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Tips on Pencil Portrait Drawing - Blending and the Putty Eraser

By: Alex De Mostafa

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Once you have blocked-in the large value masses of your portrait it is time to stump and "take out" the lights with a kneaded eraser.

A stump is a cylindrical devise tapered at the ends and usually made of rolled paper.

Stumping then is to smear or blend your hatchings with a stump. The idea of stumpingis to produce gradations and halftones and to give particular value regions a softer appearance.

Blending can be done in different ways. You can employ tissue paper or even your fingers or both. When using your fingers be sure to clean off any oily deposits with a tissue.

Blending must be done in a sculpturally manner. You should figuratively fashion out the form while invoking both the structural anatomy and the plane changes. As you draw name each anatomical facet. This is particularly true when you work on intricate structures such as the nose and the eyes.

In a comparable manner you can employ your kneaded eraser to "take out" pencil dust to lighten particularareas. Again, go about it in a sculpturally way. Make use of the kneaded eraser as if it is a brush.

Now and again you may want to employ the concept of "finality". Your mind has a propensity to fill in the holes in your observations. That is, the mind has a need for "finality". You can make judicious use of this propensity and leave particular parts of your portrait uncompleted. It adds interest to your sketch as the viewer's mind will involuntarily complete the portrait for you.

After you have done lots of stumping and removing graphite with your kneaded eraser it is time to further articulate the forms and planes by hatching with a harder pencil (e.g., a 2H pencil). But, there are a number of things to look out for at this point.

Be careful not to leave the light side of the skull too darkly or it will look like a bruise. The smile-line is also tricky. If you over-emphasize it you will end up with a sneer. It is best to under-emphasize it and let the viewer's sense of closure finish it for you.

An important consideration must be made when drawing from a photo. A photo should only be reference material. That means aesthetic decisions must be made. For example:

- What manner of emotional reaction are you after? When people view your portrait what manner of first visceral reaction do you want them to have to your sketch. Good skill is absolutely necessary. But it will count for little if it is frosty cold and dry.

- Make choices. You should not draw every tiny facet but only the important ones. Use your artistic judgement to make these choices.

A hard 4H pencil can be used to make the already dark regions even darker through hatching.

Careful consideration must be given to the edges of the forms in your sketch. For example, as a sketch turns away from the light source its value progressively gets darker and takes on a soft edge.

A cast shadow has a hard edge. The form of a cast shadow is determined by the form of the entity casting the shadow and the form upon which it is being thrown.

Terminate the sketch by paying attention to the important details. You also want to further tweak and stabilize the constructed tones. Your sketch must always read as a unified whole even if you decide not to bring it to a complete finish.

These few simple tips will set you on the correct path. Apply them accurately and soon your pencil portraits will show much improvement.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Download my brand new no cost pencil portrait draw course here: www.remipencilportraits.com/PPDT/pencil-portrait-tutorial.html target="_blank">Pencil Portrait Drawing Course. Remi Engels is a practicing pencil portrait artist and oil painter and practiced drawing instructor. See his work at Pencil Portraits by Remi: www.remipencilportraits.com Visit Guidelines for Pencil Portrait Drawing - Blending and the Kneaded Eraser.

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