Hi Nicole,
Here is a WIP of Jim's mouth. I might add more values after but this will give you a good idea on how I go about circulism. The first layer is done with 2H, .05 mechanical pencil. The circles are tinier than the pencil point, done as light as I can and they overlap each other. The circles almost blend the graphite for you. (no actual blending is ever done) It is done on the flat of the pencil, not the point. I keep a piece of paper next to me, that I scratch on to keep a flat side. With the 2H pencil I will circle over any lines that I want to keep track of from my line drawing. Next I start adding layers with a 2B mech. pencil. I find my light areas and make sure I go around them. I leave a light spot either side of any lines so I can decide after how I want to deal with it. The graphite is added as lightly as I can on each layer. I build up darks and stay away from lights until I can see where and how they blend. Gradually I blend the areas together.
This is how I go about circulism. Other people might do it differently. I learned how to apply this technique from Jeanette (Islander). Some things I learned from Jeanette are:1. you are building a texture, do not erase. 2. this is a very slow technique, every touch of the pencil is thought out. 3. if you rush it it will show.
Being a beginner at this I have had times when I needed to erase. I patted out the graphite with my kneaded eraser and started back with the 2h pencil and built up again.
I found the first layer to be the most important, when it looked smooth and uniform (no lines, no visible circles) everything else went smoother.
Paulette
[attachmentid=3008][attachmentid=3009][attachmentid=3010][attachmentid=3011]
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[attachmentid=3016][attachmentid=3017][attachmentid=3018]
Full Version: Circulism
wow Thank you so much for doing this for me am ever so greatful i hope that i will beable to do this 
big hugs and kiss!! 
i was wondering is there a Grid lesson that breada has done
and are the shapes that u have drawen on hes faces for tones? i hope it isnt a silly Q
http://www.drawspace.com/forums/index.php?...si&img=4358
big hugs and kiss!! i was wondering is there a Grid lesson that breada has done
and are the shapes that u have drawen on hes faces for tones? i hope it isnt a silly Q
http://www.drawspace.com/forums/index.php?...si&img=4358
QUOTE(paulette4 @ Feb 22 2007, 01:42 PM) [snapback]13439[/snapback]
Hi Nicole,
Here is a WIP of Jim's mouth. I might add more values after but this will give you a good idea on how I go about circulism. The first layer is done with 2H, .05 mechanical pencil. The circles are tinier than the pencil point, done as light as I can and they overlap each other. The circles almost blend the graphite for you. (no actual blending is ever done) It is done on the flat of the pencil, not the point. I keep a piece of paper next to me, that I scratch on to keep a flat side. With the 2H pencil I will circle over any lines that I want to keep track of from my line drawing. Next I start adding layers with a 2B mech. pencil. I find my light areas and make sure I go around them. I leave a light spot either side of any lines so I can decide after how I want to deal with it. The graphite is added as lightly as I can on each layer. I build up darks and stay away from lights until I can see where and how they blend. Gradually I blend the areas together.
This is how I go about circulism. Other people might do it differently. I learned how to apply this technique from Jeanette (Islander). Some things I learned from Jeanette are:1. you are building a texture, do not erase. 2. this is a very slow technique, every touch of the pencil is thought out. 3. if you rush it it will show.
Being a beginner at this I have had times when I needed to erase. I patted out the graphite with my kneaded eraser and started back with the 2h pencil and built up again.
I found the first layer to be the most important, when it looked smooth and uniform (no lines, no visible circles) everything else went smoother.
Paulette
[attachmentid=3008][attachmentid=3009][attachmentid=3010][attachmentid=3011]
Hello Paulette4:
I was wondering what type of paper are you using and how long do you think it took to gt as far as you did. I have yet to get mechanical pencils, do you have recommendations. Do you think getting the regular office brand of mech. pencils will be just as effective as the more expensive "professional" ones. Just wondering.
[attachmentid=3012][attachmentid=3013][attachmentid=3014][attachmentid=3015]
[attachmentid=3016][attachmentid=3017][attachmentid=3018]
[font=Comic Sans Ms][font=Comic Sans Ms][size=7][size=7]
paulette4 would it be ok if i could print this out?
