A Visit to Amsterdam and Bulb Drawing

Last month I took a day trip to Amsterdam with two missions in mind: the first was to to finally visit the Van Gogh Museum and the second to return to flower market for bulbs. I always think it's important to view a diverse range of art exhibitions and believe narrowing our influences also narrows the scope of the work we produce. The bulbs I simply wanted to draw!

Sketching bulbs from Amsterdam's floating market

Every time I've been to Amsterdam it's been impossible to to get into the Van Gogh Museum, the queues are enormous, I'm sure Vincent van Gogh could never have imagined his popularity! This time pre-booked tickets were in order.

Van Gogh Museum

It was well worth the effort, it's a beautiful museum with a well known but nonetheless fascinating story of a remarkable man, and while he is most famous for his paintings what I liked was his emphasis on the importance of drawing. The museum holds over 1100 of his drawings, most of which are never exhibited for conservation reasons. Van Gogh's earlier work, including the Potato Eaters had received a relatively poor reception and he had decided that he needed to undertake further study, he spent the whole first year of this study dedicated drawing and stated that: 'drawing was the root of everything'

Self Portrait, Paris, Vincent van Gogh (1886) Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons.  It's clear to see his distinctive style developed in the drawings

 It's very clear to see the emergence of his painting style in these beautiful works. In addition he often illustrated his letters to his brother Theo with thumbnail drawings of his paintings for advice on composition, it was great to see them in real life and many were very touching glimpses into his life.

So with my head spinning about drawing,  I set off to look for things to draw in Amsterdam's floating flower market, the Bloemenmarkt, which was founded in 1862, I never realised it was around in van Gogh's day

The floating Flower Market copyright Wikipedia Commons

I purchased a large bag of  bulbs! last year I painted some, such as the Sprekelia shown below, but this year, I'm definitely drawing them first.

One of last years bulbs from Amsterdam in watercolour, a lovely Sprekelia, which produced a beautiful red flower later in the year!

A mass of Amaryllis bulbs at the market

 It was hard to choose but I settled for several Hyacinth bulbs and lots of Narcissus, I'm actually not keen on the flowers of either Genus but the bulbs are nice and I did buy lots of weird and wonderful plant corms, tubers and some not so pretty bulbs too! 

....and some nice plants for later on too! Hedycheum coccineum, or Scarlet Ginger lily pictured here

The Drawing
Bulbs have to be one of my favourite subjects and they're great for teaching both line and tone, perfect for simple form, texture, transparency - with the papery exterior and negative space drawing between those tangled roots. They're hypnotic to draw, here's a snippet below showing how!

Of course you can draw with any medium, not just pencil, it's an approach which should not restricted by medium, this is evident in many famous works.  Van Gogh used ink and various tools almost cutting into the surface of the paper at times. His approach easily translates into his painting. I'm afraid I'm bit conservative with my drawing but I am aware of important similarities in drawing and painting technique, for example the continuous tone technique is very similar to the dry brush modelling technique, which I use frequently,  with it's small elliptical motions of the pencil or brush. The secret I believe to a good tonal drawing though is good lighting, a full range of well sharpened pencils (2H- 8B) and not being afraid of doing to dark.

Beginning some roughly measured sketching and then start to hatch, with very close strokes.

This is how: Starting with a roughly measured sketch made using an mechanical or regular, but well sharpened HB pencil, I then start to build tone, using Faber Castell 9000 pencils, I used a very tight  hatching technique with the same grade HB used for the initial drawing, this allows the tone to blend with the outline so that no outline remains visible. I also experimented with using a Tombow eraser for texture and small pieces of felt for blending.

