ULOG#5 - The Beauty of Graphite Pencils

I FINALLY had a day-off from all of the school work and apparent summer-vacation-deprivation going on recently and what else to do than spend it on one of the things I love doing? DRAWING!

A little backstory: I was reviewing tips on drawing portraits when I read what Lee Hammond said, saying that I should

"NEVER attempt to draw portraits unless you’ve practiced drawing each of the facial features individually first."

I looked back, trying to recall if I ever drew the parts of the face individually, but I couldn't recall. Until I remembered later that I have actually ALWAYS drew them but I never took great care on focusing and studying how I draw them because I only sketch them individually whenever I'm bored during school or during a really uncomfortable conversation.

So I started off by sketching with my mechanical pencil, because that was all I have but no matter how many layers of hatching I applied, the dark areas just don't stand out like they're supposed to. I was considering buying Graphite pencils when my mind did a little discussion which went on like this:

The thrifty part of me said:

If you truly are an artist, you'll make this work using the available materials at hand, which is your mechanical pencil, and you're just practicing anyway.

But the realist part of me replied:

But if you're practicing realism, isn't it better to practice with the appropriate materials and tools to get a hang of them? And just look at it, doesn't look real to me.

Looking down on the faint lines of the lashes and pupils on my sketched eye, I knew my realist side had won.

So I went to the school supply shop and asked for cheap graphite pencils of varying shades and hardness because, let's admit it, this college girl, ain't got the money to buy those fancy Faber Castell GoldFaber Graphite Drawing Sets. I got Colleen Pencils and I think they worked great compared to my mechanical pencil.

Colleen Graphite Drawing Pencils

I went home bursting from excitement and started studying immediately.

I started off by understanding the coding system by noting the codes on the pencils and their corresponding shades as seen on the left side of the page below. I easily remembered the naming and numbering pattern because of its similarity with the number line with the 'F' pencil being zero.

I also started sketching out face features on different angles.

Graphite pencils are amazing! I metaphorically puked rainbows when I used the darker B shades for the pupils and filled out the sclera with the light 3H pencil. They just opened new doors for me. I also discovered that mechanical pencils can also provide varying shades depending on the leads used.

I tried a free hand drawing of Hannah Baker but let's save the step-by-step procedure for that on another blog. It was important to place my hand on a separate sheet of paper instead of placing it on the drawings if needed because the graphite tends to get carried off or swiped away.

I haven't learned drawing hair yet, but trying it with the graphite pencils was really fun! Buying those pencils is one big decision that I would never regret, and I highly recommend them. Creating figures while using them "Made me feel like Neil Armstrong on the moon: alone and happy" said young Sheldon.

I'll practice everyday so that I could be better. For now, thank God for graphite pencils. They may be simple things but they made me so happy.

Stay Awesome!

-joules