I gave that sketch to Adam's Mom, she really liked it. She said she'd like a nice portait of him and would I do one for her. Ok, no pressure there then, hehe - I TOTALLY fancied the challenge so got sketching some more; this pencil drawing was done from a photograph and gave me the confidence I needed to take on a full portrait.
And here is the portrat so far, it's unfinished but not far off now. This is a coloured pencil drawing using a combination of Derwent Artist's pencils, Watercolour pencils and Drawing (soft) pencils on Daler Rowney Ingres 12"x9" Pastel (160g/m 98lb) card in dark brown.
I've paid for diving in with little research and being so ill-prepared! With this being my first attempt at such a drawing I didn't realise that the heavy grain in the paper makes it difficult to make really dark areas bold - the grain shows through. So, for instance on the very dark area on the dog's left cheek, no matter how many times I'd go over it with a dark pencil, the brown grain of the paper shows through. I've since discovered that the reverse-side of the paper is smooth (doh!) but I think for my next one I might lay down a watercolour wash before I start.0...I bought a few to try out!
Now, I have to point out here - eBay is my best friend lately! Prices are good, especially if you live in the US as the prices seem to be WAY below those in the UK. First up, a set of Derwent's tinted charcoal. These pencils got me curious, and as I was struggling to show the varying tones in Sox's black and white coat, I thought they'd be worth a try out.
Second, and this was an absolute bargain from eBay for a whopping £1.46! This is a brand new and unused (was still packaged) Derwent Sketching Folio which is a zip-up, 2-compartment case containing all these:
- 12 Graphitint Pencils (another Derwent product that got me curious, more about those in a moment)
- 3 Watersoluble Sketching Pencils (no idea what to do with those yet)
- 2 Charcoal Pencils (light/dark - should work well with my new tinted charcoal set!)
- 1 Derwent Hardback A6 Sketchbook
- 1 Waterbrush (these alone cost near £5 in HobbyCraft!)
- 1 Palette
- 1 Plastic Pencil sharpener (won't be using this as I have my trusty Faber Castel one now :o)
- 1 Plastic Eraser (will apprach this with caution, the firmer erasers can ruin a drawing rather than improve it!)
So, quite a good buy I reckon. Now, here's the case, I don't think it's real leather but it looks pretty nice, it's a good size for travel and is padded and stiff so should protect the contents well. It also has the logo on, which although a minor thing, will be invaluable for me when I come to look for this later on, as we have so many CD holders that look similar (Adam is in I.T.), it'd be easy to lose in our house!
This is the first section, which contains the Graphitint Pencils and the A6 pad - the pad has a pocket to tuck into, so it's not loose and it won't fall out when unzipping the case. Also in this section is one of the Sketching Pencils, labelled "light wash".
Graphitint pencils are bizarre, they are in subtle, dark shades but when you add water they become much more vibrant. I'm looking forward to having a play with these; I was drawn to their subtle shades but feel the need to add water and see what happens!
All very neat and tidy! I especially like this little feature (what can I say, it's the small things that intrigue me!); at the ends of the zips, there are two press-studs to keep the zip pulls from flapping about, how neat!!
It's only by accident that most of the materials I've bought recently are made by Derwent. I try to balance value with quality, and unless I decide to go professional with my hobby (oh, to dream...), then I will be sticking with this level of product. I always keep my eye on the Faber Castell and Caran D'Ache pencils etc, but they, for now, are beyond my budget. All things considered though, I have to say how impressed I am with the range that Derwent offers. I now have a sample of each of these types, and will report back when I've done some more playing!!
- standard (graphic) drawing pencils
- Fine Art coloured pencils
- Watercolour pencils
- Soft Drawing pencils (in roll-wrap - very handy!)
- Tinted charcoal
- Standard Charcoal
- Water Soluble Pencils
- Graphitint
I have my eye on a set of their Inktense pencils too but I think I will stop then - they have plenty more variations on the simple coloured pencil should I get bored too!
(apologies for the random typefaces in this posting, I haven't quite got the hang of this blogger yet [still], and for being so nerdy about pencil crayons!)
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