Pencil technique

[sunsetorchid]

I'm not sure if Pencil technique is the right thing to call it, I'm basically looking for some advice on shading things with a pencil, I usually just use a 2B and a 4B pencil and use the side of the pencil, gradually building up tone. But I find everything always has a sort of washed out look.

[dpaint]

two books can help you
The Pencil Book by Ted kautzky
and
Rendering in Pencil by Arthur Guptill

[JeffX99]

OK - I'll say it...press harder? Use a 6B, 8B...I mean...just make it darker? Don't really know how else to answer the question...what do YOU think would work best?

[sunsetorchid]

OK - I'll say it...press harder? Use a 6B, 8B...I mean...just make it darker? Don't really know how else to answer the question...what do YOU think would work best?

But that's scary, I might ruin my perfect picture!

I'm only joking of course, but thanks you always seem to reply to everything I ask, and thanks to dpaint too I will totally get those books when i next have some money.

[themegagod]

You might like some of Darrel Tank's techniques. His website is: fivepencilmethod(dot)com . I'm personally a fan, and his free tutorials taught me a good deal more about how to create value in my work. The only issue I can find with his style, is since it deals with tapered strokes (basically specific styles of lines) placed next to each other again and again, then layered on top of each other (again and again and again), it can take a very long time. It's sort of like using a hatching technique, yet with every line touching the last, and creating value by adding layers of lines.
Are you getting washed out because of sfumato (I may have spelled that wrong; basically Italian for smoky- it refers to purposeful smudging) or is it more a matter of you aren't getting the full tonal ranges out of your pencils?

[sunsetorchid]

You might like some of Darrel Tank's techniques. His website is: fivepencilmethod(dot)com . I'm personally a fan, and his free tutorials taught me a good deal more about how to create value in my work. The only issue I can find with his style, is since it deals with tapered strokes (basically specific styles of lines) placed next to each other again and again, then layered on top of each other (again and again and again), it can take a very long time. It's sort of like using a hatching technique, yet with every line touching the last, and creating value by adding layers of lines.
Are you getting washed out because of sfumato (I may have spelled that wrong; basically Italian for smoky- it refers to purposeful smudging) or is it more a matter of you aren't getting the full tonal ranges out of your pencils?

Hey, thanks i'll take a look at that website. I honestly think its probably a mixture of both smudging and not getting the full tonal ranges out of my pencils, I'm not very confident with value at all for a long time I just sort of avoided ever using it and just drew with lines, which was a bad idea... so I tend to just be a bit of a coward I guess with my value.

[Black Spot]

Be bold. What's the worst that can happen? You'll ruin a few mediocre drawings and learn.