 I start to build tone, using increasingly softer pencils and keeping a careful eye on the different tonal values between parts, i.e. the exposed interior of the bulb is tonally the lightest part and the emerging leaves are have a slightly higher light value than other parts of the bulb. I use dense hatching and decided to experiment with using a Tombow eraser to create texture, building more graphite over the top in layers using continuous tones on the bulb to create the smooth surface, working up to a 8B using the Koh-I-Noor woodless graphite set, which I found in my old art box. I  add in detail with the veins in the skin. In the emerging leaves I work with the direction of the shape, shading in a linear fashion. Always keeping an eye on the light direction overall.

A selection of bulbs to choose from, some with lots of dry roots! others with virtually no roots. I used a fairlt dramatic lighting set up with an andled lamp at my side but in a darkened room. This gives more dramatic effect or Chiaroscuro

The roots are my favourite, especially these tangled dry ones, plot initially the prominent roots, and draw the network working carefully to make sure that the roots connect. Then start to fill in the negative space between the root, I layered in more distant roots by moving to darker grades....great fun to do!

Toolkit: The thing I love abut drawing is that you don't need much! I use either HP watercolour paper or a Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook. Very well sharpened pencils, using a Stanley knife and en emery file (for fingernails), an eraser and a cheap hand held magnifying glass. I drew these bulbs working with the sketchbook on my knee whilst watching TV.

I've always been fascinated by 'Tulip mania'.... I think I've got my own 'bulb mania' and thinking that  maybe I'll make the Amsterdam trip and annual pilgrimage, and maybe I'll persuade other artist to come too, and just maybe we'll visit the bulb fields....To finish off here's a lovely painting  by Vincent van Gogh, Flower Beds in Holland: Bulb Fields (1883)

Flower Beds in Holland: Bulb Fields by Vincent van Gogh, 1883 Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

This year,  I've also visited the Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt exhibition at the Leopold, Vienna and the Ruskin Library exhibition at Lancaster University, Life Distilled, which runs until April 1st, but well worth a visit at any time of year with constantly changing exhibitions and materials from their collection. Maybe more about those later....... if I can find the time.

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. 

Drawing and Seeing

 The question is not what you are looking at - but how you look and whether you see.

David Henry Thoreau

I've been thinking about useful blog posts for those starting out in botanical and natural history art. I've even revisited some old posts and added new material and yet again have come back to the importance of drawing and seeing. 
Drawing disciplines the eye and brain, it allows us to make judgements which the hand responds to in a coordinated way. The coordination of eye, hand and brain is essential for all artists if they are to produce accurate drawings. I have covered drawing in previous posts but feel it has to be the place to start.... why?....because observation and drawing go hand-in-hand and should never be separated or skipped over, if we can't see, how can we interpret with pencil or paint. 
 

A garden shell drawn in my sketchbook ( details of how this was drawn at the end of the post). Simple face seven on and profile views ( scale x 2.5). Hopefully you can see the basic measurements, from the outer margins and showing where profile view spirals line up with the face on spirals. If you measure you can't really go wrong with the outline and adding tone is about understanding the interaction of the object with light.

  Accurate drawing underpins all botanical and natural history based art. Failure to observe and interpret through line drawing probably results from a lack of understanding of a 3D form and an inability to see. The brain tries to trick us, often we draw what we think or know to be there rather than what we actually see but we need to create the link between the object and what is visible, which will enable us to convert the 3D object to a successful 2D drawing.  
Drawing is pretty important if you want to be scientifically accurate. Not that a disproportionate drawing can't be aesthetically pleasing - it can! however, it certainly won't be a botanical illustration, so it really is worth putting in the effort, but try not to be limited to pure botanical subject but work with a diverse range of material instead to keep your interest. Learning to draw won't necessarily come easily but the effort will pay off.

From line to tone, starting to work with simple perspective by drawing of a Camellia leaf. The skeleton outline is drawn first and tone added afterwards. Note: the original outline should not be visible in thr tonal study. 

A skeleton drawing, dealing with working out overlapping parts as thought they are transparent. 

Working out overlapping elements in a Camellia flower. Top shows the skeleton drawing and here moving on from line to adding tone. There are many things to consider when drawing but most subjects can be broken down into simple shapes and by measuring and looking for angles.

