Wayne - I wish I'd had more time to redo the demo, but it is what it is. However, I think it at least shows you my way of drawing tapered lines. I hope you find it useful.
CRIT: Tapered Lines
"First Steps" Exercises from DWM Videos
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Mike Sibley
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Re: "First Steps" Exercises from DWM Videos
Thanks ever so much for the video. Indeed it has focused my practice and given me some new ideas about how these strokes are done. Let's see what comes of it .. only time will tell.
Re: "First Steps" Exercises from DWM Videos
Well I "finished" the white feather a few days ago - when tired of drawing failed tapers - and I'm NOT at all happy with the results in the bottom portion of the feather.
I redrew the structure of the bottom - which was a mistake, because I found out the hard way that my initial drawing had indented the paper in a few places and I also discovered that colourful expletives do NOT calm you down, nor do they solve the problem. I had planned to put some stray hair type filaments in the bottom portion as well but discovered ( somewhat to my surprise ) that neither the MONO ZERO eraser ( even with a chisel point ) nor the TUFF STUFF stick eraser will remove any of the dark UNI leads. My Staedtler White vinyl eraser will remove some of it, but leaves a very unattractive grey "smudge" behind. The plan had been to put in a value 3 or 4 grey tone and then erase back the highlights - but that clearly won't work, and even though I'm not very familiar with feathers, I do know that they don't have grey "smudge bottoms".
So in frustration, I simply shaded in the geometry of the quill and left it at that. Maybe Mike's techniques of negative drawing or hair drawing techniques might have helped with this, but they are several chapters (books?) in the future.
For now ADIOS PLUMA! (Goodbye Feather!)
For me, it is clear that these UNI 2mm leads do not behave as normal graphite pencils do - it's probably the polymer that causes the different behaviour. Since my intent is to learn these techniques I'll have to switch to "normal" pencils or get some Staedtler 2mm leads to continue and get the results that are expected - and some folks say that supplies don't matter - HOGWASH!
For the next few days, I'm going to concentrate my efforts on finishing my "new pencil" exercises with the STABILO pencils, which may behave as expected.
I redrew the structure of the bottom - which was a mistake, because I found out the hard way that my initial drawing had indented the paper in a few places and I also discovered that colourful expletives do NOT calm you down, nor do they solve the problem. I had planned to put some stray hair type filaments in the bottom portion as well but discovered ( somewhat to my surprise ) that neither the MONO ZERO eraser ( even with a chisel point ) nor the TUFF STUFF stick eraser will remove any of the dark UNI leads. My Staedtler White vinyl eraser will remove some of it, but leaves a very unattractive grey "smudge" behind. The plan had been to put in a value 3 or 4 grey tone and then erase back the highlights - but that clearly won't work, and even though I'm not very familiar with feathers, I do know that they don't have grey "smudge bottoms".
So in frustration, I simply shaded in the geometry of the quill and left it at that. Maybe Mike's techniques of negative drawing or hair drawing techniques might have helped with this, but they are several chapters (books?) in the future.
For now ADIOS PLUMA! (Goodbye Feather!)
For me, it is clear that these UNI 2mm leads do not behave as normal graphite pencils do - it's probably the polymer that causes the different behaviour. Since my intent is to learn these techniques I'll have to switch to "normal" pencils or get some Staedtler 2mm leads to continue and get the results that are expected - and some folks say that supplies don't matter - HOGWASH!
For the next few days, I'm going to concentrate my efforts on finishing my "new pencil" exercises with the STABILO pencils, which may behave as expected.
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Mike Sibley
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Re: "First Steps" Exercises from DWM Videos
Whether it's intentional, or not, you've got some lovely subtle three-dimensional form in this feather. The top-left edge curls up ever so slightly to catch the light. Lower down, just before the unwispy wispy bits 
on that side, there's a gentle rise and fall. And both sides of the feather very softly rise up from the central quill, flow over the crest and down again very naturally. And that, from a feather-deprived artist, is quite remarkable. 
The filaments in the body are perfect, in my opinion. They're naturally subdued, but present on inspection.
As for the soft, wispy parts at the base... I'd probably use negative drawing, creating the shapes with deliberate soft edges. But I wouldn't discount the use of an eraser either. It might just produce the desired effect - assuming, of course, that it can cut through the background darks.
