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| 10/31/16 Technalo water-soluble graphite |
One thing I missed out on while taking part in InkTober was the thing that challenged
many other participants: the novelty and challenge of ink itself. My impression
is that many people use InkTober as an opportunity to wean themselves from an
eraser and face the indelibility of ink. Even when I first started sketching, I
didn’t use an eraser with pencil – I just continued the drawing and let my
previous marks remain. Ink, marker, pencil – indelibility has been a non-issue
for me.
Having missed the challenge of using an unfamiliar or
uncomfortable medium, I decided to participate in a new self-challenge:
graphite. PencilVember! Just kidding – I have no intention of doing it daily all
month. But I realize I use graphite far less than most sketchers do, and there’s a
lot to be learned from the medium. So while I won’t make it a formal, every day
kind of thing, I’m going to try to focus on using graphite more often this
month and see what I learn.
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| 11/1/16 ArtGraf water-soluble graphite |
The last time I tried an experiment like this, it was with a ballpoint pen, and it didn’t stick
long enough for me to learn. I crave color too much to stick with a monochrome
medium for long. Still, I was able to sustain my black-only InkTober sketches because
I kept them small. Maybe that’s the trick. These two were both done in my usual
A5-size sketchbooks, but going forward I think I’ll try for smaller.
It will be fun to challenge yourself to do graphite. That is something, like charcoal, that I don't use much. I smear it and it ends up all over my hand. I'll stick to something neater. Nice shading on these!
ReplyDeleteIndelibility a non-issue. Love it. And thanks for bringing my attention to Pencilvember. Graphite was my first love in the world of drawing - maybe because in my third world childhood, pencil was always there. -Roy
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you'll be joining me in Pencilvember!
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