 Can we all draw?

I really do believe that most people can draw to a reasonable standard. At very least accurate line drawings can be achieved but first we have to learn to 'see'. Yes it's true that some individuals have a particular talent for drawing, it's something that comes naturally but even this 'natural talent' needs training, for others it is more difficult BUT is possible in all cases, it just requires work! 

John Ruskin, painted by John Everett Millais at Glenfinlas, Scotland 1853-54  copyright Wikimedia Commons 
Ruskin's Elelemts of Drawing is a good place to start.

Ruskin said ....if you wish to learn drawing that you may be able to set down clearly, and usefully, records of such things that cannot be described in words, either to assist your own memory of them, or to convey distinct ideas of them to other people: if you wish to obtain quicker perceptions of beauty of the natural world, and or to preserve something like a true image of beautiful things that pass away....you wish to understand the minds of great painters, and be able to appreciate their work sincerely, seeing it for yourself, and loving it, not merely taking up the thoughts of other people about it; then 'I can' help you or, which is better, show you how to help your self.

Only onething you must understand, first of all, that these powers, which indeed are noble and desirable, cannot be got without work.

from Elements of Drawing

When do we start drawing and why do we stop?
Mark making is intuitive for very young children! I haven't met a young child yet that didn't want to draw and paint! Here's my grandson, aged 22 months getting stuck in with a bit of drawing and painting.

All young children want to draw....this happen as soon as they can hold a crayon

There are so many potential benefits in education with drawing, particularly for those with visual learning styles but sadly most children get locked into negative experiences and failure with drawing. Children should be permitted to draw regularly, yet many teachers reinforce the 'I can't draw'  idea even with young children, it becomes almost a 'feared' classroom activity and is quickly relegated as unimportant in comparison to other subjects. In recent years the specialist visiting teachers have diminished in numbers due to cutbacks, to the detriment of children and teachers.....to me it's short term thinking.  I believe that a child encouraged to draw will progress witrh numerous other skills.

Another drawing by my grandson, aged 3. Already he is able to count and make some controlled lines and to draw recognisable figures with an element of proportion. Fine motor skills are still developing but the subject is recognisable and drawing fires the child's imagination.

 The consequence is that parents and teachers tend not to draw with children and it eventually becomes unachievable. Sadly I observed this frequently in the years I worked in education ......drawing becomes elusive and perceived to be within the domain of the few. It's not the failure of the teachers but a failure of our education system to recognise the importance of drawing in learning and teaching. 
Observing, counting, measuring, creative thinking and problem solving are just a few of the benefits of drawing which can be transferred across the curriculum. 

Drawing can be therapeutic too and this should never be undervalued as a benefit. It also allows us to explore objects and surfaces in a way where we look at them and appreciate them differently. Unfortunately most young people start to believe they can't draw before the age of 10, most leave school and never pick up a pencil again....hence the cycle of failure continues and the 'I can't draw'  mentality continues. 

 Is it in the genes or learned?

 I believe that it's probably a bit of both. I was fortunate, my mum used to draw and we always had art materials around the house. I was never discouraged or told that art wasn't a worthy subject, and, I had a very supportive art teacher.  My own children have always been surrounded by drawing and painting, so it's probably no accident that one of my children is studying fine art. This probably has some element of genetics but I believe that nurture is equally important. Below is a drawing of a face wipe, by my daughter, Polly.

Untitled, drawing of a face wipe, in graphite and chalk on pastel paper by my daughter Polly Sutherland who is currently studying fine art at Lancaster University.

So where to start?
Think about why you want to draw and what you want to achieve. Are you prepared to put in work?..... If you're not then it's probably not going to happen! Why not read through Ruskin's Elements of Drawing , it's available as a free on line resource from the Ashmolean.

Ashmolean web resource, Ruskin's Elelments of Drawing

Drawing and seeing, IMPORTANT! Draw from Life!

