Botanical Drawing: Pencil Review, Caran d'Ache Grafwood

Today I tried out the Caran d'Ache Grafwood pencils to see how they compare to other pencil's, specifically with my old favourites the Faber Castell 9000. Check out the previous post 'Which Pencil'  to read about other brands. I decided to try the pencils out on a drawing of a mid pink single Rosa gallica flower because it wouldn't take too long, has a good range of tones and some fine detail in the venation and anthers.

Stages of the drawing, working from light to dark. First layer 4H, thereafter, 2H, HB, B, 2B and 3B

The pencil's come in a round upright tin, which contains grades 4H - 9B. Smaller sets are available but I like to work with a full set to enable me to achieve the full range of tones found in botanical subjects. They cost around £34 from Jackson's Art for the 15 pencils, which works out a good bit more costly than Faber Castell 9000's Art set, with 12 pencils ranging from 2H to 8B and which costs around £11 from Amazon. Adding the 3 Faber Castell grades make the equivalent 15 grades, makes the total cost around £15. Pencils are also available individually ( see the links at the end of this post). The question is, at more than double the cost, are the Caran d' Ache worth it?

The tin of pencils is quite portable and the colour coding is useful

It's worth pointing out that I used Canson Heritage HP paper for this drawing, which in hindsight was a mistake. I always use HP watercolour paper for my drawings but this wasn't great, the surface is very soft and fibres lift easily from it, even with the lightest of pressure.
 
I can usually tell if a pencil isn't good when I sharpen it, for example, Derwent pencils are dreadful to sharpen and they're probably my least favourite to use. The wood is hard and rips and the leads break, they're softer than other brands, so much darker grainier results occur. I'm sure Derwent are good for other types of drawing but they're not the best choice for botanical work. The Caran d' Ache sharpens well, I noticed that they are chunkier to hold than Faber Castell pencils, but that's not a bad thing. The wood is painted from light to dark grey, so are colour coded, which is useful when reaching for the pencils.

Comparing the two brands, Caran d'Ache on the top row and Faber Castell 9000 on the bottom. I didn't compare all grades but perhaps should do at a later date, the grades tried are very similar but  even though it's not obvious here the Caran d'Ache are slightly softer.

I compared a few grades of Faber Castell and Caran d'Ache directly by making small swatches because I wanted to to find out if they are harder or softer. They are actually very similar but the latter are ever so slightly softer. My initial observation is that they feel very smooth and 'buttery' on the paper, this is a good indication, and possibly to do with being softer.

The Rose Drawing
Given that the pencils are slightly softer I decided on a 4H for the initial layer of graphite. I normally start with a 2 or 3H with Faber Castell. Here's a time lapse video of some of the process.

Untitled from Dianne Sutherland on Vimeo.

A layer of 4H was added first, this is pretty much all over but varying the weight to give an indication of form. I use the continuous tone method (small ellipses or similar). They weight of the pencil on the paper has to be kept very light - it's almost like hovering lightly over the surface with the weight in the hand and not at the point where pencil meets paper. I work over and over it but maintaining the light touch, this 'works' the graphite into the surface of the paper to give a smooth soft appearance. Although the paper appears relatively smooth to the eye and feel, if you look under a magnifier, you will see the 'tooth'.

The first layer using the 4H, a soft graded covering to get  feel for the shape whilst providing a light foundation

I deepen the tone in selected areas using a 2H and then start to add the fine veins using a very well sharpened HB

Adding the veins and anthers with and HB as well as drop shadow under the anthers and where the petals overlap with the same grade.

Unfinished! I continue to add more form by using softer grades, HB, B, 2B and a few very small touches with a 3B but the Canson paper proved a problem.

Results
I have dabbled with the pencils before but not in any depth. My experience with the Caran 'd Ache pencils was a reasonably good one and I'll definitely continue to use them, as to whether they are worth paying more than double the price, I have to say that they're not that great to warrant the cost and I still like the Faber Castell 9000. I actually stopped short of finishing the drawing as the paper was frustrating me, so wont be using use this paper again for graphite. It wasn't to do with the pencils as the result was the same with both brands, in fact it was worse with Faber Castell, basically the surface is too soft for tonal graphite work but it's OK for watercolour, which, after all is its intended purpose. My preferred papers for graphite are Arche HP and Sennelier HP. I did feel that overall the pencils are softer than the Faber Castell and my drawing was becoming too dark too soon. If I was to start again, I'd delay adding the HB by doing more work with the full range of H grades before moving to the HB.

You can buy the Caran d' Ache individually for £2.30 from Pullingers
Faber Castell 9000 are just £0.80 individually from Pullingers
 

Back to Drawing, Bindweed

Drawing is a perfect activity for the short dark winter days here in the UK. I've written a few posts on the subject, this one is a about my latest work which involves a few different techniques. I've put together a short sped up video to show some of the techniques used.