I very often find that forming a clear idea of the finished result (texture-wise, not actual shapes) before drawing commences on an area, produces the best results. So, I probably would favour negative drawing - but... If I elected to draw them last, which I might, I'd not create the surrounding background at all. Then I'd deliberately use the background to expose the soft wisps. Or, if I drew them first... well, l wouldn't. It's better to complete the areas you know first, and then the "unknown" areas tend to make more logical sense later.
on that side, there's a gentle rise and fall. And both sides of the feather very softly rise up from the central quill, flow over the crest and down again very naturally. And that, from a feather-deprived artist, is quite remarkable. The filaments in the body are perfect, in my opinion. They're naturally subdued, but present on inspection.
As for the soft, wispy parts at the base... I'd probably use negative drawing, creating the shapes with deliberate soft edges. But I wouldn't discount the use of an eraser either. It might just produce the desired effect - assuming, of course, that it can cut through the background darks.
I very often find that forming a clear idea of the finished result (texture-wise, not actual shapes) before drawing commences on an area, produces the best results. So, I probably would favour negative drawing - but... If I elected to draw them last, which I might, I'd not create the surrounding background at all. Then I'd deliberately use the background to expose the soft wisps. Or, if I drew them first... well, l wouldn't. It's better to complete the areas you know first, and then the "unknown" areas tend to make more logical sense later.
Re: "First Steps" Exercises from DWM Videos
Your observations of dividing the image by texture and not doing the background in certain areas are lessons that I had learned from this experience. Negative drawing - i'm looking forward to that, but all in due time. First I need to get a drawing utensil that behaves as expected. Hopefully the STABILOs will check out Ok and I can proceed from there. Just a few more days to finish my new pencil tests. Stand by ...
Re: "First Steps" Exercises from DWM Videos
I have attached a scan of the third and final test exercise that I do for a new set of pencils, in this case the STABILO Othello brand. This exercise in particular takes a while to complete but it ensures that the entire range of grades is used and that there is enough "pencil mileage" to ensure that many of the use cases are encountered.
For this exercise I used the range of 4H-2H-HB-2B-4B-8B pencils. The harder 4H/2H/HB pencils gave me no problems at all - they went on smoothly, erased well, kept their points well and sharpened easily. The softer ones, 2B/4B/8B on the other hand were a major ( and I mean major ) PITA. In fairness they did apply smoothly most of the time, but occasionally a "grit" or "stone" in the lead was encountered that snagged the paper and on two occasions broke the lead even with the lightest possible application. They erased well, kept their points about as long as expected for a soft lead, but sharpening them was a nightmare. The 4B and 8B in particular caused a lot of grief - I tried 6 different hand held manual sharpeners, a KUM Masterpiece sharpener and an AFMAT crank sharpener, all of which failed to produce sharp points. The AFMAT ate about 5" of both a 4B and most of the 8B before stopping. One of the 4B pencils while being manually sharpened, split it's wooden casing from the point to the other end, and one 8B pencil broke the lead every 1/2" or so and just could not be sharpened - this pencil was NOT dropped by me and I bought it straight out of it's shipping box at the store, so I can only conclude poor manufacture or poor quality control. I felt that the wood casings on the hard pencils were very good and consistent, but the softer ones had a different consistency and "feel" to them, with frequent snags and splinters.
The only reliable method of sharpening the 2B/4B/8B pencils was the classical knife-and-sandpaper method, which worked. But after many,many years of knife-and-sandpaper sharpening I have had my fill of that method and any pencil requiring it will not find a home in my drawing box.
The final "problem" with the 2B/4B/8B pencils, is that they are "grainy" - no VERY grainy - and frequently leave clumps of graphite that appear as large black dots/spots which have to be removed with the kneaded eraser. Also, I find that they smudge easily.
In summary, these pencils are serviceable, but not by me - I just don't have the patience to put up with sharpening problems, leads that break and snags and smudges on the paper, especially having become used to the high quality Staedtler and Faber-Castell ( and Koh-I-Noor to some extent ) leads and pencils.
I thought that rejecting the STABILO pencils left me with no viable options for pencils or leads, BUT I was wrong. My next door neighbour has been checking in on me frequently while I suffer through this shingles ( adult chickenpox ) infection and yesterday he casually mentioned that his son is coming here for a visit from LosAngeles - do I need anything? Well yes as a matter of fact I do. So I have purchased a supply of Staedtler 2mm leads from DickBlick and arranged to have them delivered to the son's home. I should have them in about 2 weeks - imagine STAEDTLER finally - talk about good fortune!
So now I will concentrate on the Tapered Stroke and hopefully forget the painful blisters on my back.
