what I have seen, you can 1) sketch in graphite, 2) charcoal or 3) with a brush using thinned yellow ochre or another earth color (raw umber or sienna). Detail follows:

1) I have not tried graphite myself but have seen the work of someone who does. I think she used a #2 pencil on medium textured canvas that was double oil primed. Check around for some information directly from someone who does this.

2) You can get a great result with charcoal using Grumbacher Medium charcoal sharpened to a very fine point with a handheld pencil sharpener or Xacto knife. To correct drawing mistakes, use a towel or rag to literally knock the charcoal off the canvas. When you are satisfied with your charcoal drawing you have three choices: a) knock all the charcoal offf and use the faint ghost remaining as your guide; or b), use your finger and carefully rub your charcoal into the canvas for a more visible ghost; or c), take very very thinned out raw umber and "ink in" your charcoal drawing with a fine brush.

3) Many teachers advocate learning to draw with the brush as good preparation for painting. You do want to use the earth colors in drawing stages because they dry more quickly than the mineral, organic or modern synthetic colors. Start with a lighter color such as yellow ochre and make corrections in a deeper color like raw siena or raw umber.

[Lon Haverly]

Be careful with graphite or charcoal. In my opinion you should spray them with a fixative before painting over them, as they can muddy up into your paint. You can thin it with thinner or alkyd walnut oil, which dries fast.

[Michele Rushworth]

What kind of fixative would you recommend? I'm concerned that whatever propellant or other gunk may be in the fixative mignt cause problems for adhesion of the paint.

[Juan Martinez]

ReNae

As far as I have ever detected or learnt, there is no problem in doing a drawing with graphite. The main issue with graphite is that it has some sort of waxen binder which may not be the greatest thing under your paint. In the old days (van Eyck era) when it was common to do a completely rendered under-drawing in ink, the artists always used a hatching techinge, even for dark areas. That was because the oil didn't adhere properly to the ink, so they wanted to leave space between the hatchings for the oil paint to mechanically bond with the ground. With graphite, you shouldn't even begin to have this problem unless you intend to do a fully-rendered drawing with it; which I doubt is your intention.

In order to fix the drawing, there are--as mentioned--a variety of methods. One of these is to put skim milk in an aspirator bottle and spray it on. This is similar to the ancient method of blowing casein solution (I believe that casein is a protein that is most often derived from milk by-products) on to drawings in order to fix them. Personally, I prefer just to go over the lines with thinned raw umber or some other fast-drying pigment. As Lon pointed out, this can muddy the pigment, but unless you are only doing one layer of paint, it isn't really much of an issue. Charcoal in particular is a very weak pigment and won't muddy your colours very much or for long.

Anyway, let us know how it turns out.

Juan

[Michael Georges]

ReNae:

Graphite is a not the best choice for sketching under oil paints. Graphite is very slick and oils don't stick well to slick surfaces. Further, I have met several artists who claim that over time, graphite will leech through your paint.

Charcoal is an excellent choice.

I fix my underdrawings with Damar Retouch Varnish. It is an appropriate choice for an oil over painting. It isolates the charcoal and keeps it from smearing, and it prepares the surface for oil imposition over it.

[Karin Wells]

Good heavens, do NOT put a graphite line under oil paint. It will eventually bleed through....even if your paint is an inch thick!

If you don't believe me, take a scrap of blank canvas, make a graphite scribble, and paint a layer of white over it. You won't have to wait too many days to see the sad result. Even if you add another layer, you'll eventually see the graphite scribble come through.

A fixative may help slow the process - maybe even years, but I doubt that it would be safe in the long run to paint in oils over graphite.

For example, if I wish to transfer a drawing to a canvas from a piece of tracing paper, I rub a soft pastel (any appropriate color that shows) onto the back of the tracing. Your drawing will transfer with the chalk (pastel) lines onto the canvas, and you can easily and safely paint over these.

Charcoal works too, but sometimes it's blackness muddies up your paint.

Better safe than sorry - find an alternative for that graphite pencil!

By the way, I have see some nice paintings on canvas with only graphite and turpentine washes...but that is a different animal altogether.