For this Sunday Sketch I drew a caricature style figure and again looked at various shading and hatching techniques.
For this sketch I used the following:-
Different grades of graphite pencils: 2H, HB, 2B, 4B and 6B
Strathmore Windpower Drawing Sketchbook
a kneaded eraser
pencil sharpener
First of all draw a square on your sketchpad as a border. This will help contain the drawing area and make it easier to keep the proportions aligned well for your caricature to sit and to help you shade the background easier.
Next with an HB pencil lightly sketch the outline of the hair. Add outlines to show the position of the ears. At the midway point add eyebrows and eyes.
Lightly sketch in the nose and mouth.
Outline the neck, the collar of the shirt and the shirt.
Before continuing check that you are happy with the position of all elements and amend anything using the eraser.
Now it’s time to add the shading using various pencils, such as HB, 2B, and 4B. For example, an HB makes lighter lines than 2B or 4B.
As part of my new feature series, Sketch Sunday, I will sketch a new drawing and explain how I made it. My first sketch is a comical looking frog.
For this sketch I used the following:-
Different grades of graphite pencils: 2H, HB, 2B, 4B and 6B
Strathmore Windpower Drawing Sketchbook
a kneaded eraser
pencil sharpener
Q-tip
First I drew a square box on the paper to help contain the proportions of my sketch. I then drew a dividing line down the center as an aid to get the symmetry of the frog on either side.
I then drew the top half of his face and body and a couple of lines to mark where the legs and feet would go.
Roughly sketch the outline of the frog using a H pencil.
Two ovals become eyes. A slight curved line becomes a mouth with a couple of goofy teeth. I then erased all the guide lines and center marks so I was left with a plain frog sketch.
Next I used a 2B pencil to make some neat thin dark lines around the eyes, mouth and teeth. I then added some circles of different sizes that would become warts over his body. I finished off marking up the rest of the drawing with thin dark lines.
With a 2B pencil define the frog outline with a nice dark edge and add some different size circles to make warts on his upper body.
Next up is shading. First of all I used a HB pencil and added light shading to the frogs eyes, body, legs and feet. As I was shading I followed the contours of the lines, for example the curves in the eyelids. I continued in the same manner across the body and the legs with the darker shadows on the left and the lighter shadows on the right.
I’ve recently bought some Tombow Mono Pencils. They range from 4H to 6B but what do those numbers and letters mean?
Tombow Professional Drawing Pencils
Let’s find out in this quick Drawing Pencil Guide:-
The grading scale number first gives a clue of how hard the graphite in the pencil will be. The higher the number, the harder the graphite, and the lighter the mark will be on the paper. The higher the number, the darker the mark will be on the paper and the graphite in the pencil will be softer.
The second grading scale on the pencil is the letter. The letter H indicates a hard pencil whilst the letter B indicates the blackness of the pencil and a softer graphite pencil.
The letter F is the middle point pencil sitting between HB and H and has a very fine point. This pencil has a limited amount of graphite and more clay in the mixture.
A 4B pencil would be softer than a 2B and a 3H harder than an H.
Drawing Pencil Grades
Hard – 4H to 3H
Medium Hard – 2H to H – This pencil makes light marks. It is good for drawing details and preliminary drawings that are not permanent Medium – F to HB Medium Soft – B to 2B – good for outlines
Very Soft – 5B to 6B – these pencils make dark softer marks. Soft – 3B to 4B
The B pencil is good for medium to light shading and the 2B for medium to dark shading. You can get more variety of shading from using the B pencils depending on the pressure used.
The H Pencil is hard and leaves a lighter mark on the paper.
B Pencils are softer and darker
The H pencil is the harder grade and is good for fine, light and some shading.
Did you know?
Leopards are nocturnal.
Male leopards are up to 50 per cent larger than females.
They don’t roar as loud as lions, but leopards can also purr.
King John kept leopards in the Tower of London in the 13th Century.
Leopards can take prey as large as antelopes, but will also eat dung beetles and other insects.
They are famously good at climbing up trees, and down – they often descend head first.
A male leopard can drag a carcass three times its own weight – including small giraffes – six metres up at tree.
Each month The Wolfsonian Museumopen their doors to budding artists wishing to practice their drawing skills.
My husband and I attended our first session at the end of February. I haven’t used a pencil and paper in a while but they provided the tools and we were ready to pick a subject to draw. I didn’t want to draw just anything so I wandered around for a while looking for something that looked interesting.
My first sketch attempt going back to using pencil and paper.
The drawing is from a painting depicting the Battle of La Marne Verdun in the current exhibition ‘Myth and Machine: The First World War in Visual Culture’. The painting was large but I focused on one small section which had amazing light flooding the scene.
It was a completely different experience. I’ve been so used to drawing on tablet devices that it felt strange to use a real pencil. Not only that, as the museum was open to the public I felt a little self conscious drawing as people wandered around. Occasionally they would look over my shoulder and I wanted to say, “I’m not a real artist. Focus on that painting on the wall by someone who knew what they were doing”. I decided not to be distracted by what I thought people were thinking and just concentrated on what I was doing.
It’s an unfinished drawing but it was a good test piece. The proportions are not quite right – his hand is too big, his jacket is too short, but for a first attempt (and my first foray into public drawing) I was happy that it actually looked like a person if not a completely true representation of the original. I’m looking forward to exploring using pencil and paper again and hopefully improving my technique.
The original – a painting depicting the Battle of La Marne
The session inspired us so much that we ended up visiting our local art shop for supplies. I’m looking forward to seeing improvements in my drawings and Sketching in the Wolfsonian again at the end of March.
Strathmore Windpower Drawing Sketchbook
The sketchbook I selected was a Strathmore Wind power Drawing Pad. This line of artist papers has been made with 100% wind power – a pollution free renewable energy resource. Strathmore is the first (and only) manufacturer in the United States to make paper entirely from wind generated electricity. This heavyweight drawing paper is perfect for finished works of art. The bright white paper is ideal for working with pencil pen charcoal or pastel.
Generals Sketching Pencil 4B
We selected a few charcoal pencils, some interesting erasers and a flat 4B Sketching pencil.
The erasers were very interesting. They each have a specific use depending on what type of pencil you are using and the effect you are trying to achieve. My favorite so far is the Kneaded Eraser.
Artgum by Prismacolor
Artgumblock shaped, dual purpose eraser and dry cleaner. Containing fine dry powder it cleans the drawing surface by absorbing the graphite and dirt.
Kneaded rubber
Kneaded Eraser – this one is excellent for highlighting and cleaning chalks, charcoal, pastels and colored pencils.
Plastic Eraser – easily removes pencil marks from a range of surfaces.
