Grahite Pencil Renderings

Drawing is a quiet and thoughtful reflection of the world. Drawing is an expressive way to show your visions to the world. A well done drawing tells your story without saying a word.

I work in shades of gray. The light and shadow of the gray scale are the foundations beneath the world. Drawing with graphite feels like sculpting with light and shadow and developing an array of value scales to create depth, texture and volume.

I draw light and dark shadows and develop them smoothly. I gently manipulate the graphite in ways that fill in the grain of the paper over the surface of the drawing and not just in the areas that I would blend to create a graduated effect. When I draw a layer of graphite with a pencil, it sticks on the high surfaces of the grain and skips over the low areas. I use several techniques to fill in all the tiny parts of the paper that are missed and the result is a look that appears like the graphite has been applied in soft washes. The eraser is a magical tool. It helps me pull out the lighter shades and when I create wispy strocks it sculpts the texture. When I work with value scales in this smooth way, it feels as though I'm establishing a three dimensional environment in the paper.

These images are examples of my graphite pencil techniques.