Paulette that was a huge help .. as i read i pulled out my pencils and tried what you said and my gosh you are right it is a slow process .. I would love to try this ... question ??? do you cover the whole face with the first layer ?
good Q kim cant wait when paulette4 answers all the Q i hope she can keep up with us 
could i also ask aswell about the mechanical pencil i have never used em before whats the diffrence with the 2H and a 2B mechanical pencil?
oh and is the 2h a 0.5mm pencil?
hope to hear from you soon
Nicole
could i also ask aswell about the mechanical pencil i have never used em before whats the diffrence with the 2H and a 2B mechanical pencil?
oh and is the 2h a 0.5mm pencil?
hope to hear from you soon
Nicole
In case Paulette don't come back soon,,,the 0.05mm is the size of the lead ,so if that the size you want to use,you have to get a 0.05mm pencil.There are many difference sizes.The "H" or "B"on the lead is the softest or the hardest of the lead."H" or hard is lighter than the "B" for soft.The higher or larger the number like B2,B6,,,H2,H6,,,the harder or softer the lead is.So H6 is lighter than H2 and B6 is darker than B2.
thanks for your help Tehobu
Ukartist,
Yes ,you can print it out.
grids
The shapes on the face are for shading, you can get more or less detailed with your line drawing.
Janice,
I am using staedtler mech. pencils .05 size. It is only about 4 or 5 dollars. I bought two different ones to see which one I like better. I got Pentex lead, I am not happy with it, I get grit every once and a while. I want to try staedtler lead but will have to find it first. The extra 2 or 3 dollars is worth buying staedtler because they hold the lead very well. For Nicole-you buy the lead to go in the pencil, the leads come in different hardnesses just like pencils.
I am using Bienfang smooth surface drawing bristol, 148lb, acid free, recycled. It is just off white. Jeanette recomended 100lb white bristol. This is what I could find.
Time? I am not sure, maybe 20 hours? What I did on his mouth was about 5 hours.
Kim,
I just covered the area I was working on. I would worry about smearing if you did the whole drawing.
Paulette
Yes ,you can print it out.
grids
The shapes on the face are for shading, you can get more or less detailed with your line drawing.
Janice,
I am using staedtler mech. pencils .05 size. It is only about 4 or 5 dollars. I bought two different ones to see which one I like better. I got Pentex lead, I am not happy with it, I get grit every once and a while. I want to try staedtler lead but will have to find it first. The extra 2 or 3 dollars is worth buying staedtler because they hold the lead very well. For Nicole-you buy the lead to go in the pencil, the leads come in different hardnesses just like pencils.
I am using Bienfang smooth surface drawing bristol, 148lb, acid free, recycled. It is just off white. Jeanette recomended 100lb white bristol. This is what I could find.
Time? I am not sure, maybe 20 hours? What I did on his mouth was about 5 hours.
Kim,
I just covered the area I was working on. I would worry about smearing if you did the whole drawing.
Paulette
Thank you sweetie for taking your time out its very kind of you to help me
Paulette - I think you should write up a tutorial on circulism - you have described it so well in this thread and you have all of those fine examples of it on your portrait of Jim. I was toying with the idea of trying it but still had too many doubts. After reading your post, I think I would feel much more confident in trying it. (On a much smaller scale of course LOL)
thank you hun .. I love the portrait and think you did a outstanding job ..im with joanie you need to do a tutorial .
Paulette, this is very very good.
As Paulette has said, the key to circulism is taking your time and building the values very slowly. This is NOT a quick fix. A decent portrait done in a circulism technique will take at least 30 hours to complete.
And Paulette's description of how to achieve the layers is perfect. Practice on scraps of paper first. A smooth paper works well I've found, as you're not fighting with the paper texture, only the pencil.
I also find that mechanical pencils work best for this technique too. You can keep a chisel edge and never have to sharpen the pencil.
Key points are:
GO SLOWLY
Never blend with anything!
Do not erase unless absolutely necessary. By going slowly, you can think out where your next pencil mark will be.
A 2H and 2B are the only pencils you'll likely need to create your portrait as layers, not pressure build your values
And Paulette's description of how to achieve the layers is perfect. Practice on scraps of paper first. A smooth paper works well I've found, as you're not fighting with the paper texture, only the pencil.
I also find that mechanical pencils work best for this technique too. You can keep a chisel edge and never have to sharpen the pencil. Key points are:
GO SLOWLY
Never blend with anything!
Do not erase unless absolutely necessary. By going slowly, you can think out where your next pencil mark will be.
