For this week’s blog I wanted to do a quick drawing demonstration. My subject is a reference photo of the shed in my backyard. My goal is not to create an exact copy of the photo but to use the reference to get the basic shape of the tree and the shed. For the drawing I will be using H, 2B and 3B pencils and a kneadable eraser. Pencil outline I start by creating a simple outline of the shed and the tree using the H  pencil drawing very light. This way if I need to erase something, I can without damaging the surface of the paper. Once I am happy with the basic outline, still using the H pencil, I move on to the tree. I start with the tree because it is on the left side of the drawing and I am right-handed. This is important so I am not constantly dragging my hand across and smearing areas that I have already finished.   Close up of Tree For the tree, I simplify the foliage by using what I like to call a scribbling technique to build the values. What this means is I am ...

 This week I am going to cover the required supplies for pencil drawing. So here it goes.        Pencil  Paper Well that's the supply list, I hope you found it informational and have a good week.   😊   Pencil Drawing of Rocks on sticky note pad Ok, I know many artists use far more than just a pencil and paper for their drawing supplies, myself included. However, the point is, all you really need is pencil and paper. Take this drawing of the rocks for example. It was done while I was sitting at my desk at work taking a 5-minute break from the action. All I used was a 3M Sticky note pad and Bic .5 mm mechanical pencil that I had at my desk. It does not take much to time or tools to practice drawing. That is why drawing is so popular. There is not a long equipment list or a lot of setup or cleanup time. All you need is a scrap of paper and a pencil. Now when you really get into drawing, like any other art form, there is a long list of suppli...

  For my second post on RAD Pencil Art Blog, I want to get into why I am writing this blog. As with many things in life, the reason we do things are multi factored. My reasons for the blog are based on a quote from a 1980’s motivational speaker Zig Ziggler. His quote was “you can get anything in life you want if you help enough other people get what they want” This quote has stuck with me my entire adult life, and I believe it is a rule to live by. So how does this quote apply to a blog on pencil drawing and art? Well, to answer that let me first tell you what I want. I wish to become a better artist and to do that I need to practice. Secondly, I would also like to improve my writing skills and to do that I need to practice. To achieve what I want it looks like I just need to practice. Sounds simple, right? Problem is that life keeps getting in the way and my drawing practice time and writing practice seem to get pushed aside for other priorities. That is where the above quote fr...

Hello and welcome to my blog RAD Pencil Art. As this is the first posting on this blog, let me tell you a little about myself. I am Robert Dillard; a manager of a computer help desk working for the US federal government. I'm married to my wonderful and supportive wife Tina and have two grown sons. Now from the above you might have guessed that I am not a professional artist. However, I do have a love of drawing and art as a whole. So why is an IT professional writing a blog about drawing? Well, the simple answer is “Everyone needs a hobby” and mine happens to be drawing. As many of us when we are young, we love to draw and I was no different. I would also say that I did not really display any great artistic ability. Yes. I could draw and for the most part, people could even identify some of the items I drew. It was not until I was in middle school that I started to take a more serious interest in drawing. I had a research project for school and as a part of it I drew a tyrannosauru...