The subject of the work is Bindweed, Calystegia septum, also known as Hedge Bindweed or Trumpet Vine, it is a member of  the Convolulaceae family, which includes Morning Glory. A very common plant throughout Europe it is considered a nuisance by many gardeners due to is dominant climbing habit. However this feature appeals to me as it scrambles over other plants smothering them and creating a complex web of overlapping intertwined vines, this makes it quite a challenging subject.
In the video above you can see how I approach the leaves and background. The drawing is created using the continuous tone technique, which requires no obvious outline be shown. Thus the initial line drawing blends into the tonal work using continuous tone technique and different grades of pencil from 2H to 8B are used to create the tonal values. I start with the harder grades of mostly Faber Castell 9000 pencils, i.e. H grade pencil to lay a foundation on the leaves and gradually build up the layers and depth using increasingly softer grades, up to a 4B for leaves. You will also notice that I use a soft brush to constantly remove any debris, if you don't do this you may end up with dark flecks from small specks of graphite dust and from any erasing.

Laying the initial foundation for the back of a leaf using harder grades H - B in this case, working from light to dark

 For the lighter flowers I start with a 2H and for the dark background I add a layer of continuous tone using a 5B. Thereafter I smooth this using a paper stomp, this serves to remove the graininess. I then go over the background again with a 6B. I also use an 8B for the very darkest touches. A Tombow retractable eraser is used to take out a few fine lines, using it as a drawing tool rather than an eraser of mistakes. Creating the correct depth of tone is all about using the appropriate grade of pencil. Always remember that to achieve the darker tones you should never apply more pressure but should instead change to a softer grade of pencil to go darker.

I wanted to capture the depth of tangled stems and took many photographs for reference

I'm working from photographs having started this piece in August 2014 but also made sketches and took many photographs as long ago as summer 2013 during a trip to Germany. I don't normally work from photographs but In this case I make an exception for two reasons: 1.I'm very familiar with this plant having painted it on numerous occasions 2. It's easier to complete black and white studies from photographs than it is to do colour work - simply because there are no colour matching issues which requires working from life rather than photographs.

Started last year with the initial outline and a few leaves but  I abandoned the job because of other work commitments. Note that I use tracing paper to protect the work and keep a piece under my hand so as not to smudge the pencil

Some saved dead stems are useful to observe the habit

I gradually build up the image and have a rough drawing of the whole piece which is A1 in size ( on Arches satine 140lb). However along the way I add leaves and move a few things around. The beauty of such a dark drawing is that there is scope for change. I see this piece as very much experimental, if it works all well and good but if not at least i learned something from it.

This is where I'm up to with the work, obviously there is a long way to go and this represents about one third of the overall piece.

This is the progress to date! yes it's a long term project with lots of layers of graphite.

Will keep you posted on the progress. It will be put away again for a few weeks while I concentrate on teaching and other work.

If you want to know more about drawing posts on this site - just use the 'search' facility on the right  to type in 'drawing'.

This is my last post for 2015. I'll be back with a review of the year early next year. 

SBA Assignment 1. Graphite line and tonal drawing

First SBA assignment - pencil drawing.
Never really drawn in this much detail before or used such a broad range of pencils (from 4H to 8B). The Faber Castell 9000 Series is my preferred choice for this work. Have now completed numerous studies an look forward to trying more, particularly seedheads and lichens which seem to work well in this medium. This was basic line and tonal techniques, stipple, hatching and continuous tone etc. We used Sennelier paper for the course which is a lovely paper.
I enjoyed doing this, there was also line drawing but it doesnt photograph so well and there seems to be lots of time to complete the exercises. I hope to do lots more around the course work if I have the time. My tutor for the grapite work  is Julie Small, she's a wonderful artist.

What did we have to do:
1. A line drawing, This should be clean, no indentation of paper the weight of the line should be even and the linse continuous. Draw without lifting the pencil until you come to a natural junction

2. A flower or with leaf in stipple or hatch. A4 in size I chose stippling.  

Detail from the stippling technique on a Hellebore...it's all abut density of dots. I used this technique a lot in the past  with ink for illustrations. If you twist before you lift the pencil it prevents elongated dots!

3. Complete tonal study using continuous tone, using small elipses to create a smooth even finish and moving through the grades of pencil from hard to soft to build up from highlights ( using the white of the paper to mid tonnne and shade). I used 2H, H, HB, B, 2B and 4B for this study. I think you shouldn's skip more than one grade to achieve smooth transition from light to dark. It's surprising how how little white of the paper shows.    

Continuous tone, Iris reticulata. Love this technique 

Struggled slightly to find a decent garden subjects at this time of year but there is always siomething!  the Hellebores, Helleborous niger and H. lividus, and Iris reticulata obliged just in time.
 
We also produced a toinal strip, a bit like this. It can be used as reference for futire drawings.You should be able to see the transition from one grade to another clearly. See they get progressively darker with the softer grades. Pencil brands differ too becaus ethere is no standard. This is a fairly common activity. I've done this a few times before so it wasn't too bad. Basically id you cant see the difference between grade then the pressure is wrong. Majority of weight  should be in the arm/hand and not at the point wher pancil meets paper....never indent the paper! that's bad  

This is a tonal strip I did more recently using different pencil brands - can't find the one I used for the course

 I like to photograph plants and turn to black and white on screen - helps me to see the tonal values.

This assignment was worth 10 marks.

What did the tutor say?
It was good  but I lost marks for not finishing up the base of the stem on the stippled helebore.
And could maybe increase the depth of tone - yep agree
But good feedback and guidance