A 2H and 2B are the only pencils you'll likely need to create your portrait as layers, not pressure build your values
very nice work, Paulette.
There are a couple sentences in your description of the technique that I just can't get my head around.
I hope someone can elaborate for me
First:
The circles are tinier than the pencil point,
How do you draw circles smaller than your pencil point? Doesn't that result in dots?
And second:
It is done on the flat of the pencil, not the point. I keep a piece of paper next to me, that I scratch on to keep a flat side.
Does this mean you hold the pencil at a very low angle to the paper? Doesn't that result in an even larger surface area of lead in contact with the paper?
There are a couple sentences in your description of the technique that I just can't get my head around.
I hope someone can elaborate for me
First:
QUOTE(paulette4 @ Feb 22 2007, 03:42 PM) [snapback]13439[/snapback]
The circles are tinier than the pencil point,
How do you draw circles smaller than your pencil point? Doesn't that result in dots?
And second:
QUOTE(paulette4 @ Feb 22 2007, 03:42 PM) [snapback]13439[/snapback]
It is done on the flat of the pencil, not the point. I keep a piece of paper next to me, that I scratch on to keep a flat side.
Does this mean you hold the pencil at a very low angle to the paper? Doesn't that result in an even larger surface area of lead in contact with the paper?
I got this from a artist friend i hope it helps others!
I KNOW
This is NOT a quick fix 
Hope it helps.
"Drawing around instead of running around in circles
When we started to draw we did it mostly all in lines. Outlined everything and then put some shading in, but somehow it looked more often than not like cartoons. Looking at art in museums or in galleries these pictures look different. How come? One answer will be no or very few clearly defined lines. Especially when we look at art that is to represent reality to some degree. Well you might have said, it's because most of the art is done in colors and therefore it looks so much better than what I had done, and they are that much more talented than I am, but hold it. Might it not be that there is another reason involved? Could it be that they used other techniques to produce such lifelike pictures? Or even looking at a good photo closely you will be hard pressed to find clearly defined lines when looking at nature.
When we draw and we see art of the masters of graphite we often wonder how on earth did they achieve that? Why is the skin textured so lifelike? Why don't the drawings look the least little bit like comics with visible lines? How did they achieve these soft and so believable tonal value changes? And more questions in this direction. Well, one of the explanations might be that the artists just didn't do lines but were circling around.
Circling around, what is that supposed to mean; exactly that, drawing around in circles.
But why?
When we draw we often want to represent nature, especially if we are doing portraits. When observing nature around us, images on photos or even our own face in the mirror, we would be pressed hard to find real, straight, well defined lines. All is somehow "fuzzy". And there is where "circulism" comes in.
Instead of drawing straight lines, which should be done better with a ruler anyhow and applies to architecture, we draw lines as a succession of small circles. And when I say small circles, I mean small circles. Small circles that overlap each other and never have a clear-cut edge. Overlapping so we don't see the paper underneath (unless we want that – we'll get back to that a little bit later) and we create a textured and uneven border, as we see in nature. Look for instance at wrinkles (in other people that's for sure) although we speak of "lines in the face" truly they never are a line, neither straight nor with a defined edge all over. There are bulges, changing thickness, different tonal values, erratically changing directions and depths, and so on. Now try to do depict that with lines. You will be hard pressed. With small, overlapping circles we are able to recreate that. I have learned when drawing too fast the circles become elliptical and are difficult to "blend" later on. Keep in mind that your eventual goal is to produce a drawing that you are so proud of that you will want to frame and hang it. How long does a drawing remain on the wall for all to admire and how much longer would it take to do it nicely.
There goes a story of a famous surgeon being portraied. He was a little bit nervous about all the time the artist took and asked him to hurry up. The answer of the artist was:
"Sir, if you make a mistake it will end up in the cemetary; if I make a mistake it will hang in the museum".
Your first drawings might not go directly to museums but people will see them, so take your time. There is no prize to be won by drawing faster than the other guy. Prizes are won for best drawings and that requires patience, practice, and time.
All right, we accept that lines should be done using circles, but what should we do when we wanted to shade a larger area? How is that possible with circles, and is it at all?
The value of circling or circulism, sounds more professional, does not only apply to "lines" it has its value in structure as well. Let us use the example of the portrait again and let's examine skin. I know it is so convenient to use blending tools from tissue paper to chamois, all will produce a very smooth tonal value and is so easy to apply and can cover such a great area in such a short period of time. But hold it; is skin really that smooth, especially if we are talking about skin from no longer babies? All of a sudden we discover that skin is not 2-dimensional but 3-dimensional. With peaks and valleys, with some darker spots here, some lighter spots there. How to represent this with a blending tool?
