Mark Willenbrink and Mary Willenbrink - Drawing People for the Absolute Beginner A Clear & Easy Guide to Successful Figure Drawing

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VIOLIN PLAYER

Graphite pencil on drawing paper

12" 9" (30cm 23cm)

The human form is simply amazing! While working on Drawing People for the Absolute Beginner, we were continually impressed by the intricacy of the human body. As you journey through this book, we hope you are inspired not only to draw the human figure accurately, but also to appreciate the unique qualities of every person.

With simple tools and basic principles, this book will help develop your drawing skills. Fun tricks and techniques will be introduced along the way to help you draw people, even if you are an absolute beginner.

Drawing is a skill that can always be improved upon, whether you are an absolute beginner or a seasoned artist. No matter your skill level, we think you will enjoy this book.

Everyone is an artist, including you, so get ready to have fun!

MARKUS

Graphite pencil on drawing paper

12" 9" (30cm 23cm)

Your choice of the pencils and paper to use will be determined by the intended result of a drawing. Content and hardness of the core are two considerations in choosing the best pencils for a particular drawing.

Drawing pencils typically have a wood casing that surrounds the core. The core is also referred to as lead, though no actual lead is used in pencils.

Graphite, charcoal and carbon pencils may be similar in appearance but have different cores.

Graphite pencils have firm lead made for controlled line work, but they leave a shiny gray appearance.

The softness of charcoal pencils can produce true blacks, but they smear easily and make detailed line work hard to achieve.

The lead of carbon pencils is made of lampblack carbon and may include graphite or charcoal. The lead can make true black like charcoal with firmer and more solid lead.

Graphite, charcoal and carbon are also available as sticks, which can be used on their ends for narrow strokes or on their sides for broad coverage. They do not have a wooden outer casing, so the sticks can be messy to handle.

Colored pencils are available in black, white and gray as well as a variety of colors. Depending on the type, they may have a lead that is hard and waxy, making them good for detailed line work but difficult to blend or erase.

Pastel pencils differ from other colored pencils because they have a soft chalk lead that makes them easier to blend and erase.

Mechanical pencils use refillable graphite, which produces narrow line strokes. Lead holders, also referred to as clutch pencils, are a type of mechanical pencil using refillable graphite that is wide like a traditional pencil. Unlike other mechanical pencils, lead holders can produce varied line widths similar to traditional pencils because of their wide lead.

Pencils that have graphite, charcoal or carbon as their core are also available in stick form.

The narrow lead of mechanical pencils produces narrow line strokes. Lead holders, also referred to as clutch pencils, can produce wider line strokes because of their wider lead.

Drawing in grays or colors can be done with colored or pastel pencils.

The thick graphite core of these pencils is coated with lacquer, so there is no wood casing. The thick core, when used on its side, can produce extremely wide pencil strokes.

A pencil extender is a handle with a sleeve that slips over a shortened pencil, allowing you to get more use out of it. Similar devices are available for holding charcoal sticks.

Pencil leads are rated for their hardness. The harder leads are labeled H for hard, and the softer leads are labeled B for black, with F and HB leads in between. The numbers refer to the degree of their softness or hardness. The greater the number on the pencil, the more evident the softness or hardness. This means that an 8H pencil has a harder lead than a 2H pencil, and an 8B pencil has a softer lead than a 2B pencil.

The hard lead pencils can retain a sharp point during use. However, they cant make the rich darks that soft lead can make. For this reason, having a variety of pencils of different hardness is useful for creating a range of line qualities for finished drawings.