Drawing Reworked: Allan Reading

I decided to try and improve the look of this drawing. I wasn’t happy with the “fuzzy” quality the rough paper texture was giving me in some areas, such as the drawers in the corner. I took a paper blender, and rubbed the graphite into the paper more to get a smoother look. You can see the difference on the right in this cropped section above. It’s still a little spotty, but it’s an improvement. I’ll finish this section, and then decide if I want to continue it on the other darker areas of the drawing.

Drawing Final: Allan Reading

I’ll call this one mostly finished. I need to smooth it out a little more. The darker areas of graphite just get pushed around without building up properly, so I’m going to try a spray of fixative to hold it in place.

I wouldn’t call this Wallis paper a favorite, at least not for this pencil drawing. Its rough texture makes the shaded areas look like felt, but it was an interesting exercise.

Drawing Update 1: Allan Reading

Just a little further along on the drawing, touching up the figure some and working on the background. I was originally going to crop the page at the edge of the chair, but decided to extend the background some and add the drapes and cabinet.

Getting a light value on this textured paper is difficult. Just dragging the tip by its weight alone makes a darker mark than I’d like, so I have to go back over it with a kneaded eraser to lighten it. That makes it more tedious, but I’ll stick with it. Always like a challenge.

New Drawing Started: Allan Reading

This started out to be just a sketch, but I decided to keep working on it. It has much further to go. It’s my new friend, Allan, posing for me as he reads a magazine and eats an apple.

I’m using a sheet of Wallis textured paper. The rough surface makes even a hard pencil lead as dark as a soft one, so I’m using mechanical pencils with a regular lead and a fine point, and a kneaded eraser to lighten some areas. This area in the picture above is about 12 inches square.

New Sketches: Benjamin on Violin

Made these two yesterday while visiting with some friends. Their son, Benjamin, was kind enough to let me sketch him as he practiced playing his violin on the front porch.

New Sketches: Sidewalk Repair

There was a group of guys repairing the sidewalk across the street yesterday, and I managed to get in a few sketches before it started raining.

News Sketches At the Park

Here are a few sketches I made at the park yesterday. On a couple of them I tried an exercise of not using any shading, just outlines. It kind of worked.

Watercolor Paper Stretcher – Version 3

My previous version of a paper stretcher worked well enough, but it was a bit awkward and bulky in the design, so I came up with another modification.

I replaced those 4 strips of wood clamped to the outside edge with several small strips of wood glued to the back of the frame and flush with the outside edge. Now I don’t have separate strips of wood to carry around or lose.

In place of the screw clamps, I’m now using 2 inch binder clips attached to these strips of wood. I can fold the wet paper around the edge, and use the clips to hold it place. Now I don’t have to tape the paper to the back when it dries in order to remove the clamps. I can leave the clips on while I’m painting.

The metal handles on the clips are also removable, which makes the frame sit better on an easel or flat on a table.

This frame is 16 x 20.” I may build a larger one, and have the four 1/8 strips go along the whole length of the outer edge so I can place the clips wherever I want. I didn’t have enough scrap wood for that this time, but this will work just as well.