Circles can come to rescue here as well. Drawing the skin with circles gives the artist an enormous control over what she/he wants to do. Slight variations in pressure will all of a sudden make a darker spot or area, we can leave small areas out and we will never be completely homogenous, just like skin.
O.K. Skin we accept but what about other textures? A stone or a forest from distance? Same principle. Look at it closely and try to find exact, clearly defined lines. The forest is nothing, if you can see the forest for all of the trees, but irregular shading and structure. If we were to drawn a forest with clear lines we end up in kindergarten again where our first trees were pretty well "defined" and outlined. Again, all different structural constructs, different and irregular shading. Or if you like, take a close look at a flower, a rose for instance. The thorns might have some clear lines, that's why they can hurt us, but look at the flower, all shades and irregular patterns.
All comes down to the point that nature is just not too well organized along clear cut lines and defined angles and corners. It is unstructured and varied and always different. Made for circulism!
Is it difficult to learn? I don't think so. Circling comes closer to our natural way to draw and write. When we write it is all round and circling and pleasant. Only when we use capital letters will we see more harsh lines and that looks a lot less pleasing than handwriting.
Here are a few tips of how to "drawing around in circles".
1. Make the circles small, and I mean small.
2. Make the circles overlap by going back and forth over them in varying directions.
3. DRAW SLOWLY. Don't rush, the faster you draw, the more control you lose and vice versa.
4. With varying pressure while circling you can produce interesting textures.
5. Try not to use too sharp pencils, they might damage the paper and cover only a very small area. A little rounded tip of the pencil will serve better.
6. If you wanted to shade larger areas start with softer grade pencils and the later "smooth out" with harder grades, not the other way around.
7. If you have a larger area to cover, simply lay soft parallel lines down first (with a softer pencil) and the "circle" to the tonal value you want.
8. Using mechanical pencils might be a good idea since you won't have varying sizes of the tip of the lead and you can't press too hard since the lead will break.
9. But most of all have fun with it.
We said above that sometimes you may want to leave some very small areas lighter than others and that is something you can't achieve with lines and blending like in skin, here is where circulism will help. When you closely analyze Armin Mersmann's work being presented here in this edition and you look very closely at the skin you will not only see darker, irregular areas, but light spots all over as well. Armin who is one of the, if not THE most achieved graphite artist, does that applying circles. He blends very rarely with tools. All done in circles. But all those irregular danker areas as well. All done in circles with all their unbelievably smooth tonal transitions in the smallest areas. All done in circles. You see, circles are something you might want to and probably should experiment with.
Now does that mean that all drawing should be done in circles? Not necessarily so. If you draw hair i.e. or clothing or any other object that really has hard lines then circles might not give you the best results. All techniques in drawing are "mixable". Just like a carpenter who has different tools for different tasks. But as with all other things, some prefer this tool and others prefer something different. Tools and technique are one side, art and your personal preference is the other. Art is personal and delicate in concept and production.
Since art is such a personal affair, who but yourself can decide what is best. Do what feels right and not what someone said. I urge you however, practice with all possible techniques and styles. Find out what is most YOU and then go ahead and do some art."
the artists name that wrote it is called Reinhard hes not from drawspace at all
__________________
I KNOW
This is NOT a quick fix Hope it helps.
"Drawing around instead of running around in circles
When we started to draw we did it mostly all in lines. Outlined everything and then put some shading in, but somehow it looked more often than not like cartoons. Looking at art in museums or in galleries these pictures look different. How come? One answer will be no or very few clearly defined lines. Especially when we look at art that is to represent reality to some degree. Well you might have said, it's because most of the art is done in colors and therefore it looks so much better than what I had done, and they are that much more talented than I am, but hold it. Might it not be that there is another reason involved? Could it be that they used other techniques to produce such lifelike pictures? Or even looking at a good photo closely you will be hard pressed to find clearly defined lines when looking at nature.
When we draw and we see art of the masters of graphite we often wonder how on earth did they achieve that? Why is the skin textured so lifelike? Why don't the drawings look the least little bit like comics with visible lines? How did they achieve these soft and so believable tonal value changes? And more questions in this direction. Well, one of the explanations might be that the artists just didn't do lines but were circling around.
