Yesterday's drawing and "what pencils?"

The main problem I'm finding with drawing each day is not the actual drawing, it's having enough energy when I've done it to take photos and post them to the blog! So yesterday's drawing is appearing a day late and my resolve is set to try to draw earlier in the day so I'm not taking photos in the dark and being lured by the comfort of half an hour on the sofa in front of the TV instead of posting.

Enough whining, here's the drawing:

I decided I hated the wimpy way I'd drawn the word 'flying' the day before so I took a chunky graphite stick, worked side on and covered that section of the page. Then I've redrawn the word in what I reckon is a more successful way.

The monoprint has a lovely quality, partly because of the paper surface and it's possible to achieve something very similar with the side of the graphite stick. I've drawn into it with an eraser and then a pencil.

Thank you if you've left comments either here or on Facebook. I do read them all and will try to answer them gradually as we go. If I miss your question please feel free to nag me, my memory is hopeless!

I've been asked what pencils am I using. Here's a look at my drawing toolkit:

I'll start by saying I'm in no way affiliated to Faber Castell, I just love their pencils! Their drawing pencils are very nice to use and I favour soft grades like 3B and 5B, but since I tried their propelling pencils I've been converted. You can see them near the top of this photo. They're available with two thicknesses and grades of lead and you need a special sharpener (on the right) to sharpen the leads. Why do I love them so much? Well, you can sharpen them easily to a super sharp point. I'd always recommend keeping pencils sharp when drawing, you'll get more precise controlled lines which won't look clumsy. So I sharpen mine all the time and if you work with normal pencils that means that you're down to stubby shorties really quick. With a propelling pencil that's not an issue. When you're not using the pencil you can retract the lead into the handle and pop it in your bag for drawing on the go.

You should be able to find all this stuff in a good local art shop or online.

Thanks for dropping by today. I'll be back later with today's drawing.
Laura
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