Sparrow - A Graphite drawing on Strathmore gray toned paper

 “A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch but on its wings”

If you are following me on INSTAGRAM , you probably must have already gone through my recent graphite drawings on “Sparrow series”. ( I have to admit that I have been more regular on my Instagram as compared to my blogging. I wish I could dedicate more time to writing in my blog. )

After having done watercolor medium for months, I suddenly felt the need to take a break and so decided to get back to my toned paper drawing and sketching. As far as stationery is concerned, I have enough of art materials for every possible medium. ( Over a period of time I have accumulated a whole lot of pencils, papers, paints and brushes and it helps because in COVID situations it is not easy to procure the desired materials easily. )

When it comes to toned paper, the two papers that I absolutely love and recommend to everyone are

1. Strathmore toned paper ( Gray and Tan shade )

2. Canson Mi Teintes paper ( Beige and Gray shade )

For my “Sparrow series” I decided to go with Strathmore gray toned paper as I wanted to create soft strokes of graphite and white pastel pencil. The smooth textured surface of the paper, I felt was ideal for these drawings.

“Just Relaxing”

Graphite/ Charcoal drawing on Strathmore Gray toned paper

Size 4” X 5.5”

“Sparrow on the tree”

Graphite drawing on Strathmore Gray Toned paper

Size 4” X 5.5”

pencil

The Strathmore pad with

Gray toned papers

Purchased from Art Lounge

These days I try to limit myself to using minimum art stationery in order to keep my working process simple. In both the above drawings I have used 3B, 6B and 9B graphite pencils and Creatacolor and General white pastel pencil. 

Pencils used 1. General white pastel pencil

2. Cretacolour white pastel pencil

3. Camlin 3B graphite pencil

4. Camlin 6B graphite pencil

5. Camlin 10 B graphite

In addition to the above, I also keep a simple pen pencil which I normally use in the beginning to create a very faint outline of the subject. If you are a beginner, my suggestion is to practise using simple materials available at home and once you feel you enjoy working on toned paper then go ahead and add a few products. When I first got into toned paper artworks, I remember using simple handmade coloured papers with rough surface and it cost me just about 20 to 30 Indian Rupees a sheet. CLICK HERE  to browse through my initial experimental works on handmade paper.

Thanks for visiting my blog and if you wish to purchase any of my original artworks, you can mail me at manjupanchal5@gmail.com and I shall get back to you as soon as possible.

Portrait drawing using Cretacolour and Camlin graphite pencil

"Drawing is vision on paper." Andrew Loomis

Graphite is a part of every artist's toolbox. It's affordable and a commonly used medium, yet if used on its own, in the hands of a skillled artist, it can produce breathtaking works of art. The lead in graphite pencils is made from a natural rock that is mined. In fact graphite and diamonds are the only two forms of carbon polymers occurring in nature. ( Courtesy: Craftsy.com )

My today's post is another "Portrait study" that I have created using the graphite medium. Graphite pencils are available in different grades ranging from 9H to 9B. H stands for hardness and B for blackness. I have a big collection of different grade pencils but I prefer to use just a few of them. In the portrait as below I have used 2B and 4B Staedtler graphite pencils for the midtones. For the darker tones I have used 8B Cretacolour and 10B Camlin graphite pencils.

Portrait study 

Graphite/Pencil drawing on Strathmore Gray toned paper

Size 5"X 7"

It is very difficult to obtain true black colour using graphite pencil because when the paper gets saturated by several layers of graphite, it tends to give a glare. Therefore one can use charcoal as a final layer to create further darkness, however I have avoided using charcoal in the above work. For the highlights I have used Conte and Cretacolour white pastel pencil.

Like charcoal, pencil drawings too tend to smudge. Hence I cover it with a sheet of butter paper before storing it neatly in a folder. A question that I am frequently asked regarding my charcoal and pastel works is whether I use a fixative in the final stages of the artwork. I have a "Winsor and Newton" fixative with me but I rarely use it on my artworks. 

CLICK HERE to browse through some of my graphite drawings in my sketchbook.

Thanks a lot for browsing through my artworks.

Portrait sketching - A study work

Canson Mi Teintes is available in many different shades and it works beautifully with charcoal

and pastel medium. I have used the dark grey paper for portrait shading earlier. Many artists

use black, beige and other toned papers as well. I get inspired by looking at all the beautiful

work done by other artists and I love to experiment with new papers, mediums, stationery etc. 

The whole idea is to grow as an artist and to learn something new and better everyday.

Using a beige coloured paper I created a simple portrait, ie face at an angle. Since the paper 

colour is new to me I have not overworked on the portrait. Just bare minimum strokes to get the anatomy of the face right. Sketching a face at an angle is a challenge and I plan to do a few more sketches of these kind. 

The colour of the paper acts as the midtone and the highlights are created using

General and Cretacolour white pastel pencil. The darker shades are obtained by Camlin and 

General charcoal pencil.

Portrait study work

Charcoal and pastel work on Canson paper

Canson Mi Teintes papers

in different colours

A beautiful quotation 

"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together" Vincent Van Gogh