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I'm easily getting lost within those areas you've mentioned...
It's never been simply task to me to follow those subtle differences.
By layering you will get richer darks, but only to some level, that the layers of graphite are capable to achieve.
For example a single softly applied base layer of HB will definitely get darker if the layer is repeated, over and over, let say for 3 times?
Then what?
It won't ever get as dark as 4B for example...
But it's obvious to you JayS, as you're an experienced artist already, so I don't need to remind you this.
The issue to graphite lead is it shines.
When it is reflecting the light it appears lighter.
So to achieve the darkest darks you need to use graphite pencil that reflects as little light as possible.
For example have a look at charcoal.
It looks very black, because it doesn't shine as much as graphite...
I did stop using general graphite pencils long ago, and I never came back to again, well.., very spontaneously, when I was after to achieve an shining effect on some part of the leaf, or knife's blade etc...
If I remember Mike has some professional way of dealing with this, I am sorry, I just don't remember what technique was it...
I was just using pencils, that don't shine as much as general ones, the leads were made out of mixcture of different ratio (graphite/carbon) too, so achieving rich blacks didn't require special techniques to lessen the shining effect.
I hope Mike will correct me, to provide you precise answers.
I'm just not very technical man you see, and crap teacher too
I'm making artwork with my heart rather, and intuition, than proper knowledge - unfortunately...

JayS wrote: Wed Jan 18, 2023 7:01 pm I have a couple of concerns. First, I don't seem to get the darkest blacks from a 2B. Certainly, a 5B is darker. But I wonder if the darkness comes with layering?

I think the paper has a lot to do with what you can achieve with a 2B. The Conqueror Diamond White I work on is very smooth and difficult to damage, so I can (and often do) use a lot of pressure. I can obtain all the darks I need with a 2B, so I don't use anything softer. That's partly because I find the softer grades to be too grainy. So, if your 5B works well for you, use it. And if it looks black but grainy, then layer it with 2B or HB to burnish it.

Second... it is divided into many small areas. Some of the areas are separated by thick dark lines of many hairs, and some are hardly noticeable. I'm trying to blend these smaller areas into a larger whole by being certain that the hair is all headed in the same direction. Layering seems to help join different areas together.

That's along the lines of what I was trying to explain. By no means am I saying that my way is the only way or even the best way. The best way is the one that works for you.

Hairs growing in the same direction is the major feature. There's an area in the middle of the back that immediately grabbed my attention. It looks 100% hairy! The hairs appear to be longer than I might expect, but I really don't think that matters. They are all growing in the same direction, and spring from darker roots - and that's all I need to know to understand it.

Third, I'm sometimes getting lost in the complexity of the small areas and struggling to find the larger area that the small area fits within. The tail is an example where the part is clearly defined by dark hair at the edges, and toward the tip the edge is poorly defined. I'm trying to solve this problem by spending a lot of time looking at the reference to see where the tail really goes and where the dimension of the shoulder joins the neck...

Personally, I think that's the ideal way to tackle it. You're taking time to understand every area before you begin to draw it. That understanding will carry over to the viewers of the drawing. They might not be aware of it (and probably won't be) but subconsciously they'll see it as being natural.

I'm going to add a caveat here, which might not make much sense right now. When you begin to work this way, you inevitably become focused on detail. Later, once you become used to it, you'll learn which detail to emphasise and which to play down. But you have to go through the first stage to reach the second.

Sometimes this is defined by line, but often by the musculature and curve of the body...

That's a good point, because ultimately it's the hair, and only the hair, that is describing the form beneath it. We instinctively read the highlights and shadows to gain that three-dimensional information.

Previously, I felt you were seeing the three-dimensional form and trying to make it look hairy. But that's the reverse of what we experience.

...there are also areas where the differences are defined by the value differences within the hair. And finally, there are areas where the short hair is almost non-existent adjoining long hair areas.

Value differences might be describing the form, so it's worth asking yourself why that value change has occurred. And showing the differences between short and long hair adds to the viewer's experience - can they run their fingers through it? Or does the short hair "feel" spiky or soft? Again, it all adds to the natural feel of the drawing.

It all needs sorting (an English expression, I'm told).

I suppose it is... I hadn't thought of that. Yes, it needs sorting. But slowly and carefully. Don't let your concentration and standards drop because it only takes one quickly drawn rough approximation to drag the rest of the drawing down to its level.

Arthur, You are not a "crap" teacher. When you explain what you see I gain the tremendous value of a different point of view. The more you work at your explanations the more value I find within. Thank you for your thoughts.

Mike, Thank you. You are certainly helping me better understand what I'm trying to do. I also believe that Arthur is gaining a great deal as he is wonderfully engaged too. I hope other artists join in, regardless of their experience, there is much to discover in this world of seeing. Yesterday we got about a foot of new snow, around a third of a meter. Then the wind blew and we gained a couple of good drifts. Almost buried my truck. I'm thankful for my 8.5 horse snow blower with heated handles. I can blow the frozen stuff 40 feet. Still at that I have to let my hands recover so I didn't draw yesterday. I'm back on the board today and will post progress a little later.

Some progress. I find myself working shapes more than I have in the past.

There are a couple of points I want to mention, Jay.

