Hi friends,

It is not always easy to get very dark values even with 6B graphite. What I found, and I'm sure many of you as well, is that you need to lay down the graphite in layers with hatching (see Brenda?s lesson on hatching). I do the hatching with no more pressure than normal writing. Pressing hard is not a solution. This will only burnish the graphite giving it too much shine. In addition to keeping the shine down, a second advantage to using layers is that you can use an architect?s eraser to [pull up] a layer at a time. The fact that you have not pressed too hard preserves the tooth of the paper so you can work the tone until you get it just right.

To get an almost charcoal black I do the following:
1. Lay down 5 layers of 6B. This pretty much fills all the tooth of the paper.
2. Blend the graphite.

To blend the graphite I use circular movements (circulation) over the entire area with a very pointed 2B, the sharper the better. I will do this until I get a unified dark black value. Usually 2 passes are enough. Again the pressure on the paper is not more than if I were writing.

This process can be very time consuming depending on the area to cover. For example, the drawing I did of Chaplin's Modern Times had very large areas to fill so I decided to use charcoal. That saved me hours of time.

Here is the result using the technique with 3B blended with F and 6B blended with 2B compared to 3 layers of charcoal. I used clutch pencils with Caran d'Ache graphite on 160 gsm priter paper. A better paper would have given an even better result.
[attachmentid=10297]

Here is an image that shows the process step by step using 6B.
This is very smooth paper so it's actually more difficult to get very black. Remember the paper will make a difference. If you look closely at step 5 you will see that it is not completely covered. This is why it's necessary to blend with the 2B. Blending with a stub or similar tool will also fill but it will also absorb some of the graphite and you will loose that POP effect you may have heard about.

[attachmentid=10319]

So there you have it, my technique for getting those dark values. Let me know if it was helpful and more importantly let us all know how you are getting those dark values.

this was indeed very helpful..thanks so much..i have been trying to understand how to get that really black look for quite a while..i always end up with the "shine"..now i know and will try to put this info to good use..thanks again and i so love all of your work

regards
Kay

I echo Kays comment. Very helpful and concise. Thank you

THis is valuable info, RJ but I would say some examples(drawings) makes it a nice lesson.What I mean is a step by step lesson with each layer added so we the beginners can see the progress of the dark value.I am a very beginner and don't know much about values. I see some artists really have darker values that pop out of a drawing. Also another thing is how you get that sepia hue on some drawings. Is that a special pencil or paper?All this is a mystery to me.THank you.

Hello Elena,

I'll follow-up soon on your request for the step by step. In the mean time I'll answer the question on the sepia hue mystery.

I don't know what drawings you are referring to but I'm sure what you are seeing is a result of the paper. In my gallery there are 4 types of paper used.

1. "Team Work" and "Majestic" I used a Bristol with a rose hue in the paper.
2. "Distant Cross" is the Vellum Bristol and is a slightly off white paper.
3. "Chateau Chillion" is a Canson Bristol white paper
4. "Rino Head Study" is a bright white 160 gsm printer paper

I would say that the Vellum Bristol is the one that is giving the sepia hue. I never looked at it that way, but if you have noticed this has been my paper of preference for the last 7 drawings. I love the feel and grain of this paper. It also allows me to get a large range of values and has great tooth that can take a beating with an eraser.

A word on "Distant Cross". This drawing looks different because of the way I drew it. I tried to keep the graphite light through out and tried to use the dark values to pull you into the center of the drawing in the hope that they would see the distant cross. By doing this I unintentionally gave it a sepia look.

You might also get some ideas on this by looking at my German Train WIP here.

RJ, merci beaucoup. Very very important info here.I will take a closer look and also experiment with different kinds of paper myself. Thanks a lot.

This is excellent, R.J... I copied and pasted it into Word for later reference until I get the hang of it.
Thank you, Thank you!!

RJ,

Thanks for all your info - I will certainly be looking at using your method for fine areas.

I currently use graphite by powdering it myself . I 'shave' a 9B Faber-Castell woodless graphite pencil on fine sandpaper. I usually use a very soft cotton cloth to apply the graphite in large areas (very lightly and build up over many layers) and in fine areas the same using a stump. Also I have different cotton cloths that I use, according to how well impregnated with graphite they are, and how much graphite I want to lay down in one pass - I have one that can turn my fingers black just by looking at it .
I use different values of graphite in areas where I need to have sharp lines, using 2B and F to obtain say fine lines of hair like in brows etc.

Its slow and laborious .......but works for me. I usually work quite large, so I am looking forward to trying your method as I am finding myself doing more ATC and postcard size work of late.

Thank you so much for sharing your work and methods.

Hello Elena and friends,

I have update the first post in this topic with an image showing 6 phases of the process.

Wow! How could I have ever missed that topic? I'm happy I was brought back to it by Ernest. Thanks for sharing the info.

Thank you very much for sharing how you get darker values with graphite it was very helpful to me. Leticia

Thank you RJ, this is indeen very helpfull

Thanks for sharing your art knowledge with us. Really helpful.

lily

Very interesting technique. . . I will give this a try. What brand pencil do you use for this?

It seems to me from experimentation that a 6B in one brand may be quite different than a 6B in another as far as software and darkness. Do you find that also?

I just saved this to my favs ... very nice and clear explanation .

My ("General") 4B is blacker than my 6B; (see the black sports car in my gallery)

John