The way that we see differs when we draw on a regular basis. Its not the same as just looking at an object, it's a complex analysis of objects and their relationships. Research has shown that the eye scans the subject differently when we draw on a regular basis - it skips back and forth, across the  3D form looking for these relationships and this scanning translates to the hand when we draw. Studies have shown that novices take less time to make a mark, they often start at one end of a subject with little or no planning because they have not analysed the subject visually and their ability to scan the object is limited. Read this study fascinating study by Bryan Maycock if you don't believe this is true. It shows the differing eye and hand patterns in people who draw and those who don't.

Looking at the whole, measuring andidentifying angles, curves and relationships

 Learn to take time exploring the relationships within and between objects before starting. Look at the overall picture, measure and look for angles.  

If one concentrates too much on one particular section, there is a tendency to see and draw in a manner different from the rest of the subject, and one of the first things to learn in the development of observation is that your eye must be kept active. (Simpson, Drawing, Seeing and Observation, 1987, p. 20)

 I can't emphasise enough how important it is to draw from life! I'm not saying don't ever use photos and iPads etc. for reference but the results are likely to be flawed if you are over dependent of such devices neglect to learn the basics. It's pretty obvious when subjects are drawn from photographs....photographs lie and don't allow us to understand the form, resulting in a flat lifeless or photographic result. Your drawing skills will never improve if you always draw from photographs.

Here another old post on observational drawing  titled 'A Bit About Drawing 1' 

Materials are probably worth a mention.
The good thing about drawing is that you don't need very much at all!

I wrote a post before on 'which pencil', so won't repeat but  Faber Castell 9000 pencils are best for  botanical and natural object drawing.

Eraser putty and hard rubber- use as little as possible!
Decent paper - use of a sketchbook and draw in it regularly....preferably every day! Stillman & Birn Zeta series are great!

A magnifying glass, a handheld will do and it doesn't need to be too large ( 3inchs is sufficient), in fact avoid large magnifiers, the quality of lens decreases with size. Don't go any stronger than x 2.5, high magnification really strains the eyes and it's usually not so good quality! 

Get to know your basic tools 
Play or experiment with the pencils in your sketchbook. find the difference using the pencil at different angles and when sharpened differently.
Practice -  continuous flowing lines and shapes and outlines
Master the basic shading techniques, hatching, cross hatching, stippling and continuous tone
Get to know the pencil grades by making graded tonal strips

Creating a tonal strip, the difference between progressively softer grades of pencil should be clear to see, if, the correct pressure is applied

Subjects, start simple 
Start with profiles and face- on views as line drawing
Choose simple subjects that wont die or move! shells, acorns and small fruits or seed-pods are perfect.

Measure
Learn to measure, use you pencil and thumb or a transparent ruler marked with mm.  You don't need to invest in proportional dividers just yet, unless you have lots of money to spare!There is no need to spend large amounts of money!

Shell Study Example

A shell make great starter subjects.  They have a simple outline and pattern and great form which catches the light.

Garden snail shell, with light is coming from the right hand side

After carefully observing your subject, start by measuring. The outer height and width the centre with horizontal and vertical lines. Mark out the position, height and width of each spiral. You can do this straight into the sketchbook. If it's for a final drawing you may trace and transfer - being careful not to apply pressure so that the paper is indented. I draw straight into the book, tracing is an alternative option if you are not confident and can minimise rough working lines which need to be erased. Be careful to ensure the tracing is accurate.

Transferring an outline of using Saral paper as an alternative to drawing directly on the paper.

Once the outline drawing is complete,  erase any working or correctionss. If using a hard rubber be sure to brush away any rubber debris with a large soft brush,  it catches in the graphite and causes black flecks.

 You can now start to add tone. This is what gives a 2D drawing a 3 dimensional look. Study the light source carefully. Look for the highlights and shadows and the mid tones in between. Make sure that your subject is lit well so that it's clear which side the light source is coming from

Start with the hardest grade of pencil, 2H and work from light to dark, working in the using increasingly softer grades. Here I have used the ribs of the shell for the direction of the shading.

