23
votes
Accepted
How can I make a sketch under a watercolour painting and have it not be seen?
Watercolor is, by its very nature, a transparent medium and so it becomes really quite difficult to manage this. However, there are a couple of things you can do to help:
Draw very lightly and then ...
- 3,423
17
votes
How can I draw right angles with just a ruler?
You can use the 3-4-5 method of creating right angles.
Begin with a construction line and mark a zero point and a 3 point. Make a mark. Notice that I'm not using units of measure. You can use ...
- 7,599
15
votes
Accepted
How can I draw single hairs on a black background with charcoal or graphite?
The flocculent beauty of the work you show is not that the artists drew a single hair (that would never achieve the effect) the beauty came from the artists layering one drawn hair "over" another and ...
- 2,966
15
votes
How do I prevent pencil colour drawings from fading away while I'm still drawing it?
Building on @Joachim's comments above, yes, the direct sunlight can affect the color and make them dull. Hence, when you are not working, you should store the paper in dark
(or use some protective ...
- 151
14
votes
Accepted
How can I draw realistic hair with pencil?
There is a natural temptation when drawing hair to think in terms of individual hairs and equate these to pencil lines. However this tends to get in the way as there is no reasonable way to draw every ...
- 1,989
11
votes
Accepted
How to erase visible pencil marks on wood that has been painted over with acrylic paint?
You cannot erase it anymore. The graphite is underneath the paint, slightly mixed up in it.
The only way to get rid of the graphite is by painting over it, I'm afraid. But instead of painting layer ...
- 11.4k
8
votes
How can I make a sketch under a watercolour painting and have it not be seen?
It would be helpful to know the thickness/density of your paper. The specifics, grades, etc. are beyond your question. However, you can look at the cover of your pad or pack, refer to your supplier if ...
- 89
8
votes
Accepted
Which kind of pencils should be used by a beginner for drawing?
I am not an expert but here is what I gathered from my experience.
Pencil have different hardness rated as follow:
Harder (very light strokes) 7H -> ... -> 2H -> HB -> 2B -> ... -> 7B Softer (dark ...
- 1,333
8
votes
How can I draw right angles with just a ruler?
Draw top and bottom of the ruler to create parallel lines.
Rotate the ruler and repeat using the original lines to create a parallelogram.
Draw the diagonals of the the parallelogram, thus creating a ...
- 89
7
votes
What can I do to ensure I only erase the smaller details without affecting the area around it?
If you want to erase a smaller area without buying additional stuff, it's easy!
Use a blade or scissors (I prefer blades) and cut out a pointed shape to erase with. If you are scared of wasting ...
- 121
7
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to combine charcoal and graphite in one image?
Yes, you can mix media. But you need to preserve some of the tooth of your paper's surface to successfully transition from working with graphite to charcoal.
The tooth of your paper determines how ...
- 2,966
7
votes
Why aren't there mechanical pastel pencils?
I don't know much about pastel pencils--so there could be something like a mechanical pastel pencil out there, and if so, hopefully someone will answer this question with information about such a ...
- 1,576
7
votes
How to stop or reduce graphite from reflecting light?
Spray fixative should make the drawing more matte as well as protecting it.
You could also try a layer of acrylic matte medium, sprayed or brushed, but that would be a little more involved and ...
- 3,729
7
votes
Which pencil is easier to erase: 2B or HB?
Generally, softer pencils are easier to erase.
Even though this may seem counterintuitive, as softer pencils produce darker lines, they contain proportionally more graphite and less binder (clay). ...
- 11.4k
6
votes
Accepted
How to draw a heat blur from an aircraft engine
The heat blur effect is caused by the hot exhaust chaotically refracting the background. That is, the noisy turbulent hot air of the jet blast bends the light coming through it randomly, leading to ...
- 3,729
5
votes
What exactly are carbon pencils?
The carbon the pencil producers refer to is to be understood as an abbreviation for 'amorphous carbon' one of the three most common allotropes of Carbon (i.e. stablilized multiatomic structures of ...
- 1,140
5
votes
When to use a fixative in a drawing with charcoal and pencil?
Workable Fixative is meant to "freeze" what work has been completed already. By spraying when the charcoal layer is finished, before beginning the pencil layer, you "fix" the charcoal layer to ...
- 4,054
5
votes
How can I draw right angles with just a ruler?
This is not possible using only a ruler. The only way I know of to do this in the physical universe as absolutely perfectly as possible is to use a compass and a straightedge. This method requires no ...
- 2,822
5
votes
What are the different pencil/pen holding techniques for drawing? Which should be followed in which case?
There is a previous discussion here: What exercises can I do to improve the line quality of my drawings?
Holding a pencil is mostly up to the artist's preference.
Discussed in the link above, if you ...
- 1,771
5
votes
How do I prevent pencil colour drawings from fading away while I'm still drawing it?
Given:
The speed of the fading (especially since you cover your art when not working on it).
There seems to be some smudging/fading in parts of the graphite (graphite is usually very light-fast).
You ...
- 151
5
votes
Two-piece (break-apart) mechanical pencils
This is the closest I found.
Penco Bullet Pencil Light
Despite being small in size (closed it measures 9.3 cm), when you uncover it and fit its lid on the back, you will gain a few centimeters (up to ...
- 1,034
4
votes
Which kind of pencils should be used by a beginner for drawing?
A must have in my toolbox is 2B, as you may tend for more "tech" way of drawing i would add an HB to that. In addition to that i'm carrying a one softer pencil 4B-5B. To summerize - my toolbox = HB, ...
- 69
4
votes
Drawing a newborn baby
If you're drawing for a hobby, some tips for beginners can be found here and here.
Firstly, you can improve your drawing by:
Drawing newborn baby anatomy - I found a cute example for you here.
...
- 96
4
votes
How to create a glitter gold effect with colored pencil
The phrase my first painting teacher used the most was "Contrast in Value-!" The best way to make anything look realistic is to pay attention to the lights and darks, or "value" of the colours. I ...
- 51
4
votes
How do I start over?
These are the ways I start over:
Walk away and leave the work out of sight for a few days.
Sketch out the scene on something that does not matter. Do that 10 or even 20
times. For example, I bought a ...
- 422
4
votes
What are the different pencil/pen holding techniques for drawing? Which should be followed in which case?
For an adult with fully-developed motor skills, the holding technique that's best for you for a specific application will largely come naturally. Some muscles are stronger than others, some joints ...
- 11.5k
4
votes
Accepted
What are the different pencil/pen holding techniques for drawing? Which should be followed in which case?
It's mostly a matter of preference, but the way you hold a pen(cil) does influence the pressure, precision, range, and rotation.
Everyone develops a preferred way of holding a pen (often when learning ...
- 11.4k
4
votes
Accepted
Why do my 0.5 mm pencil leads shatter?
It's unusual for the problem to be the pencil unless it's been damaged, like by dropping it on the tip. The most common issues are remnants of old leads being pushed out by the new lead, a jam, or ...
- 11.5k
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