Materials and examples of marks17GRAPHITE
Graphite is the same medium that pencils
are made of. The difference being that pure
graphite is not encased in wood. They are in
fact solid lengths of graphite that come in
different thicknesses and grades of hard and
soft. As you might gather from the illustra -
tion this type of material is not meant for
detailed accurate drawings. Instead it is
more suited for robust drawings of an
expressive nature, and it works well together
with a plastic eraser.
The type of drawings we would produce
with this type of medium would be quick,
heavy, dramatic drawings using strong, dark
lines, large areas of dark tones, or interesting
textural marks. Mood is very easily effected
with this medium, and it is definitely not
suited for drawings of a technical nature. It is
also more appropriate for larger drawings
rather than smaller ones for obvious reasons.
It is a medium that is very versatile, and
before you start to draw with it in earnest
you should experiment with the potential
that the medium has to offer. Because it has
no outer casing you can make so much more
use of the side. You don’t have this facility
with the pencil, and you will be surprised at
what you can achieve with this potential in
terms of mark making. I personally always
associate a very liberated and dynamic type
of drawing with this material, and if you
approach your drawing in this fashion with
the graphite you will get the best results.
DRAWING WITH SOFT PENCILS
AND GRAPHITE
Unlike the hard pencil, the soft pencil and
graphite are designed to make a much
heavier mark and to create a tonal range -
from a very dense black through to white.
The soft pencil and graphite enable you to
do this quickly and efficiently. The pencil will
also allow you to describe shape and form,
but you must keep the lead sharpened.
The types of drawings associated with
these materials are more open and
expressive by nature. They relate to our
responses, our observations and ideas, and
might be the sort of drawings we jot down in
a sketch-book as a record of our first
thoughts about a subject. They might be a
part of our visual research and notation.
They record a change of tone, either through
observation or imagination, or imply a
textural surface. They can be drawings which
give an explanation or give expression in
their own right (that is, works of art in
themselves and not just supports for further
work).
A useful material that can enhance the
use of the soft pencil is the eraser, and the
two work very well together to create
expressive effects. Whereas when used with
the hard pencil the eraser is associated solely
with the elimination of mistakes, as a
complementary tool to soft pencils and
charcoal its contribution is entirely positive.Different effects can be produced with soft
pencils and graphite if you vary the amount
of pressure you use. Pressure enables you to
activate the surface of the picture plane,
either by using tone or weight of mark. Look
at these examples of creating tonal gradation
and then experiment yourself. As well as
varying the pressure, try to apply the
material in as many different ways as you can
find, using different movements and
different areas of the material.