ArtbySpitzer In reply to AnnCharlotteR [2013-07-10 01:02:58 +0000 UTC]

Ok, first let me say that I absolutely love your eagle! That said, I studied it in an effort to see why you didn't get darker darks using an 8B charcoal pencil. I rechecked mine and my darkest is a 6B, so that leaves one of two things, technique or drawing surface. I have experimented with various surfaces over the years and found a smoother surface seemed to accept heavier application of charcoal. I prefer drawing board over paper usually, and have used both cold-pressed and hard-pressed board. It is more expensive than paper but in my experience it gives much tighter results meaning lines and edges appear sharper. That is also why my art is usually smaller because I might buy a 20x30 inch board and cut it down into four pieces due to the cost of the board. You might try experimenting with some Strathmore cold or hard-pressed board. Now for technique...and here I don't mean your artistic talents which easily match or best my own. I noticed especially in the dark areas behind the eagle that sort of textured, almost sketchy (for lack of a better term) look to those areas which I expect you worked very hard on trying to achieve a smooth texture-free tone. Here's where a bit of technique comes in. Use of a blending stump or tortillon (I think that is the proper term) will spread the charcoal more evenly and sort of rubs it into the tooth of the board. They are usually very cheap, the ones I have come from Taiwan and China. Basically just paper rolled very tightly into a pencil shape with one or both ends tapered. I have some that I've had for 20 years, using them then taking an xacto knife and trimming them to a good taper again. I really think this, more than your choice of surface, may solve your darks problem. Let me know if this helps.

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AnnCharlotteR In reply to ArtbySpitzer [2013-07-11 07:06:17 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for your kind words!!
I use 180g paper and the grain is extra white... I think that I need to take more time when I render in the black areas. Maybe I'm to inpatient to get there hehe.
I do use a blending stump, cotton buds and tissue paper but maybe I need to blend it more to make it more smooth.
Right now I'm working on a head shot of a falcon. I just started using a mechanical pencil and it's great. I should have gotten it a long time ago
And I also got a electric eraser, but I have not tried that yet so that should be interesting.
Thanks again for helping me I really appreciate it!!!
I'll send you a link when the falcon is done so you can give me more pointers

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