Darvis Jansons - Drawings in pencil

PENCIL DRAWING


Gallery	Technique	About Me

PENCIL TECHNIQUE
My pencil drawings are made on paper with pencils from 8B to 8H. Q-tips, felt and paper stumps are used for blending. Drawings are made from photographs and images grabbed from a video camera. I usually scan the photographs then change the images in Corel Photo-paint. This allows me to make adjustments to the photographs and allow the details to be seen more easily (sometimes a photograph that appears to have a black area has a lot of detail when lightened). I then print out several versions on an HP950C printer.Drawings are roughed out on A4 size drawing paper. The relative tones are then established before defining the 'correct' tones throughout the drawing. Fine detailing is now added. Ideally the drawing would be finished at this stage but I usually spend several hours refining tone and detail.
Some of the advantages of working in pencil is that the same tools are used from start to finish, there is no water or turps to slop about and nothing to clean up afterwards. The main disadvantage seems to be 'How much? It's only pencil!'. Fortunately I no longer make my living through art.

Removing Greasy Marks
If possible, don't make them in the first place - they are a nightmare! I always lay a sheet of paper over my drawing to rest my hand on - others wear cotton gloves with the fingers removed, except the little finger. But sometimes grease gets onto the picture from who knows where. I have found that a lot of their effect can be removed with Blue-Tak (wall putty).

Greasy mark has made blending of pencil into a smudge. The greasy mark often does not become apparent until the pencil is blended.

Greasy mark dabbed repeatedly with Blue-Tak. Even when all the pencil is removed keep kneading the putty and keep dabbing. Remember the grease is under the pencil and invisible. It is worth dabbing around the edges to give a soft edge.

Hole scribbled in with pencil. The pencil will become darker with blending.

Blend with silk cloth to match original blending.

Reworked with Blue-Tak, pencil and silk on the areas I missed.

Picture had become a little dark. It was then lightened by rolling Blue-Tak over the image.

The grease mark has nearly gone, repeating the above will reduce it further.

See Mike Sibley's site (link below) for more uses of Blue-Tak.

REFERENCES

J D Hillberry has an excellent site with a lot of tips on drawing textures with pencil and charcoal. Further information is available in his book, which you can buy from his site - well worth having.
Mike Sibley specialises in dog portraits and dogs in rural settings, in limited and open editions. His technique elevates the humble pencil into an instrument of beauty. He has a STUDIO section giving tips for artists, the one about using Blue-Tak (wall putty) I have found very useful.

J. Hagan has a site, though not specifically for pencil, which has many lessons covering anything from the golden section to the effect human form has on the perception of line - well worth a visit. Be prepared to spend some time - there is a lot there.

	Greasy mark has made blending of pencil into a smudge. The greasy mark often does not become apparent until the pencil is blended.
	Greasy mark dabbed repeatedly with Blue-Tak. Even when all the pencil is removed keep kneading the putty and keep dabbing. Remember the grease is under the pencil and invisible. It is worth dabbing around the edges to give a soft edge.
	Hole scribbled in with pencil. The pencil will become darker with blending.
	Blend with silk cloth to match original blending.
	Reworked with Blue-Tak, pencil and silk on the areas I missed.
	Picture had become a little dark. It was then lightened by rolling Blue-Tak over the image. The grease mark has nearly gone, repeating the above will reduce it further. See Mike Sibley's site (link below) for more uses of Blue-Tak.