Artists & Illustrators - April 2016_

YOUR QUESTIONS

rough idea of how the drawing will look, I’ll start putting on

the detail, starting with the eye. For me, that is the most

important part of the animal; once you have that nailed,

the rest of the drawing seems to fall into place.

Which pencils brands would you recommend?

I’ve been using Derwent exclusively since the early 1980s.

This may sound strange, but I love the colour that I can

produce with Derwent’s Graphic pencils – they are neither

too brown nor too blue. I use mainly the harder pencils in

that range, from 2B right up to the really hard 9H. That way,

less accidental smudging occurs and my drawings can

have a real sharpness to them.

More recently, I also started using Derwent’s new Onyx

range. They replicate very soft pencils, between 8B and

12B, but can be sharpened to a point without crumbling.

I started using them towards the end of my drawings and

they really finish them off.

Do you use any other tools when finishing your images?

I use plastic erasers to correct any mistakes and also for

highlighting at various stages. I sometimes use Blu-Tack to

lift graphite off the paper if I’ve overworked a certain area

or to clean the paper towards the end of the drawing,

before applying fixative.

I also use a scalpel to sharpen my pencils to a fine point

and cut the paper to size. I also enjoy using my fingers a lot

to smudge the graphite. I remember at secondary school

I had a really good art teacher who was very encouraging,

but she always would tell me not to smudge with my fingers

to create an effect. She said it was cheating but I now do it

all the time, so my advice is do what works for you. Rules

are there to be broken sometimes.

Which paper brand best suits a more detailed drawing?

I have been using Fabriano 5 for most of my drawings for

many years now. If I need a particularly large sheet, I use

Fabriano Artistico instead because you can buy it in a

massive roll. Both are pretty robust and not too cream,

unlike many other watercolour papers. Prior to this I used

regular cartridge paper, but I always found this would

buckle under the sheer pressure I put it under.

What’s the best way to gather reference material?

Personally I like to go out in the field to experience the

animals as they truly behave. I don’t like zoos. I became

self-employed in 1989 and stopped visiting zoos regularly

the following year. I have been to just three since then to

see species of wildlife that would be nearly impossible to

see in the wild, like snow leopards or Amur tigers.

My advice is to make sure you research the species you

are drawing first before you put pencil to paper. Try to inject

a sense of ‘life’ into the creatures’ eyes.

What’s your favourite animal to draw?

Elephants are wonderful to watch and great to draw too.

There are so many different textures within one amazing

animal: the rough wrinkled hide, the sculptured creamy

toenails, the toilet brush of a tail and their gentle amber

eyes. But I like to vary my subjects. As long as I’m inspired

by the poses, I’ll draw any species.

Gary’s next exhibition, Heart & Soul, runs from 19-23 April at

the Mall Galleries, London. http://www.garyhodges-wildlife-art.com

Do you apply fixative to your drawings?

Yes, I use a top-quality fixative towards the end,

just before I add the really soft pencil grades.

I’ll then put on another layer of fixative, draw a

bit more and repeat, until I’ve achieved the

right depth of tones. This also means that

when I give the drawing to my framers, there’s

no risk of smudging on their part.

BELOW Gary

Hodges, Snow

Leopard (detail),

graphite on paper,

95x25cm

72 Artists & Illustrators

70 Your Questions.indd 72 18/02/2016 09:57