For this exercise I used the range of 4H-2H-HB-2B-4B-8B pencils. The harder 4H/2H/HB pencils gave me no problems at all - they went on smoothly, erased well, kept their points well and sharpened easily. The softer ones, 2B/4B/8B on the other hand were a major ( and I mean major ) PITA. In fairness they did apply smoothly most of the time, but occasionally a "grit" or "stone" in the lead was encountered that snagged the paper and on two occasions broke the lead even with the lightest possible application. They erased well, kept their points about as long as expected for a soft lead, but sharpening them was a nightmare. The 4B and 8B in particular caused a lot of grief - I tried 6 different hand held manual sharpeners, a KUM Masterpiece sharpener and an AFMAT crank sharpener, all of which failed to produce sharp points. The AFMAT ate about 5" of both a 4B and most of the 8B before stopping. One of the 4B pencils while being manually sharpened, split it's wooden casing from the point to the other end, and one 8B pencil broke the lead every 1/2" or so and just could not be sharpened - this pencil was NOT dropped by me and I bought it straight out of it's shipping box at the store, so I can only conclude poor manufacture or poor quality control. I felt that the wood casings on the hard pencils were very good and consistent, but the softer ones had a different consistency and "feel" to them, with frequent snags and splinters.
The only reliable method of sharpening the 2B/4B/8B pencils was the classical knife-and-sandpaper method, which worked. But after many,many years of knife-and-sandpaper sharpening I have had my fill of that method and any pencil requiring it will not find a home in my drawing box.
The final "problem" with the 2B/4B/8B pencils, is that they are "grainy" - no VERY grainy - and frequently leave clumps of graphite that appear as large black dots/spots which have to be removed with the kneaded eraser. Also, I find that they smudge easily.
In summary, these pencils are serviceable, but not by me - I just don't have the patience to put up with sharpening problems, leads that break and snags and smudges on the paper, especially having become used to the high quality Staedtler and Faber-Castell ( and Koh-I-Noor to some extent ) leads and pencils.
I thought that rejecting the STABILO pencils left me with no viable options for pencils or leads, BUT I was wrong. My next door neighbour has been checking in on me frequently while I suffer through this shingles ( adult chickenpox ) infection and yesterday he casually mentioned that his son is coming here for a visit from LosAngeles - do I need anything? Well yes as a matter of fact I do. So I have purchased a supply of Staedtler 2mm leads from DickBlick and arranged to have them delivered to the son's home. I should have them in about 2 weeks - imagine STAEDTLER finally - talk about good fortune!
So now I will concentrate on the Tapered Stroke and hopefully forget the painful blisters on my back.
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Mike Sibley
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Re: "First Steps" Exercises from DWM Videos
That's a brand I know exists, but of which I have no experience. So, I'm looking forward to your testing, because I know it will be more thorough, comprehensive, and useful than a Grade-A Amazon review.
That is really disappointing. If there's one fault you really don't want, it's a gritty lead. Even if it only occurs a couple of times a year, that's two instances too many. Not only can the grit damage the paper, it can also dig so deep that it cannot be removed. I encountered that in the very early days before I began to use "professional" pencils - Staedtler Lumograph, in my case.The harder 4H/2H/HB pencils gave me no problems at all... The softer ones, 2B/4B/8B... were a major PITA. They did apply smoothly most of the time, but occasionally a "grit" or "stone" in the lead was encountered that snagged the paper...
That sounds like the other problem you never want to encounter - off-centre leads! I have a pack of very cheap pencils I use in my workshop, and most of them end up in the sharpener. It's extremely frustrating....sharpening them was a nightmare. The 4B and 8B in particular caused a lot of grief - I tried 6 different hand held manual sharpeners... One of the 4B pencils, while being manually sharpened, split its wooden casing from the point to the other end, and one 8B pencil broke the lead every 1/2" or so and just could not be sharpened... so I can only conclude poor manufacture or poor quality control.
That is really disappointing. I never thought of Stabilo being in the Faber or Staedtler league, but I thought they were better than you described. Although, to be fair, it doesn't take much to drop any brand off the top of the tree. Just one grain of grit will do that.The final "problem" with the 2B/4B/8B pencils, is that they are "grainy" - no VERY grainy - and frequently leave clumps of graphite that appear as large black dots/spots which have to be removed with the kneaded eraser. Also, I find that they smudge easily. In summary, these pencils are serviceable, but not by me... especially having become used to the high quality Staedtler and Faber-Castell (and Koh-I-Noor) leads and pencils.