First, the arrowed features: The left-hand one looks like a remnant from your previous drawing. It's a dark mark on the surface that doesn't really try to explain itself. You might not read it the same way that I do, and I agree that it appears to be "just a dark mark" in the reference. But you and I both know it isn't, so it needs working on. Personally, I'd want the light hair below it to throw wisps of hair over that mark - so we know it's in front of it. And if the hair above that dark mark is growing out of the mark, then it needs to cut into that mark. Not such a straight edge, but divided by locks of hair emerging from within it. I hope that makes sense? See 11:10 to 12:08 in the previous video: DRAWING HAIR - PART 2. That's the sort of edge I think this needs.

The right-hand arrowed feature reminds me of gaping jaws or a beak, and doesn't say "hair" to me. Again, it needs wispy terminal ends sticking out to soften the edges. Or even removing/remodelling entirely, which would be my choice. And I think there's an error of perception there... but we might have to argue about that

I'm not certain, but...

Like you, I read the tail as if it ended in that awkward "beak" shape. But then I saw the black hair below it. It looks awfully like the tip of a tail? So I checked and, while wolves obviously differ, some wolves do have a black or dark end to their tails. Here's one I photographed at Yellowstone: So I think the whole area from the "beak" down to and including the black tip is the end of its tail. It also has an "unfortunate" gap between the "beak" and black area that I'd want to fill. I'm picturing the end of the thick tail of our GSD in my mind (given that she's a long-haired "woolly" Shepherd).

I hope that makes some sense. I need to get back to working on the next video, or I'd have a go at physically showing you what I mean.

Greetings, The temperatures here in Northwestern Colorado are slightly chilly. I'm reading Jack London "To Build a Fire.." In this story the Yukon trapper spits to tell how cold it is. If the spit freezes when it hits the ground, it is 20 below zero F. If it freezes in the air, it is 30 below. If it cracks in the air, it is 50 below. Day before yesterday it was 32 below F. We are now some 50 days with the temperatures below 20 degrees F. These temperatures do not take into account wind chill. This means that it is a wonderful time to fire up the space heater and draw, draw, draw!

We are accustomed to dressing in layers. So it is that I've enjoyed dressing the wolf in layers. Each layer adds more depth and dimension to the hair. However, I'm just getting started with these layers. I'm paying particular attention to the edges where dimension is created. Shadows are huge in creating depth and in defining areas. This seems particularly important in the areas where the fur is white. Shadow is the defining characteristic within and across areas.

Mike, I'm seeing the tail of the wolf differently than you. I think this has to do with what we expect to see. You see the tip of the tail as black. U don't. I see the black area as deep shadow under the tail. It can go either way, But I think your view gives more definition to the tail. I'll think about this some more.

Mike, I'm seeing the tail of the wolf differently than you. I think this has to do with what we expect to see. You see the tip of the tail as black. I don't. I see the black area as deep shadow under the tail.

I'm not claiming to be correct. It's just my vision of it. But I'll return to that.

My point was that you should never treat the reference as being sacrosanct.

That you should always seek to understand the area you're about to draw.

That if you don't understand it, you can work around it and return to it later. Often, surrounded by drawing, that area then makes sense.

And, above all, if you don't like what you see - or it doesn't fit the story you want to tell - change it.

As for your wolf, I'm going to be quite critical (without knowing at what stage of development any area is). That area of hair where the neck flows into the back at the shoulder... That's superb! I feel I could push my fingers into it and lift the hair up. The hair on the belly... not so much. It has the appearance of bare skin.

It looks as though you might be giving form precedence over hair? But, in reality, it's the hair that describes the form beneath - using its highlights and shadows.

And that's exactly what I'm currently working on for the next video. I'm 15 minutes in on the timeline (90% complete)... and not finished writing the end of the script yet.

I'm trying to cover the analysis and drawing of NINE types of hair. Plus colours. And a few other associated topics too. I might even have to chop it into two, as it looks like being an hour long. And that's far too much to absorb in one sitting.

Keep warm and safe, Jay! I can't imagine -50... and nor do I want to.

Greetings Mike, I like it when you are critical. You tell me what you see. The stage of development is beginning, hardly layered. As I work through the wolf I look back at what was done yesterday or the day before and begin to develop a sense of what I want to do next. But I am not at the next level yet. It seems to me that understanding what I'm about to draw also means understanding what I've done. The word dimension comes as I work. I know I don't have the dimension I want. So when I work the next level I'm going to be focusing on shadows that give the hair shape. It will be a few days before I get there.

JayS wrote: Thu Feb 09, 2023 6:21 pm The stage of development is beginning, hardly layered. As I work through the wolf, I look back at what was done yesterday or the day before and begin to develop a sense of what I want to do next.

We all have our way of working. So, of course, I can't help relating what I see to the way I work.

Personally, I like to have a good idea in my head of what I'm about to draw. And then when I draw it, it uses the minimum number of pencil lines and hopefully maintains its sharpness. I don't mean I know exactly what I'm going to draw - just the three-dimensional shaping, the direction of growth, the general length and texture of the hair in that area. Then, with reference to the surrounding drawing, the first mark suggests the next, and I just let it grow.

And I should mention that I do use layers. But the first layer is always LINE - the DETAIL. Then the TONAL 3D shaping goes on top of that.

I like to create it organically that way. I think you have a more structured way of working that I'll try to keep in mind. And it appears you prefer establishing the tonal shaping first? But - to my mind - that compromises any bright highlights you might want to create.