Circling around, what is that supposed to mean; exactly that, drawing around in circles.
But why?
When we draw we often want to represent nature, especially if we are doing portraits. When observing nature around us, images on photos or even our own face in the mirror, we would be pressed hard to find real, straight, well defined lines. All is somehow "fuzzy". And there is where "circulism" comes in.
Instead of drawing straight lines, which should be done better with a ruler anyhow and applies to architecture, we draw lines as a succession of small circles. And when I say small circles, I mean small circles. Small circles that overlap each other and never have a clear-cut edge. Overlapping so we don't see the paper underneath (unless we want that – we'll get back to that a little bit later) and we create a textured and uneven border, as we see in nature. Look for instance at wrinkles (in other people that's for sure) although we speak of "lines in the face" truly they never are a line, neither straight nor with a defined edge all over. There are bulges, changing thickness, different tonal values, erratically changing directions and depths, and so on. Now try to do depict that with lines. You will be hard pressed. With small, overlapping circles we are able to recreate that. I have learned when drawing too fast the circles become elliptical and are difficult to "blend" later on. Keep in mind that your eventual goal is to produce a drawing that you are so proud of that you will want to frame and hang it. How long does a drawing remain on the wall for all to admire and how much longer would it take to do it nicely.
There goes a story of a famous surgeon being portraied. He was a little bit nervous about all the time the artist took and asked him to hurry up. The answer of the artist was:
"Sir, if you make a mistake it will end up in the cemetary; if I make a mistake it will hang in the museum".
Your first drawings might not go directly to museums but people will see them, so take your time. There is no prize to be won by drawing faster than the other guy. Prizes are won for best drawings and that requires patience, practice, and time.
All right, we accept that lines should be done using circles, but what should we do when we wanted to shade a larger area? How is that possible with circles, and is it at all?
The value of circling or circulism, sounds more professional, does not only apply to "lines" it has its value in structure as well. Let us use the example of the portrait again and let's examine skin. I know it is so convenient to use blending tools from tissue paper to chamois, all will produce a very smooth tonal value and is so easy to apply and can cover such a great area in such a short period of time. But hold it; is skin really that smooth, especially if we are talking about skin from no longer babies? All of a sudden we discover that skin is not 2-dimensional but 3-dimensional. With peaks and valleys, with some darker spots here, some lighter spots there. How to represent this with a blending tool?
Circles can come to rescue here as well. Drawing the skin with circles gives the artist an enormous control over what she/he wants to do. Slight variations in pressure will all of a sudden make a darker spot or area, we can leave small areas out and we will never be completely homogenous, just like skin.
O.K. Skin we accept but what about other textures? A stone or a forest from distance? Same principle. Look at it closely and try to find exact, clearly defined lines. The forest is nothing, if you can see the forest for all of the trees, but irregular shading and structure. If we were to drawn a forest with clear lines we end up in kindergarten again where our first trees were pretty well "defined" and outlined. Again, all different structural constructs, different and irregular shading. Or if you like, take a close look at a flower, a rose for instance. The thorns might have some clear lines, that's why they can hurt us, but look at the flower, all shades and irregular patterns.
All comes down to the point that nature is just not too well organized along clear cut lines and defined angles and corners. It is unstructured and varied and always different. Made for circulism!
Is it difficult to learn? I don't think so. Circling comes closer to our natural way to draw and write. When we write it is all round and circling and pleasant. Only when we use capital letters will we see more harsh lines and that looks a lot less pleasing than handwriting.
Here are a few tips of how to "drawing around in circles".
1. Make the circles small, and I mean small.
2. Make the circles overlap by going back and forth over them in varying directions.
3. DRAW SLOWLY. Don't rush, the faster you draw, the more control you lose and vice versa.
4. With varying pressure while circling you can produce interesting textures.
5. Try not to use too sharp pencils, they might damage the paper and cover only a very small area. A little rounded tip of the pencil will serve better.
6. If you wanted to shade larger areas start with softer grade pencils and the later "smooth out" with harder grades, not the other way around.
7. If you have a larger area to cover, simply lay soft parallel lines down first (with a softer pencil) and the "circle" to the tonal value you want.
8. Using mechanical pencils might be a good idea since you won't have varying sizes of the tip of the lead and you can't press too hard since the lead will break.