You have my full sympathy. My sister had that earlier this year, so I understand how painful it can be. Fortunately, Jenny and I have been vaccinated against it. It's automatically offered to all over-70s here in the UK.My next door neighbour has been checking in on me frequently while I suffer through this Shingles infection...
Excellent! You won't regret that decision - ever! I have a pack of Staedtler Lumograph from around 1950, and they are NO DIFFERENT in any respect from pencils manufactured this year. Unless you enjoy constantly relearning (actually, you mightSo I have purchased a supply of Staedtler 2mm leads from Dick Blick and arranged to have them delivered to the son's home. I should have them in about 2 weeks - imagine STAEDTLER finally - talk about good fortune! So now I will concentrate on the Tapered Stroke and hopefully forget the painful blisters on my back.
) consistency is something you really need.The exercises you posted are superb! Not just in execution, but in content. They really do span every possible instance of value, pressure, contrast, gradation, and three-dimensional form that I can think of.
Re: "First Steps" Exercises from DWM Videos
I think that the particular STABILO pencils that I bought were made in "Malaysia" - they have 3 manufacturing facilities ( according to their website ) Germany, Czech Republic and Malaysia and it is possible that the quality control at each facility is better or worse. The pencils I tested were a huge disappointment which didn't show up until I needed to sharpen some of them for Exercise 3 - that exercise is the real mileage tester.
As far as I know, Exercises 1 and 2 were used at our school and are free to be used by anyone. Exercise 3 if I remember correctly is from a drawing website - Art Factory or ArtyFactory, something like that and again can be used freely. I have a PDF file with "blanks" for the three exercises should anyone want it but the FORUM won't let me include here ( Bad extension PDF! ).
As far as "forgetting the painful blisters on my back" - I've still got a few days to go before they scab up, but the last 8 or 9 days have not been pleasant at all! I'd encourage anyone who has the vaccine available to them, to get the shot, because this virus attacks the nerves and I can't begin to describe the pain and discomfort.
As far as I know, Exercises 1 and 2 were used at our school and are free to be used by anyone. Exercise 3 if I remember correctly is from a drawing website - Art Factory or ArtyFactory, something like that and again can be used freely. I have a PDF file with "blanks" for the three exercises should anyone want it but the FORUM won't let me include here ( Bad extension PDF! ).
As far as "forgetting the painful blisters on my back" - I've still got a few days to go before they scab up, but the last 8 or 9 days have not been pleasant at all! I'd encourage anyone who has the vaccine available to them, to get the shot, because this virus attacks the nerves and I can't begin to describe the pain and discomfort.
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Mike Sibley
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Re: "First Steps" Exercises from DWM Videos
Ahhh... but I can.
That's very generous of you. Email me the PDF, Wayne. I'll park it and supply a link you can use in posts. If it's OK with you, I'd like to post it to the Resources forum too (or you can).
Take care... and I hope you're beginning to feel better.
Re: "First Steps" Exercises from DWM Videos
Mike
I am continuing to try to learn these tapered strokes but my damaged and "repaired" wrist is not co-operating much, but continue I shall and yes your demo did help.
Meanwhile I have been thinking about why ateliers do not teach the tapered stroke. After all Drawspace, you, Tank and "Pencil Perceptions" all stress it's importance. So why don't ateliers teach the stroke? My conclusion is that it's not taught because it's not necessary and I'll provide an example below. All 4 of the quoted sites give as an example the "dreaded banding" example. This is the one from DrawSpace ( provided simply because it's close at hand ) and the corresponding tapered example. Now personally, I find the supplied tapered example unacceptable as an example of even shading. Yes it exhibits no "banding" but there are still ( as Dorian Iten would say ) dark and light islands which need attention. There is not a single person alive today who could lay down a perfectly smooth layer of graphite without those islands and given that at some point you have to change your focus and begin to even out that shading.
So here is my starting example shaded in the common way and exhibiting the dreaded bands! We attack the white islands first to fill them in - usually with circular strokes. Filling in the white islands first will make the image average a little darker and some of what appear as dark islands now will disappear as our eye/brain takes in the new average image. Notice that most of the dreaded bands have disappeared or been absorbed into the average image - and we have NOT erased anything. Second step is to remove the remaining dark islands so we put down our pencil, pick up the kneaded eraser ( or BluTack ) and gently tap out the dark islands AND what remains of the bands. Now I personally would still work this last example a little more, there are some light islands to darken slightly and a few dark islands will appear, and I did not want to spend a lot of time on an example ( pardon my sloppiness ), but you get my point. I spent exactly 5 minutes with each step, including the scanning.
