The Great Pencil Case

Greetings - just hang on while I tie up the iceberg!

Customary as it is for me to firstly offer a welcome to new followers, here are the names of those who have joined since the last post: Jenny, Ian and ......... a Weasel?

Right, as you all munch your way through the last of your end of year rations, your turkey stew, broth, soups etc, I'll try and get down to writing part 2 of The Great Pencil Case - snowfall permitting of course (well there is Global Warming on you know).

Last time we went through all the mountains of gear needed to start sketching, and seeing as you have now got your pocket bulging full (yeah - right), lets try and make a start. Holding the pencil as described previously, we can now start to make our marks, but please remember that each mark you make really needs to be quite a light one - for 2 reasons. Firstly, if you make a mistake it's easier to erase using your newly acquired putty eraser. Secondly, if you wish to paint your sketch afterwards, then the lighter the marks, the less likely they are to show through on your finished work. Of course, if you want to be just plain awkward - then you can always go round your coloured in sketch when it's done with a permanant ink pen (only joking, I do it with a lot of mine) making them into essentially cartoons.

We are hopefully now making marks on paper (high fives alround) and are starting to put together some shapes. There is little I can do regarding your subjects or the lines and marks you draw to initially portray your subject. A lot of it is all down to practice, and looking at your subject. I mean not just looking, but really LOOKING at your subject. If you have it, time spent studying what you are looking at - the lines, the shapes, is well spent but once you have done what you are happy with, then try and add some interest and character to your work by using varying degrees of shading. You do not have to simply shade everything the same tone of grey, but by using subtle marks you can achieve quite a lot. Simply following the lines or curves of your subject when shading will enhance it too.

Try doing one area of your shading by using the pencil on its side, and make diagonal marks, but keep them close together. That gives you a light tone - good to start with. To increase the depth of shading, go over the same area with, again, diagonal marks, but in the opposite direction - basically ending up with a criss-cross effect. By experimenting with this effect, you can achieve quite a surprising amount of varying shadings. Remember - each "layer" you put on, makes the area that bit darker, and there are usually some areas that need to be really dark, so just go ahead and press down a little harder than you normally would to achieve this. It may sound complicated at first, but as they say - a picture paints a thousand words. It may well do, but we are sketching here so may have to make do with a couple of hundred!

To help you with your sketching, never be afraid to have a go at drawing simple shapes. Things like boxes, balls, cylinders, cones etc are, if you look carefully, what a lot of objects are simply composed of, and by getting to grips with these simplified shapes, your sketching will improve. Also don't forget to include any shading, running it in the direction of the curve of a ball etc - and it will look twice as good!

Now - you are feeling really confident - right! No? Ah well, it's early days yet, so don't worry. But, when you feel happy enough, then go for a set of drawing pens, and have a go with them. I use black Pilot Pens of 4 varying thicknesses: 01, 03, 05 and 08 sizes. Use them as you do with your pencils, the only difference  being that you cannot erase them, but don't panic - by not being able to, it can really help give you the confidence to tackle your chosen subject. Plus, on a little cheat line, once you have done something you are really pleased with in pencil, then you can always go over it with the pens, then erase the pencil! Cheat ye not - it's called "Artisitc License".

OK - as promised - I will try and include more pictures this year - so here are 2 examples of what I have done - initally sketched in pencil, then gone over with the ink pens when I was satisfied with them. Note the crossed hatch shading to try and give it some simple depth and shape.

This sketch has some shading around its base,

enabling the image to look like it is anchored

down to something - not floating in air.

It's important to do this with your work too.  

                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                                On the other hand - this feather doesn't have any. Maybe it's because it's because it's lighter than air! Something like this you may just get away with, but you must always try and use something to physically anchor your work down to a surface, as nothing floats round in real life.

So, there we are - you are both happily sketching away like there's no tomorrow filling book after sketching book with all manner of subjects. And you know - that's one of the beauties of this. A good sketchbook is like a visual diary; an old friend to dip into again and again; something that gives you deeper memories as each sketch is your own, and you remember it all the more as you have taken time to really sit and look at your subject. Photo's are often very good, but a good sketch of which you are quite rightly proud, is even better!

Until next time - whatever your art - enjoy it!

Paul