Quilt Barn Pencil Drawing

Hello and welcome to the start of the second week of my blog post series on drawing my Grandma and Grandpa Dillard. Last week I left off with the outline of the drawing being completed. This this week I have been concentrating on my Grandma. My first objective was to set the rang of values that I will be using and then build from there. This is a tip I have received watching several videos on drawings done by JB Hillberry. Anyway, for my Grandma, the darkest areas are the inside of her ear and the shadows from her glasses. The lightest areas are the highlights on her nose. At this time, I will be using a 6B pencil for the darkest values and the white of the paper for the lightest value.

I began with a B pencil laying in the dark areas very softly. Then I transitioned to a 3B pencil, followed by a 6B pencil. In building the layers this way using light pressure, I can avoid some of the shine that is created when using graphite as a drawing media. The harder pencil leads, especially when sharp will get into the texture of the paper and cover the entire surface. Then going back over with softer pencil leads, I can build up the dark values with out using a lot of pencil pressure. If I tried to create the darker values with only a soft pencil lead, I would have to press harder to get the pencil to fill in the crevasse of the paper’s texture. This is where the shine can become a problem, the more pressure used with a pencil the shinier the surface will be.

After I established my value range and a few basic shapes on my Grandma’s portrait, I moved to building the shapes of her hair. This was a challenge for me because of the low detail of the reference photo I am using. My Grandma, in her later years almost always had her hair in a perm. She was also a redhead, but I remember her mostly with white hair. Combining the two, makes it challenging to draw. To create the basic shapes of the curls, I used a makeup sponge with a little graphite powder. Then going in the basic direction that the hair lays, I added the shadows of the hair.

Getting the value range and all the basic shapes completed, I started working on the skin tones. My goal is to create smooth skin tones with soft gradient changes between values. In portraits, there are no hard lines on the face. Even wrinkles, have gradient changes in values from dark to light. To start, I started with the left side with a H lead pencil and softly started building the layers to match the values, either highlight, shadow or reflected light. The challenge here, is that I believe the photo was taken with a double light source that was in front. This type of lighting eliminated a lot of the shadows that would normally define the shape of the face. As a result, I am having to stray away from the photo reference a little to create the portrait.

Anyway, to get the skin tone correct, I use 2H, H, F, B, 2B, 3B & 6B pencil leads applied with gentle pressure. Starting with the harder leads, I get the base layers created. Then add darker values where needed using the softer pencil leads. In between using different pencils, I use blending stumps and makeup sponges and soften any hard edges. If any area received a darker value than needed, I would gently lift the excess graphite using a kneadable eraser. Most areas of the portrait, I will go over 5 or 6 times to get the values correct and eliminate any hard edges.

Once I achieved the basic shapes and values for my Grandma’s skin tones, I went back and started defining her hair. Using a 2H, H, & F pencil in combination with a stick eraser and blending stump I continued to define her hair. First, I would lay down some graphite with one of the pencils, then soften the area with a blending stump and finally pull-out highlights with the eraser. This takes several layers, going back and forth between the pencils, blenders, and erasers, defining each area.

This is where I am leaving off for this week. Next week I will start in on my Grandpa using the same set of steps. When I both of them complete, I will get the clothing added and then go back over the entire drawing to ensure the values are all correct and to make any necessary changes.

I hope everyone has a good week. Please leave any comments of feedback below.