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Heres a short hand held video, of the sketch made using an iPhone ( hence the camera movement,sorry). It shows the laying down on the first shading using  2H - HB pencils. I start by using the natural lines of the shell ridges. This is gradually built up to create a fairly dense covering of graphite. 

As the layers of softer pencil are added the depth of tone increases. Only the brightest highlights should allow the white of the paper to show through. It often works well to finish off with a harder grade to smooth the graphite, using a H or 2H is a good option.

 Finally I begin to add different views of the shell, side views and the rear of the shell using the same method of measuring. This approach will record all of the basic information needed to make and accurate record of the shell.

Adding different views of of the shell

Day 16 and 17, Plan, Experiment....Repeat

The good thing about this challenge is that it nurtures ideas for new work....one idea leads to another and so on.  Most ideas are cast aside, simply because they're not good but we need the bad ideas and regular work to come up with the better ones.....right?
Sometimes even the bad ideas return in another form. Not sure if these will, neither am I entirely sure what I was doing here but it was fun making paper surfaces and working with carbon, graphite, chalk and paper stumps...oh and of course more bulbs and seed- heads.

The beginning, working with carbon. It's a different type of finish great for smooth shiny areas and you can lay the basic form very quickly!

My first attempt with carbon, This paper surface was created using Gesso and paint....I was trying to make a surface that looks a bit like natural vellum and burnished it to make smooth when It was dry. It's not so bad, I used a marbling technique with a rigger and overlaid glazes, and even indented some veiny looking bits and also trashed the Daniel Smith Earthy dot card in the process!

Making a mess! textured coloured smooth base for the Carbon.... A kitchen sink approach!

 After the 'peaky' looking silver point in my last post, the dusky Wolff carbon pencils were an attractive prospect but I like the coloured background of the silverpoint, hence the paper experiment. I ground the carbon and applied with a brush and paper stump to model the general form. Then working with graphite and the carbon pencils before adding white French chalk for highlights. At this point I gave up and decided it was actually a load of rubbish and moved on to the iris seed head on paper.

The point of abandonment.....accept the fact that it's not really working and move on!

Carbon and graphite on Fabriano Artistico. Not sure why I worked this large. Thought it would be easier with carbon to work larger. It remains unfinished and I reverted to type and moved on to butterflies.

Both the Sketchbook Exchange Project or 30 Day Challenge have given me many ideas for new work and also a chance to reflect. And when I'm busy doing other types work I think about what I've done previously, I look for links or areas to develop sometimes. This carbon drawing of a bulb didn't quite work but I think it could. So I moved on to an iris seed-head on paper. It looks promising but the jury is still out on the carbon. The simple things in the Challenge seem to be pre-cursors or tasters for more complex ones.....like component parts. I used this approach to build up parts and ideas. One work I think about developing is the sketchbook page below but on a larger scale...... It tugs at my attention.

 

Complexity, my I've drawn all of these individually prior to this and want to develop it.

It's all gone a bit pear shaped with the 30 day challenge but there seems to be a purpose here. I had a super high pressure commission painting lots of complicated fruit compositions over the last two weeks,  so very little time for anything else. Working 15 hours each day to complete on time was draining but while I was doing this work I was still thinking about my own work up ahead and planning.... this is the important time leading up to new work. I've been thinking about a compositions for the look that I want to achieve for sometime. I've been observing habitats everywhere and the complex interactions between plants, it's not a conscious effort it's just something that people who paint and draw plants seem to do....eventually I home in on something. So my next focus will be the development of the sketchbook page approach and that's where I'm heading next. I love to work in black and white and love complex forms, it makes sense.

My favourite kind of subject, detailed graphite, complex pattern and texture!

