- new pencil drawing,..bye bye strathmore

Home	- new pencil drawing,..bye bye strathmore

Home The Artist Workshop Community Contact View Cart Newsletter

ALEXEI ANTONOV PAINTINGS

Subject: "new pencil drawing,..bye bye strathmore"

Archived thread - Read only

Study and Teach Fine Art Techniques Charcoal and Pencil Drawings - Techniques by J.D. Hillberry Topic #101

Reading page 1 of 1 pages

absolute

Member since Aug-24-02
895 posts, 12 feedbacks,

Oct-13-02, 09:33 PM ()

Click to send private message to absolute

"new pencil drawing,..bye bye strathmore"

hello everyone,..here is the newest thing ive drew, i done it with pencils made by' kimberly',..and paper made by 'mead.,..the same kind you find at walmarts,...i thought about drawing on some of the bristol smooth,or bristol vellum that i have,..but that paper is about as fun to work with as pinching myself with pliers,.i can draw on that stuff but it takes me twice as long,..and even after i drew this on new paper i was scared to death to walk it to a mirror and look at it cause of the distorted mud pies i drew on bristol board still has me a little gun shy.
people can do OUTSTANDING work on that paper as phil just proved with his portrait.,and other peoples work...but i think the reason i cant draw on it is because its not compatable with the way i like to shade.,..i like to be able to very gently rub my pencils on the paper and see one solid shade pattern,.and not a scribble design.
i drew the one under the topic 'DIVE IN' on bristol vellum and now i understand why i wanted to name it water witch.
cause its so hard to work with.
this new drawing isnt the monalisa,but at least its fun to draw again instead of an anxiety attack wondering if after 9 hours i will end up with some kind of mudpie from the planet distortion.
you can see a HUGE jpg of this drawing at my site if you want a learger view.when i scan small close ups,..they turn VERY DARK.
also one more thing.
.i just recieved my lee hammond portrait book,and im a little disapointed...cause its a beginners guide to drawing compared to mr hillberrys book wich explains in detail how to shade,
...BTW im not picking on bristol boards if you use them ..all im saying is that after using them myself...i know how flies feel when people pull their wings off and tourture them.

if drawing isnt fun,experiment with different paper.

www.geocities.com/woodart211

itoy

Member since Aug-29-02
149 posts, 2 feedbacks,

Oct-13-02, 10:02 PM ()

1. "RE: new pencil drawing,..bye bye strathmore"

Man, you're getting better everytime you make a new subject/drawing. You got the tones real good. Like my previous drawings I used just those cheap papers that I got from Target/Kmart/Walmart/Michaels etc.... in fact I'm doing a commission drawing right now which I will post when I'm done w/ it, w/c is made w/ this same kind of paper. I think I just feel comfortable in doing my subject in these papers. Keep it up.

God bless...

itoy

absolute

Member since Aug-24-02
895 posts, 12 feedbacks,

Oct-13-02, 10:21 PM ()

2. "RE: new pencil drawing,..bye bye strathmore"

hey thanks itoy,..i finally after 3 months recieved an email from gerald kuipers,..the guy that does portraits,..i bugged him a lot ,and he finally must have got sick of me bugging him so much,..he said that he uses a heavy grit 1oo,paper,..and his portraits still look smooth as glass,..so that was very helpfull to me.i guess its all in how people use the medium cause his drawings are bad to the bone.

www.geocities.com/woodart211

srivarey

Member since Aug-22-02
93 posts, 4 feedbacks,

Oct-13-02, 11:57 PM ()

Click to send private message to srivarey

3. "RE: new pencil drawing,..bye bye strathmore"

Hey Jim,
first of all let me say your new drawing is REALLY COOL.I have been using the bristol 300 series vellum boards. It takes lot of time to give finishing to the portrait on it.I have been using them for 2 reasons,I bought a pad of 20 sheets for $13 so I will finish them.The second reason is it withstands the rigorous blending,multilayering and esp. the indentations I make. You can work in a single area for one whole day I guess untill you get the texture you want.I would probably give a try to arches 140lb water color hot press.I also use kimberly pencils and they are just fine. I love your drawings as you are very good at portraying beautiful women. You bring glamour to the portraiture.

