Why I love using Strathmore toned paper

 “A beautiful body perishes, but a work of art does not.” Leonardo Da Vinci

Today apart from posting my two more drawings in the “Sparrow series”, I decided to dedicate this post to “How and when I started using Strathmore toned paper” and “what I love most about it”. To be frank, it’s been years and it is difficult to keep a track of lots of things that have happened while I have been moving ahead in my art journey. Therefore my BLOG and INSTAGRAM help me go down the memory lane to browse through the recorded facts and I feel so grateful that I started sharing my artworks with the art community from around the world.

After checking the data I realised that my earliest drawing of “Eye Study” was posted on April 17th, 2017. So it was definitely around that time when I visited Art Lounge, which during those days was situated at Churchgate. I along with a friend of mine had traveled by local train to do our yearly “Art Stationery Shopping”. It see to be fun. I had seen some lovely charcoal and graphite drawings on Strathmore paper and that inspired me to one for myself and check it out. My first pad that I purchased, as shown below, continues to be used even today as there are still some papers left in it.

Strathmore gray toned paper pad

( 50 sheets )

My fascination for the subject “Sparrow” started after I started having plenty of sparrows all of a sudden in my balcony. It has been a pleasant change and I wake up to chirping of this beautiful species and it’s such a great way of starting the day. Sometimes I just quietly stand at one corner and watch their playful activities. 

For both the “Sparrow sketches” as given below, I have used Camlin graphite pencils namely 3B, 6B and 9B. For white pastel shading I have used Conte A Paris and General white pastel pencil. For my earlier sketching I experimented with combining graphite with Staedtler charcoal pencil, however I realised the blending does not go well. So I decided to keep my artwork limited to plain graphite strokes.

Holding on

A graphite drawing on Strathmore drawing paper

Size 4” X 5.5”

Balancing Act

A graphite drawing on Strathmore drawing paper

Size 4” X 5.5”

My personal review about STRATHMORE GRAY TONED DRAWING PAPER and why I love using it for my graphite and charcoal drawings 

1. It is 100% recycled, contains 30% post consumer fibre and is acid free.

2. The paper works great with graphite, charcoal, color pencils, ink etc and is very versatile.

3. It has a smooth surface and very fine texture which helps in holding the graphite and charcoal medium 

    pretty well.

4. Strathmore toned paper is available in two shades, gray and tan, which work as mid tone values. This

    makes it easier to judge the dark and light values and saves a lot of time as we need to apply only the 

    lighter and darker tones.

5. The paper is 118 gsm and this thickness is perfect to create some great artworks.

If you wish to see my recent artworks visit my INSTAGRAM site and if you like my works and they inspire you, please share with friends. Thanks for visiting my blog and browsing through my artworks. 

Rabindranath Tagore - A portrait study using white pastel pencils

In September 2015 I posted about the Strathmore Artagain 400 series black paper. It is a
fairly new paper in my collection and was recommended by a friend who is also passionate
about art. I used it just once to try out a tree sketch as given below and loved it. It has a
fine grain textured surface which works fine with white pastel pencils.

The idea of using Strathmore black paper for sketching a portrait was working on my mind
since long and therefore I finally decided to start off with study sketch. Study sketch because
its a new paper and it will take me a few portrait works to understand what technique will
work best. Will I have to blend a lot or just create scribbling and strokes ? There are a whole
lot of questions in mind which get answered only when I actually sit down to sketch.

The subject I selected for my portrait study is Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, a poet, philosoper and an artist. ( Photograph courtesy : Wikipedia )

Sketching on black paper, I realised is a lot different as all the tonal values have to be
created using only the white pencils. The colour of the paper acts as the darkest tone.
As always sketching a portrait is more challenging than doing a landscape or still life work.
It is challenging but a very satisfying experience too. I enjoyed my step by step
involvement in creating this work and would definitely work more towards it.

Portrait study of

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore 

on black Strathmore paper

The three different pastel pencils that I have used for the above portrait study are as seen in the 

image below. I have been using these three brands frequently for my other works too.

1. Conte A Paris white pastel pencil

2. Cretacolour White pastel pencil

3. General soft white pastel pencil

The other tools used apart from the above pencils are a kneaded eraser, normal eraser and 

blending tools. The pencils as above are available at ART STATION, Andheri West OR

the next best thing which I find easy and it saves time too is to check it out on online stores

like FLIPKART, AMAZON or SNAPDEAL. These days many art products are easily

available online and at discount too.

Some time back I had ordered CRETACOLOUR water soluble graphite pencils from

AMAZON. I received it and I have used it in combination with Camlin water soluble

graphite sticks to create some beautiful study works. Will be posting about it soon.

Thanks for browsing and I would love to read your comments if any.