 There are two types of compositional ideas that I favour, the simple floating subject and the complex with intertwining parts with overlaps, patterns or transparencyand.  I'm not really interested in too much in between, so look for interesting shapes and flowing  lines, movement and the interaction between objects, sometimes I like to 'order' them and at other times I like to go with the natural lines Neither is it necessarily about a particular plant initially but more to do with a particular feel or atmosphere. I think this idea will be my focus for the remaining days of the challenge....but after the carbon chaos a few colouful butterflies are in order first!

Day 12 Unfinished Camellia Drawing, Plus some Graphite Tips

Last night I did a bit of late night tonal drawing for day 12 of the Challenge. I used a flower from the same Camellia cutting previously sketched on day 10.  It was a late start at 11pm, so I spent about 60 minutes drawing and I didn't finish it....but I quite like unfinished drawings, so that's fine.
I love tonal drawing, it's so easy to do, costs very little and requires little space....perfect!

'Red Camellia, Unfinished' graphite on Stillman & Birn Zeta Series Sketch paper, 7 x 7 inches. Completed using Faber Castell 9000 2H to 4B

And this is the flower, sorry terrible photo! It was dark and I worked in the dark with a lamp which is good  because it enhances the light and shade, 'Chiaroscuro' style. There's only tone to deal with so colour matching required light conditions are not necessary ....yes bad light is ok sometimes!

It was around 2008 when I first started tonal drawing and it's one of my favourite mediums now. It's an almost meditative process as the pencil floats over the paper surface with virtually no pressure, it's relatively easy to control really and can be learned easily. Funny really because I absolutely loathe coloured pencil!  I don't mean as a medium used by others, there are some amazing works using CP, I'm talking about using it, I find it the most tedious process ever!
When I teach graphite in my online courses and think it's extremely important to establish this as a foundation skill. I find that it's not so different from purist watercolour methods, especially for quite a dry painter like me....using the white of the paper for only the brightest highlights and layering different tones to build up a 3 dimensional form. It's also the best way of understanding tonal values before moving on to colour and is great for controlling detail. But you have to experiment to get the textures and desired effect too, just like watercolour dry brush work.

Building layers and texture. Working around the tonally light anthers and filaments being careful not to make any indentation or lines. small circular movements usually do the job but work with whatever the shape of the subject is...just go with the flow!

I don't invest in fancy tools, there is no need, they won't make your drawing any better. A set of Faber Castell 9000, are without doubt the best pencils and Staedtler are not bad too but a bit too soft for me. Some students find Faber Castell's a bit 'scratchy' at first but this is generally poor technique and too much pressure being applied. The weight should never be at the point of the tip of the pencil and pressing into the surface of the paper, but instead should be kept in the arm, so that the pencil glides over the surface without pressure or resistance. I have reverted to a hard rubber but also use a putty rubber but sometimes these can become sticky. A rubber should be used as little ar possible though. My best friends in the drawing tool kit are a good old Stanley knife and nail file for sharpening. Sharpening is really important and there are a number of variations in the way a pencil can be sharpened and used for different effects. Dark flecks generally only occur if you have rubber or other graphite debis on the surface of the paper, so dust off regularly with a big, clean dry brush and use tracing paper to protect your work from dirty marks. A magnifyer is a must for getting close in at the edges.

Some basic tools, the nail file/ emery board is a must have, and hand sharpened long leads are better than any sharpener on the market. I couldn't draw at all without a magnifyer.

 I sharpen long points and then fine tune with a fine nail file, this way the point tapers well and just requires fine tuning. Also important for a lazy person like me is the fact that the lead lasts a long time before further sharpening is needed. I don't really like continual sharpening!  I use HP watercolour paper Arches or Fabriano Artistico or Schoellershammer 4G for finished pieces but the Stillman and Birn sketch paper is good too. It all costs very little.  Sometimes I use a mechanical pencil, but you can buy cheap ones and put good lead in them!