9. But most of all have fun with it.
We said above that sometimes you may want to leave some very small areas lighter than others and that is something you can't achieve with lines and blending like in skin, here is where circulism will help. When you closely analyze Armin Mersmann's work being presented here in this edition and you look very closely at the skin you will not only see darker, irregular areas, but light spots all over as well. Armin who is one of the, if not THE most achieved graphite artist, does that applying circles. He blends very rarely with tools. All done in circles. But all those irregular danker areas as well. All done in circles with all their unbelievably smooth tonal transitions in the smallest areas. All done in circles. You see, circles are something you might want to and probably should experiment with.
Now does that mean that all drawing should be done in circles? Not necessarily so. If you draw hair i.e. or clothing or any other object that really has hard lines then circles might not give you the best results. All techniques in drawing are "mixable". Just like a carpenter who has different tools for different tasks. But as with all other things, some prefer this tool and others prefer something different. Tools and technique are one side, art and your personal preference is the other. Art is personal and delicate in concept and production.
Since art is such a personal affair, who but yourself can decide what is best. Do what feels right and not what someone said. I urge you however, practice with all possible techniques and styles. Find out what is most YOU and then go ahead and do some art."
the artists name that wrote it is called Reinhard hes not from drawspace at all
__________________
Hi Uk,
You might want to quote who you got that from so people will know.
Hi Darus,
No fair calling me out on my use of the English language. circle size-as small as you can make it, then when you do that, go smaller! Flat of the pencil- Jeanette describes it as a chisel edge. I'm going to stick with flat of the pencil but add your just dulling one side of the tip and using it like you would if you had a sharpened pencil. Clear as mud, right? The flat or chisel edge is so small that I can't tell where it is, except that I keep my pencil oriented the same way every time. I know I have it set up right when my pencil glides on the paper, no catching.
Paulette
You might want to quote who you got that from so people will know.
Hi Darus,
No fair calling me out on my use of the English language.
circle size-as small as you can make it, then when you do that, go smaller! Flat of the pencil- Jeanette describes it as a chisel edge. I'm going to stick with flat of the pencil but add your just dulling one side of the tip and using it like you would if you had a sharpened pencil. Clear as mud, right? The flat or chisel edge is so small that I can't tell where it is, except that I keep my pencil oriented the same way every time. I know I have it set up right when my pencil glides on the paper, no catching.Paulette
you guys sure explain that well .. makes me want to try .. 2b and 2h I have a 0.7 and a 0.5 mechanical pencil ...not close emought .. and where do you find different size mechanical pencils I have looked and no luck .
Kim, a .05mm pencil will do just fine, its the one that I use most often. Other sizes usually need to be ordered or found in fine art stores, not general hobby stores, as they tend to be termed as drafting or technical pencils and aren't as often in demand.
The larger sizes such as .07 or .09 just cover more area more quickly. The smaller .03 is good for tight areas.
The larger sizes such as .07 or .09 just cover more area more quickly. The smaller .03 is good for tight areas.
Thats good to know Jeanette thank you ...I have the 0.5 and the 0.7 ...another question .. do you draw with them on the flat tip or on a angle ?
A slight angle. See post #17. I need Adolfo here to draw those pictures with the arrows I practiced quite a bit before I tried my portrait. I kept showing Jeanette, she would correct it then I would try again. When I finally got it right, I could tell the difference right away. Here are my practice pics, some tonal charts, a nose, an ear and eureka! a mouth. I found the practicing to be boring, because it is such a slow process, but it paid off.
[attachmentid=3056][attachmentid=3057][attachmentid=3058][attachmentid=3059]
[attachmentid=3060]
Paulette
Jeanette,
Do you lift your pencil between circles? Is each circle an individual? or connected? Mine are connected.
Welcome back (by the way) I hope you had a good trip.
Paulette
I practiced quite a bit before I tried my portrait. I kept showing Jeanette, she would correct it then I would try again. When I finally got it right, I could tell the difference right away. Here are my practice pics, some tonal charts, a nose, an ear and eureka! a mouth. I found the practicing to be boring, because it is such a slow process, but it paid off.[attachmentid=3056][attachmentid=3057][attachmentid=3058][attachmentid=3059]
[attachmentid=3060]
Paulette
Jeanette,
Do you lift your pencil between circles? Is each circle an individual? or connected? Mine are connected.
