Welcome to my Art Blog! I paint or draw most weekdays and sometimes finish a painting a day. I fondly call them my "Postcards from Paradise" because it's such a beautiful place the Lord made here for us.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Drawing, Smudging and Erasing

(left) "Thoughts"
Original pencil drawing on paper, 11.5"x8.5"
©2013 Diana Moses Botkin

SOLD

Although I most often use charcoal (usually willow charcoal) for life drawings, I sometimes use graphite.

I've had a request by a client for a pencil drawing, so I thought I should to do some practice pieces before tackling the larger commission project. I wanted to try various papers and get comfortable with the assortment of pencils and smudgers I considered using.  

Technique with pencil can be rough or smooth, depending on paper used, and what tools are used for blending and smudging. White paper can be masked off or the artist can use an eraser to take off graphite, with varying results.

These two drawings show the difference between using the pencils alone for value vs. doing some smearing and smudging for shading.

(left) "Before the Dive"
Original pencil drawing on paper, 11"x8"
©2013 Diana Moses Botkin

3 comments:

suzanneberry said...

oh, i love your drawings, so wonderful. the expression on the model is amazing. captures her pose perfectly!

juliefordoliver.blogspot.com said...

Beautiful drawings, full of sensitivity.

Diana Moses Botkin said...

Thanks so much, Suzanne and Julie, for your input. I love it that we can put our work out on our blogs and get some immediate response. It helps to see "the audience" and get a little applause!