Here's another unfinished - from a Skype tutorial with one of my students this week. I estimate to complete a life size tonal drawing of a tulip would take in the region of 5-6 hours. This one is in the early stages.

Here's a Camellia leaf, see how it's a good bit darker than the flower. This is achieved by layering with the softer grades. The underside of the leaf is much lighter though and these are the differences to look for. 

One of the most common errors in tonal work is the failure to add enough graphite. In the same way that every watercolour has a maximum saturation, every pencil grade has a maximum tonal value, so you can keep adding to smooth that tone ( using the continuous tone technique  ) it won't get any darker but it will get smoother as long as you are applying the correct amount of pressure. Thereafter, to go darker you need to move to a softer grade and so on with increasingly softer grades to get those darks. I do the majority of the work with 2H to 2B grades. The 2H is like the equivalent to a Tea wash, covering much of the surface apart from the main highlights. Quite often though students do not apply nearly enough tone and far too much white of the paper is left showing through. Neither is there enough variation in tone between light and dark parts, for example a Camellia leaf is significantly darker in tone than say a pink Camellia flower, yet often in drawings the difference isn't apparent. So to check tones, hold the subject against a white card and see how little white there actually is and also see which are the lighter parts and which are the darker parts. The other common error is reliance on outlines. In a tonal drawing the outline should not be visible. I make a very light outline drawing first and remove as much as possible with a putty rubber before starting to add tone. The tonal work should cover the line by working up to it. I often go back a grade to smooth out with a harder pencil too.....Like all artwork it's about trial and error and working out problems. You can tell people how to do it but you have to discover it yourself in order to fully understand.    

Hmm....30 day challenge = much faster Blogging skills too! albeit with the odd typo

Day 7 and 8. Tulip Tree, Seed - Head in Watercolour and Graphite

Day 7 and 8, a mix of watercolour and graphite was used for these Tulip Tree seed- head studies. This was cheating a bit because I found an unfinished drawing in my old sketchbook and though it would be good to add a couple more. I'd found the seeds last year on my way through Germany and had forgotten about them....I found them in a box on top of the bookcase the other day! Think I'll post every other day now so as not to irritate you with my daily posts., Sorry  I forgot to take photos of the process, so just the finished pieces today. 

Day 7.  Dried Tulip Tree seed-head, Liriodendron tulipifera.  Graphite drawing on Stillman and Birn A4 smooth Zeta series sketchbook, such lovely sketchbook paper. The usual Faber Castell 9000 series pencils. I still believe these are the best pencils for the job. Grades H right up to 8B here for the darkest shadows. I could have made this darker all over but I'm out of time today. I must make an effort to take better photos! these are taken on an iphone!  

The complete page in the sketchbook, with the original drawing bottom left

 I have to confess that I'm struggling with time now. Really had intended to get out to paint some spring flowers but Ive got so much on this week! with a new composition course starting, a trip to the printer today,  because  I'm betting my butterflies and fritillarias made into prints:) and tomorrow it's off to London for the SBA show tomorrow...... Excuses excuses! oh and there's those fruit commissions (eek!)  But I always keep in mind one of  my favourite quotes from Francis Bacon: 

' Inspiration comes from regular work' 

Not sure if that's absolutely accurate as a quote because I read it on the toilet wall at the Hugh Lane Gallery, where is studio is now located in Dublin.  I'm not really very good with remembering quotes but it's good enough for me and regular work I will continue do!

Day 8 A colour version, maybe I'll add a flowering version at the top of the page later this year. I've had this in a box for a while yet remarkably the little leaf is still green. The colours: Transparent Yellow and Perylene Maroon, in various combinations for the rich golden colour. To warm it more I added Scarlet Lake.  Some Cerulean on the woody parts first for the shine followed by a warm brown mix same as the seed plus some Van Dyke Brown ( yes too lazy here today to mix ), which I also used on the seed head  and added in some Paynes Grey to darken and cool it off.. The seed head completely fell apart just as I finished it!