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wildlife in graphite (1 Viewer)

I'm still following the progress of your drawings on the blog Clive, terrific work.

One question for you; If you don't fix the graphite how the heck do you keep any drawing clean?!

Mike
 
hi mike,its a question i get asked a lot.when i'm drawing i always keep a clean sheet of cheap printer paper under my drawing hand so i'm not touching the paper surface and i change it frequently as it picks up graphite so that it doesnt transfer onto the white of the paper.
 
Great stuff Clive - another q...how do you get the effect of the pale flank feathers overlaying the wing as on the Saker piece? Do you just draw in between it or is there such a thing as a 'drawing rubber' ?? Glad Mike asked the above question as I'd been wondering that myself!!
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hi ads,the feather overlay is acheived by scratching some of the individual vanes into the paper before adding any graphite.so in other words at the outset you have to plan exactly where you want the paler feathers to stand out before adding any tone to the piece.i scratch in with an old knitting needle,this leaves a groove that the pencil cannot easily drop into leaving a clean white line when overlayed with graphite.i use the same technique for whiskers etc with animal art.some artists do use a battery powered rubber to erase lines into a drawing and occasionally i use one when adding wafty hairs on the edge of an animal image when it has a toned background but i dont like the effect it has on the paper and you cant draw over an area where its been used effectively.
 
Cheers Clive - fascinating insight. Used to do loads of pencil work at school/college..maybe it's time to delve back in. Like the indent tip (makes sense now when reading it on your blog!). What paper do you use out of interest?
Battery-powered rubber brings unwanted images into my head - must be spending too much time online with User....!! ;)
 
umm yes perhaps nuff said on that one! as for the paper i use arches hot pressed watercolour paper which i stretch in the same fashion as a watercolourist would.
 
nick thankyou,was trying for something a little designery(for want of a better description)
colleen,sorry been awol working on african stuff.yes i do soak my paper first,i normally pop the cut sheet into the bath for about 5 minutes or so and this gives me just the right amount of tooth once dry that i like.
 
hope you'll forgive me the indulgence in posting a non birdy image but ive been sidelined for a while on other stuff and will be for a little while yet.
 

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it seems like forever since i last posted here.been busy preparing works for the summer show circuit.ive finally managed to find somewhere to show my bird art to a hopefully appreciative audience.i'm going to be exhibiting works at Titchfield Haven from august thru til october this year and i'm really looking forward to getting some valuable feedback.ive managed to get a couple of small sketches done this month in preparation and i'm going to try and alternate between my african animals and the bird art.
more good news is that one of my bird drawings 'The Chase-moorhen and avocet' has made it to the finals of the dswf wildlife artist of the year competition and will be on show at the mall galleries from 24th til 29th may.
 

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thankyou very much mark and colleen,i'm really excited about the prospect of having my drawing hung in the mall,tried so many times before with no success thru swla so good to get in via a different route!.
 
cheers tim although i dont think i'll get any prizes for the avocet,i dont htink it'll be radical enough.i actually stand a better chance with my second entry of a tiger as its fairly topical this year but realistically i'm just chuffed to have got two in there!
 
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