Once you have hatched the primary tone masses of your portrait you are ready to blend and “remove” the lights with a kneaded eraser.
A stump is a cylindrical devise tapered at the ends and generally made of rolled paper.
Stumping then is to smear or blend your hatchings with a stump. The goal of blendingis to produce gradations and halftones and to give particular tone areas a softer appearance.
Blending can be accomplished in other ways. You can use tissue paper or even your fingers or both. When using your fingers be sure to wipe off any oily remains with a tissue.
Blending must be done in a sculpturally manner. You should figuratively cut out the form while keeping in mind both the structural anatomy and the changes of the planes. As you work name each anatomical detail. This is particularly true when you work on intricate structures such as the nose and the eyes.
In a analogous manner you can use your kneaded eraser to “take out” pencil dust to lighten particularareas. Again, go about it in a painterly manner. Use the putty eraser as if it is a brush.
Now and then you may want to utilize the concept of “finality”. Your mind has a propensity to fill in the gaps in your observations. That is, the mind has a need for “closure”. You can make judicious use of this tendency and leave certain parts of your portrait uncompleted. It adds interest to your drawing as the viewer’s mind will involuntarily finalize the portrait for you.
After you have done lots of blending and taking out graphite with your kneaded eraser it is time to further express the forms and planes by hatching with a harder pencil (e.g., a 2H pencil). But, there are a few things to look out for at this time.
Care must be taken not to leave the light side of the face too darkly or it will look like a contusion. The smile-line is also problematic. If you over-stress it you will end up with a sneer. It is best to under-emphasize it and let the viewer’s sense of closure finalize it for you.
An significant consideration must be made when drawing from a photo. A photograph should only be reference material. That means aesthetic decisions must be made. For example:
- What kind of emotional response are you after? When people view your portrait what type of initial gut reaction do you want them to have to your sketch. Good skill is certainly necessary. But it will count for nothing if it is frosty cold and dry.
- Make choices. You should not draw every small detail but only the essential ones. Use your artistic judgement to make these choices.
A hard 4H pencil can be used to make the already dark areas even darker through hatching.
Careful consideration must be given to the edges of the shapes in your drawing. For instance, as a form turns away from the light source its value progressively gets darker and takes on a soft edge.
A cast shadow has a hard edge. The form of a cast shadow is determined by the shape of the entity throwing the shadow and the shape upon which it is being thrown.
End the sketch by paying attention to the essential details. You also want to further tweak and stabilize the constructed values. Your drawing must always read as a cohesive entity even though you choose not to bring it to a complete finish.
These few simple tips will set you on the accurate path. Apply them correctly and soon your pencil portraits will show much improvement.
Do you want to learn the secrets of pencil portrait sketching? Download my brand new free pencil portrait drawing tutorial here: pencil portrait tutorial.
Remi Engels is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter and skilled drawing teacher. See his work at graphite pencil portraits by Remi.
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