regards,
srivarey

www.committed.to/carbon

absolute

Member since Aug-24-02
895 posts, 12 feedbacks,

Oct-14-02, 00:09 AM ()

4. "RE: new pencil drawing,..bye bye strathmore"

Thanks srivaey.,,i have a question about that watercolor paper,..is it softer then some of the bristol boards?and also does it hold on to the graphite pretty good,..i havent used watercolor paper yet,..hot or cold press,ive only seen it at that drawing paper website and i know mr hillberry likes it .i dont know how they act?i really like the start you have on Elvis..is that watercolor paper?

www.geocities.com/woodart211

srivarey

Member since Aug-22-02
93 posts, 4 feedbacks,

Oct-14-02, 00:36 AM ()

5. "RE: new pencil drawing,..bye bye strathmore"

Hi Jim,
thanks for the prompt response.My elvis drawing is on bristol vellum board only(all other drawings also on the same paper).I never used the water color paper but have seen in the store they seemed to have good texture to take graphite. I think charecteristics of a water color paper is its purity in cotton,softness and multilamellarity(to absorb water which is good for graphite too). I'll give a try to it as it's been JD's favourite paper(though a bit expensive). We can see how well it worked for his PGA portrait.

srivarey

www.committed.to/carbon

WarHorseLover

Member since Aug-26-02
185 posts, 4 feedbacks,

Oct-14-02, 04:01 PM ()

Click to send private message to WarHorseLover

6. "RE: new pencil drawing,..bye bye strathmore"

OMG Jim!!!

I about peed my pants reading your post!!! I ONLY work on smooth Bristol board (Canson is my favorite) but reading your post on how desperately you hate it had me in stitches.

I have a question for all of you who use (and like) the cheap stuff (not bashing here, just assuming that paper bought at Wal Mart is cheaper) anyway, aren't you worried about it being acid free or is it? If someone is doing a commission on regular ol' everyday paper wouldn't you worry that say 5 years from now the person who paid you to do a commission is going to come back and say "Hey, I paid good money (assuming they did) for this and it has faded and looks horrible now!"

Just wondering about that.

Jim,
Your work is getting to be awesome! I was going to try a self portrait but chickend out, maybe later I'll try one.

absolute

Member since Aug-24-02
895 posts, 12 feedbacks,

Oct-14-02, 06:44 PM ()

7. "RE: new pencil drawing,..bye bye strathmore"

hello again ..guys/gals..i just re-read what i wrote and i guess i did get a little carried away

but it just seems like some paper feels right in the zone and others dont?...i like the sound of those charcoal pencils that stephanie is talking about ,especially if they go over graphite pretty good,..and im going to have to look for watercolor paper,...i know it might cost a little bit,but when i think of all the money i use to blow on beer i figure why not.
i like the sound of paper that is soft,..i looked up bristol boards and stuff at www.artpaper.com and i was shocked to see that a lot of it is also 100% cotton,and inspected by hand ..but they must use a car crusher when they make it cause its so hard,..watercolor paper sounds like it might be softer,..one thing ive always liked was the way that stuff drew on a paper towel with an ink pen looks,..not sure if anyone has ever goofed around doing that,,...but im just curious if soft watercolor paper would give that look to graphite.
i understand about paper with acids changing over time,..and i admit that paper from walmarts will breakdown with little hairs on it if you work it too much,..but it will hold me over until i find something better,..i have some strathmore 400 i think it is..and it doesnt seem that bad,..but i think there is some kind of slick coating on it or something.?the computer paper i have is acid free nice to draw on but its paper thin,...so to speak

...sooner or later ill find a good combination of everything
i like.
one more thing...if anyone happens to read this that uses watercolor paper,..feel free to post how you like it.
--JIM

www.geocities.com/woodart211