DrawWithMike.net

Well, I finally finished my shed and lily. First time using a clutch pencil (Faber TK 4600 and leads) which I claimed from my husband’s old work stash.

I drew on Strathmore series 300 Bristol smooth paper pad 9” x 12”. I used 2H, HB & 3B leads. First time I have drawn dark to light using graphite. I drew the shed first but I kept getting tiny dark spots from the lead which didn’t want to go away.

I then drew the lily. I started on the big 10 o’clock petal (which shows many errors) and then the one underneath it. I then went clockwise to finish.

I blended using my finger and toilet paper, added more graphite, then used an old eyebrow brush and tortillon to blend. Then more graphite where needed.

I look forward to your critique and welcome suggestions and any other ideas members can put forward.

Thank you for your time and your very informative videos.

Regards,
Val

Rather than critique a photo lacking contrast, I began by trying to correct the white balance. As usual, I used Affinity Photo's auto functions, but the result looked so ridiculous that I reverted to manual adjustments. So, I'm hoping this looks more like your original, and it's this image I'm referring to... And now I'll split it into two and critique each individually.
SHED This is looking good. Your darks are strong and solid, and you've chosen a good range of tones.

Your shading of the roof and left-hand wall is smooth, with a hint of texture, but... I really feel this is over-blended throughout. The heavy blending is almost certainly the cause of the graphite clumping into those dark spots. And where some line within the shading would have been acceptable, the spots don't naturally belong.

As a rule, if lines remain visible (whether blended or not) they're not a problem if they suggest a suitable surface texture, but they become a problem if the texture suggested doesn't match what is expected of that surface - or those lines don't follow the perspective of the object. It creates confusion that damages the sense of reality you are trying to achieve.

Your blending has also caused the corner between the two walls to be a bit soft, but that could have been fixed by additional vertical shading just to sharpen it. More importantly, the junction of the dark cast shadow and the edge of the roof is also soft. A hard, sharp edge is what the eye expects to see, and it's a visual clue to the fact that the two planes are not connected. You could have used a hard black line to define that edge and then extended that line down to form the shadow.

Whenever you create soft edges between two planes, your brain reads it as those planes being adjacent, or touching, and merging into each other. Basically:
SOFT edges MERGE planes into each other
HARD edges SEPARATE planes.

The right-hand wall is looking good, and its eave's cast shadow is nicely diluted along its lower edge, which you would expect on a lighter wall that reflects light. However, where the wall meets the underside of the roof, that abrupt change in direction is again far too soft. Those two surfaces are not connected in any way, so a hard edge is expected.

Finally, as a shed it has its problems, but as a shading exercise you can pat yourself on the back.

LILY This is excellent, Val. Near perfect and beautifully crafted. And that's mainly because I feel you had a very good mental picture of the three-dimensional forms as you shaded it. That means it was living in your mind as a real Lily, and drawing with understanding, instead of copying, is ideal.

For example, I recall altering the 9 o'clock petal because it simplified the exercise, but you've understood the more complex petal in the reference and described it very well.

On the technical front: I'm pleased to see you managed to remove any need to use outline. Line is a purely man-made device and completely unnatural, so always look for ways that cast shadows or reflected light can help you to display edges and junctions between two parts. You can use reflected light almost anywhere you need it, because the viewer's brain just assumes there's a reflective surface outside the picture that is bouncing light back in.

I think your shading of the petals is rather heavy - over-dark - but the highlights describe the forms very well. Your shading is flawless and slides smoothly and naturally into and out of every highlight. However, having read your description of the stages, I'm convinced you're blending far too heavily. Ideally, it should just smooth irregularities and soften, but not remove, detail.

The dark tones inside the flower give a good sense of depth, although the effect is diminished by the petals being unnaturally dark. Yes, I know this is just an exercise... but these things matter...

Similarly, the dark anthers (on top of the stamens) do stand away from the petal behind them, but would have really sprung forward if they had contrasted more with the petal behind. Also, you could have increased the contrast even more by creating really sharp edges within them (possibly you did, but they're not evident in the photo). Contrasting sharp against soft works well in most situations, because we tend to read sharp as being more in the foreground.

The more I look at this, the more I find it to be three-dimensionally understandable... lovely!

Thank you so much Mike.

Your manipulation of the lightness to my photo is spot on. I’ve learnt a bit more about photo size compression and hopefully will not post another photo that shows darker and with coloured bits in it.

I understand what you are saying about my heavy hand. Hopefully as I grow more accustomed to using the clutch pencils I will lighten up a bit.

I will remember in future about where 2 edges meet needing a straight darker line.

Your kind words about the Lily certainly gives me a lift and instils confidence, considering I was ready to bin it after doing the first petal. I just didn’t like it. Left it for 2 days, then decided to come back to it and give it another go. I hope I improved as I went along.

Thanks again for your well received critique. I will certainly try to remember your advice when I attempt the next lesson.

Best wishes,
Val

Congratulations Val! I’m sincere when I say that I wouldn’t have thought that these drawings were made by a beginner. Your shading is so well executed and blended! Having a lighter hand comes with practice. We all learn with every new drawing.

Thank you for your kind words, Laurene.
I am very much a beginner with graphite. My previous experience with pencils was when I was approx 8-10 years old. I continuously drew horse heads in an exercise book. I even gave them names. I have not really drawn much since and I am now 68.
However, I got interested in parchment craft (pergamano)a few years ago. This involved using various size embossing tools on parchment paper. So I guess that is where I really learnt the hatch stroke as it was the only stroke used. I’ll attach a sample (apologies if this not allowed).
Thanks again you again for your comments.
Regards,
Val

Valray wrote: Sat Feb 01, 2025 11:42 pm I am very much a beginner with graphite... However, I got interested in parchment craft a few years ago. This involved using various size embossing tools on parchment paper. So I guess that is where I really learnt the hatch stroke, as it was the only stroke used. I’ll attach a sample...

Now that explains why your Lily looks so solid and is modelled three-dimensionally. You're obviously already used to seeing a two-dimensional reference and transferring it to a two-dimensional paper surface, but SEEING it as a three-dimensional object, and portraying it that way. Seeing it as being REAL and ALIVE rather than just a collection of shapes and values.

That in itself takes you a long way towards succeeding in pencil. Now you just have to gradually build up your knowledge of the relatively few basic techniques. And you're already doing that by working through the videos.

Yesterday, I think I finished the script for the first TEXTURES video - with reference and guideline drawing downloads available. So you'll have a few more ready-made exercises to try soon.

Thank you, Mike.
I am slowly making my way through the beginning videos. I’m up to the grid technique now, so looking forward to the next set of videos. Looking forward to your textures video and more exercises.

I have a question about the divide/division videos, so will post it under one of the other forum headings.

Thanks again.
Val

Thanks for sharing that Val! I’ve never seen this type of artwork before, but as Mike said, no wonder you can visualize an object in 3-D. This is so lovely!