On my drawing table I have a battery powered kitchen timer set to 25 minutes, so every 25 minutes I am forced to take a 5 minute break and get up and stretch a little ( for anyone interested this is known as the POMODORO working technique - look it up on the web ) and the increased distance from the piece changes my focus to take in the whole image ( my version of "What do you see?" ) and frankly it helps to improve the picture and the composition. So I don't mind having my focus disturbed every 25 minutes or whenever I finish a section and need to re-assess it. Plus the movement every 25 minutes is good for the circulation and your overall health. Interestingly, atelier Bargue drawing ( non sight-size) encourages breaks every 15 minutes, sight-size about every minute as you walk back and forth, atelier painting encourages breaks at 20 minute intervals, and life drawing sessions typically have model breaks on 20 to 30 minute intervals dependent upon the pose.
Now the coloured pencil artist better learn the tapered stroke because coloured pencil does not erase as nicely as graphite and layering can only cover up so much, but as far as I can see the graphite artist doesn't need it. But, I suspect that the "need" for the tapered stroke is very tightly connected to the process that a particular artist uses to draw. For example, if you draw in distinct chunks of time or material and are Ok with changes of focus, then the tapered stroke is not necessary. If however, you like to get "in the flow" and stay there, then the tapered stroke becomes a necessary tool to maintain the focus (flow) and the requirement to change focus to smooth out values would be a major nuisance. Just my thoughts ...
I am continuing to try to learn these tapered strokes but my damaged and "repaired" wrist is not co-operating much, but continue I shall and yes your demo did help.
Meanwhile I have been thinking about why ateliers do not teach the tapered stroke. After all Drawspace, you, Tank and "Pencil Perceptions" all stress it's importance. So why don't ateliers teach the stroke? My conclusion is that it's not taught because it's not necessary and I'll provide an example below. All 4 of the quoted sites give as an example the "dreaded banding" example. This is the one from DrawSpace ( provided simply because it's close at hand ) and the corresponding tapered example. Now personally, I find the supplied tapered example unacceptable as an example of even shading. Yes it exhibits no "banding" but there are still ( as Dorian Iten would say ) dark and light islands which need attention. There is not a single person alive today who could lay down a perfectly smooth layer of graphite without those islands and given that at some point you have to change your focus and begin to even out that shading.
So here is my starting example shaded in the common way and exhibiting the dreaded bands! We attack the white islands first to fill them in - usually with circular strokes. Filling in the white islands first will make the image average a little darker and some of what appear as dark islands now will disappear as our eye/brain takes in the new average image. Notice that most of the dreaded bands have disappeared or been absorbed into the average image - and we have NOT erased anything. Second step is to remove the remaining dark islands so we put down our pencil, pick up the kneaded eraser ( or BluTack ) and gently tap out the dark islands AND what remains of the bands. Now I personally would still work this last example a little more, there are some light islands to darken slightly and a few dark islands will appear, and I did not want to spend a lot of time on an example ( pardon my sloppiness ), but you get my point. I spent exactly 5 minutes with each step, including the scanning.
On my drawing table I have a battery powered kitchen timer set to 25 minutes, so every 25 minutes I am forced to take a 5 minute break and get up and stretch a little ( for anyone interested this is known as the POMODORO working technique - look it up on the web ) and the increased distance from the piece changes my focus to take in the whole image ( my version of "What do you see?" ) and frankly it helps to improve the picture and the composition. So I don't mind having my focus disturbed every 25 minutes or whenever I finish a section and need to re-assess it. Plus the movement every 25 minutes is good for the circulation and your overall health. Interestingly, atelier Bargue drawing ( non sight-size) encourages breaks every 15 minutes, sight-size about every minute as you walk back and forth, atelier painting encourages breaks at 20 minute intervals, and life drawing sessions typically have model breaks on 20 to 30 minute intervals dependent upon the pose.
Now the coloured pencil artist better learn the tapered stroke because coloured pencil does not erase as nicely as graphite and layering can only cover up so much, but as far as I can see the graphite artist doesn't need it. But, I suspect that the "need" for the tapered stroke is very tightly connected to the process that a particular artist uses to draw. For example, if you draw in distinct chunks of time or material and are Ok with changes of focus, then the tapered stroke is not necessary. If however, you like to get "in the flow" and stay there, then the tapered stroke becomes a necessary tool to maintain the focus (flow) and the requirement to change focus to smooth out values would be a major nuisance. Just my thoughts ...
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