Smudging pencil

[Juan Martinez]

Matt

The issue of drawing with lines and drawing with tones gets smudgy because we don't have the words to define some of these things. For example, Peggy's sauce drawings? Are they properly called paintings or drawings? They use what we normally consider as drawing media, but the net result is a tonal rendering that obscures much of the evidence of line drawing (in a very pleasant way, I might add). Similarly, standard academic cast or figure drawings seek to eliminate line through massing of tone because they are preparing the student for painting, which is, for the most part, tonal.

Anyway, if your goal is to render in pencil very uniform tones or ones that blend seamlessly without evidence of the lines used to achieve it, then smudging with finger, stomp, tortillon, or brush will not do it perfectly. In the end, one must use a needle-sharp pencil and a kneadable eraser.

Below, I have appended a jpeg showing a three stage process in creating an even tone in pencil. Unfortunately, the scan does not capture the essence of the graphite tones perfectly. In reality, they are somewhat lighter, for instance. If I had lightened the image to the proper value, the final, rendered tones would appear smudgy, which they are not. Just like a camera, the scanner over-emphasizes even the most minute differences in value. That being said, it might still offer some assistance.

The lower tones are just quickly massed-in with a 2B pencil in rough cross-hatch. Smudging will normally make the tone appear darker (and warmer) so the initial lay-in is a bit lighter than your final intention. The second (middle) squares are then stomped. As you can see, they appear uneven and blotchy. Even if you go over it and over it to the point where you burnish the paper, there will be some inevitable uneven-ness. The scan hightens this, but it is definitely there. If it is on skin tone, the person looks sickly. Finally, in the upper squares, it has all been gone over slowly and carefully to fill-in the interstices, or "holes" using a very sharp HB pencil and a kneadable eraser just to pick out areas that get too dark. This stage takes a long time.

A note on pencil and eraser: The pencils are best sharpened by whittling the tips with a utility knife so that there is at least three-quarters of an inch of the lead exposed and the wood is well-tapered. Then, the point is honed with sandpaper so that you have a long, sharp, thin point. This lasts much longer than the points made by a standard sharpener, which are rather broad and short. The best kneadable eraser I have found is made by Staedler. Never buy the ones made by Prang. They are neither kneadable, nor do they erase. Otherwise, I suppose they are fine.

I hope this helps. (I hope the jpeg is visible as it is not in the "preview" option.)

Juan

[Juan Martinez]

Sorry Folks

It seems that my Mac does not automatically include the entire pathway to the image, so it didn't load. Are there any Mac-users out there who know the work-around? I also am not able to edit the pathway myself in the "Attach File" text-box. This may be because I am using system 10. I'll go back to system 9 and try it again.

Thanks for the help.

Juan

Thanks for everybody's input (Especially Karen's, my grandchildren will love reading about my technique! ). I'm going to try to scan in some of my stuff this week to put on here. I enjoy the results, and other people do too (I've sold several pencil portraits and generally get a good response), so I guess that's what's important. I have to work from photos, but I try not to just "photocopy" in pencil. The smudging is an effort to work in creating form with light and volume, without lines as much as possible, and create a more "painterly" effect, (the results can be debated). Maybe we can coin the word "pencilerly"?

Thanks for the link on "sauce". The picture posted is simply beautiful, I can't wait to read the article.

The question on "proper technique" took root after attending the conference in NYC. While it overwhelmed, excited, bewildered and encouraged me, it also raised a lot of questions I'd never been exposed to, the biggest being the question of working from photographs. I'll stop here so I don't get too far off topic and see if I can post my post-NYC thoughts on the right board.

[Joseph Brzycki]

I use the blending sticks and most often a shami---don't know if thats spelled right. I used to use my hands for pencil but looked messy, so the shami is a good replacement. However, I think once you're used to pencil a finger here or there couldn't do too much damage... Shami is good for getting a tone in charcoal. And it also erases charcoal pretty good too..

[Mari DeRuntz]

On the same topic, to develop tonal washes for preliminary portrait drawings, Richard Sherr says he uses graphite pencil "along with powdered graphite dissolved in alcohol, a mixture that I apply with a brush" (Portrait Highlights From the Pages of American Artist Magazine, May 2002). With just graphite and a toned ground, he acieves a very delicate "painted" tonal head.

Note to Cynthia: Is it legal/ethical to reproduce the magazine illustration I'm referring to as an example in a post on this forum? Just curious.

[Cynthia Daniel]

Joseph,

Do you mean chamois? It's not pronounced at all like it's spelled.

Mari,

I can't give legal advice, though I would think it would be ok since it's for informational purposes only and not for making money.

Juan,

Jim Riley has a Mac and seems to have mastered attachments. Try emailing him.

[Lon Haverly]

Joseph, you are a very talented artist with a very natural, creative style and a zeal for learning. You have:

T alent
U nderstanding
R esourcefulness
K nowledge
E ndurance
Y outh

[Karin Wells]

http://www.art.net/~rebecca/OnPrudon7a.html

This is an 1861 eyewitness account of the methods of Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (see example of his work below).

[Karin Wells]

more....

[Karin Wells]

and more...