Two Brushes

10/27/16 Uni Mitsubishi "brush pencil" (15-min. pose)

Yesterday at Gage life drawing, I alternately used two very different drawing tools: One was a Pentel Color Brush, which is one of my favorite brush pens for life drawing because the reservoir puts out an even flow of ink and keeps the brush tip juicy for loose drawings. It’s very similar to using paint except more convenient.

The second was a graphite pencil, but it’s amusingly called a “brush pencil.” Made by Uni Mitsubishi, its grade is 10B, and I think it’s the softest graphite pencil I’ve ever used. It’s not as soft as charcoal, of course, but it’s still soft enough that I could smudge it lightly with a finger for shading without making too much of a mess (my biggest complaint about charcoal, which I detest, is the huge mess it makes). I generally prefer liquid media when the model is doing really short poses, but the “brush pencil” is so soft that it glides over paper very quickly, almost like liquid. I’m not a huge graphite fan, but I like this pencil a lot.

My favorite sketch of the day is the one at the very bottom of the page. I’ve sketched many, many people using their smart phones, but generally they are clothed. The model was checking messages during his break, so he wasn’t posing. Technically, it’s an urban sketch. :-)  

10/27/16 Uni Mitsubishi "brush pencil" (1-min. poses)

1027/16 Pentel Color Brush (10-min. pose)

10/27/16 Pentel Color Brush (15-min. pose)

10/27/16 Pentel Color Brush (10-min. pose)

10/27/16 Kuretake brush pen (the model on his break)