Welcome back (by the way) I hope you had a good trip.
Paulette
"makes me want to try .. 2b and 2h I have a 0.7 and a 0.5 mechanical pencil ...not close enough"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kim,,That sound to me like you still don't understand!? 2b or 2h has nothing to do with .7mm or .5mm //
B and H's is the softest or hardest of the lead,which make the lines dark or light. .5mm is the size of the lead,so if you are using .5mm lead you have to have a .5mm pencil.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kim,,That sound to me like you still don't understand!? 2b or 2h has nothing to do with .7mm or .5mm //
B and H's is the softest or hardest of the lead,which make the lines dark or light. .5mm is the size of the lead,so if you are using .5mm lead you have to have a .5mm pencil.
does it show that much ted that I am confused .....hey before i stared here i used crayola colored pencils and a number two yellow eraser LOL
QUOTE(kim1963 @ Feb 24 2007, 11:48 AM) [snapback]13646[/snapback]
does it show that much ted that I am confused .....hey before i stared here i used crayola colored pencils and a number two yellow eraser LOL
What has using crayola colored pencils and being confused have to do with each other.My 18 months old grand daughter love to play with crayola colored pencils and believe me She is no dummy!!!
Kim,,That sound to me like you still don't understand!? 2b or 2h has nothing to do with .7mm or .5mm //
that is the confused part ...I dont know my pencils .. and I did only use crayola colored pencils now I use a better grade ...and I meant to say that i use a number 2 yellow pencil .. I never used a different grade lead .
that is the confused part ...I dont know my pencils .. and I did only use crayola colored pencils now I use a better grade ...and I meant to say that i use a number 2 yellow pencil .. I never used a different grade lead .
Paulette, I don't lift my pencil when doing circulism. I use a continual motion.
Kim, I use the flattened side of the lead - a chisel edge I call it as it resembles the flat face of a wood chisel. Using this edge continual leaves you with a sharp edge that you can use to draw tight small areas.
This link should give you a good idea of leads, thicknesses, softness and hardness, etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil
Kim, I use the flattened side of the lead - a chisel edge I call it as it resembles the flat face of a wood chisel. Using this edge continual leaves you with a sharp edge that you can use to draw tight small areas.
This link should give you a good idea of leads, thicknesses, softness and hardness, etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil
Kim, it's a cospiracy 
Listen to me: pencils do not exist!
It's just our stupid explaination to the sudden apparition of strange stains on our pieces of paper. OK?
Listen to me: pencils do not exist!
It's just our stupid explaination to the sudden apparition of strange stains on our pieces of paper. OK?
Ok, here's my drawing of a mechanical pencil point, grossly enlarged.
[attachmentid=3149]
The way I'm understanding it, you're using the pencil oriented as in the middle drawing to do circulism.
If you need ultra fine detail, you can spin it 180 degrees and use it like the right drawing.
Is that correct?
[attachmentid=3149]
The way I'm understanding it, you're using the pencil oriented as in the middle drawing to do circulism.
If you need ultra fine detail, you can spin it 180 degrees and use it like the right drawing.
Is that correct?
Yes, perfect! Thank you for putting it in a drawing for every one to see. Have you tried it out yet?(circulism)
Paulette
Paulette
I've played with it a little, attempting shading scales and such.
I've been doing my circles WAY too big, and too heavy handed. Since I've started to lighten my touch,
I've done better. I've also been trying to draw individual circles, lifting my pencil between each one.
That makes it really tedious. It probably takes me an hour to cover 1 square inch.
The thought of doing an entire 8x10 portrait makes me want to run screaming.
I'll have to try it in a continuous motion like Jeanette said she does.
That makes it sound an awful lot like what Brenda calls Squirkiling.
I've been doing my circles WAY too big, and too heavy handed. Since I've started to lighten my touch,
I've done better. I've also been trying to draw individual circles, lifting my pencil between each one.
That makes it really tedious. It probably takes me an hour to cover 1 square inch.
The thought of doing an entire 8x10 portrait makes me want to run screaming.
I'll have to try it in a continuous motion like Jeanette said she does.
That makes it sound an awful lot like what Brenda calls Squirkiling.
I do continuous circles also. The squirkling is similar but gives a different texture. The little tiny scale that I did, took 1/2 an hour to do. That is when I new I must be getting it. My portrait, I only work on for small amounts of time.
Paulette
Paulette
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