Okay since you posted yours Mindy I'm gonna give my last update.. My son has been bugging me like crazy to take it home with him.. Sooo >>>

Mindy I love your Marilyn.. she was so much dark I went thru a couple of 3or 4 pencils real fast.. !!!

Thanks Poe for all you do.. I love your Horse drawing .. Wow !!!! I'll keep watching .. Carol

Very nice, Carol! I can see the difference between your good paper and my cheap sketchbook pad paper, you were able to get it so dark and it looks like black velvet. Beautiful job.

Thanks Mindy.. Yeah I think that paper does make a huge difference... I probably could have added one more but was scared the glare would happen.. so I left it as is.. This was a good lesson for me .. still not the turtle slow I should be, but, Hey That's Me .. I have tons of free time where others work it in to their schedule so I think maybe that's the difference ? I don't know .. I'll keep practicing ..

I regret that I forgot to take a picture for this forum but I just wanted to let you guys know that I heard over our school's announcements that today was the last day to turn in art work to be shown in the Forsythia Festival (our city's annual festival I was wondering is it wrong to be doing this? Sure other than a little bit of it (part of the hair) I done it all but I did follow Poe's and everyone else's guidance on it so wouldn't only be partially mine? Sorry I didn't post this before I submitted but I rarely pay attention to the announcements (hey I'm a teenager ) I just happened to hear that part lol If this is something I shouldn't do I might be able to get my drawing back in time but I really didn't want to wait till next year for the next festival

Hello all, I'm sorry for being gone for so long through this. I've been extremely busy trying to get things sold and I have several projects I'm trying to get done at the same time. I did finish this Marilyn, but its finding the time to sit at the computer. I see some of you have finished and moved on with this, I don't blame you.

Mine is done and actually hanging on someone elses wall already. It sold within 10 minutes of being framed. Go figure.

If I do this again, I'll be sure to do it when I know I'll have time to put into the project.

I'll go back and remind myself where we left off so I can update the tutorial to the final...

I saw where it said 3/100 did you really do 100 of these drawings?

I think its 3/10 for March 2010?

Well this is where I finished


I totally lost the hair and the more i worked on it I found i was making it worse so i just called it done before i messed it up too much more. All in all i think she recognizable without a reference so i think its an ok drawing. i plan on doing her again in a couple weeks to see if i improve any. I Hope to see many more post like this as it is very helpful when other members are doing the same drawing so you can see how they solve problems you may be having. I want to thank everyone who participated in this as you all helped me during this

Ok, I've been thinking on how to explain the last layer, after sculpting in the tones and darks like we've done, I go over it with an HB very lightly in the darker areas which look like they need to be smoothed out. I try to be very light with this, because I know that I'll be running over it again with a 2H or something like it. After smoothing out some of the darks and darker mid-tones with the HB, I'll grab my wood 2H and start lightly going over and "glazing" everything. I can blend with the harder pencil without leaving much behind from the pencil itself. Lightly shading with the 2H gives great control and should be very consistent with the underlying layers which prepped the paper. I go back and forth to the eraser and tortillionowioiokn to achieve more of the final textures I'm looking for. This final layer is basically a free for all. Touch up everything, make adjustments, look at your reference and drawing at all different angles, upside down, sideways... what helps me spot stuff is to take a photo of it and look at it through my camera screen. It will show you things you wouldn't have noticed otherwise. This final stage of the drawing is where my 3MM mechanical pencils come out and do their thing. I have a B, HB, and 2H 3mm mechanical. Even the sharpest wood pencil can't compare to these 3MM pencils. You can really feel these pencils cut into the tooth and leave a solid mark.

Sorry for the simplified post...

Heres an Elvis I'm working on, I did this with the same approach as Marilyn (for the most part) I still have to hit it with the 3MM pencils for the fine detail, the hair I hardly touched yet and I have a lot of skin highlights and detail to work out. Another 3 hours and he should be done.

Just go less with the hair and layer it. Keep it simple. Don't try to do too much in one pass.

Try to do what I've said in my last post, lightly shade with the HB and 2H to tone it down a bit. Remember to think layers and don't get greedy in one layer.

Nice Elvis Poe.. I too have been doing a few myself.. I finished Marilyn a little bit ago as did Mindy.. probably could do more to it but honestly I just couldn't see where.. next one I will go thru the steps and finish up with the extra pencils you have talked about here.. Thanks again !! Carol

I'm also done with my version of Marilyn... it's was a fun experience for me... I've been away from the drawing board for a long time so I wasn't sure what I would end up with... it's not as finished as I'd like it to be, but it's a little better than I thought it would... thank's for your tutoring.

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Hello All,

I have a question for Poecilotheria_27, but please ANYBODY jump in with an opinion!!

I'm a relative newbie to drawing; I've been intimidated by "art" and "creativity" since I was a kid. I recently turned 55 and I've sworn to my wife, and anyone else who'll listen and not laugh that I'm gonna develop my creative side before I'm put in a box and pushing up daisies!!

This are my initial questions: In a post, Poe. . said (s)he used a 5mm mechanical pencil to add the dark value to the Marilyn project. I can't find a 5mm pencil or lead holder anywhere. So I was wondering if you're using the common 0.5mm pencil? If you're using a 5mm mechanical pencil, do you have a website where I can look at or order one? If you're using the 0.5mm, how long do you estimate it takes to add all that dark value?

Next, Poe.. made a reference that the, I think, 2B lead in the mechanical pencil is about the same as a 4B wooden pencil. I have to ask, why is that? Is the graphite formula that much different?

Those are my questions. . . . . for now. Thanks for your assistance!!

Doug

Hello Doug, I think its great that you're taking an interest in your creative side

The 5mm pencil I was talking about is the 0.5mm... sorry for the confusion, I should have been more literal.
The thinner lead will penetrate deeper into the tooth of the paper, allowing less of a bleed through of the white, deeper paper. With a thicker lead, the graphite won't go as deep and you'll see the white of the paper bleed through the value you just put there, therefor, making a dark object with a lighter value look. Of course, that depends on a lot of other things too, but allowing a light value to bleed through a darker one creates a different effect than a straight dark value. So, using something like a .5mm may take a little longer, but it helps really saturate the paper.

The graphite in the 2B mech and the 4B wood being close to the same is really an illusion for the most part IMO. A 4B wood will blunt easily and do what I said above with the paper bleed, as the mech will stay sharper and more consistent, allowing it to penetrate the paper better, therefor giving an overall darker value. But, the graphite does seem to be finer in the mech lead than in the woods. It has a different, finer, feel. Both mechs and woods have their advantages and disadvantages. I use both frequently in most drawings. Mechs for most, woods for skin and smoother values, subtle value changes... It all depends on the drawing and how you use your pencils.

Hopes this helps some.

Hey man, nice name! Don't let "ART" intimidate you... Your creative is for you and no one else! At 40 I to figured out that my mother was dead wrong, and you don't need to be born with some special gift to make pictures that look like something other than stick figures! I may need a photo of something to start from, but the end results makes me happy and proud.. not saying it is a lot of work and frustrating as **** but in the end it feels good!

Doug

You first congratulate me because i done it. its unbelievable for me.. I am so glad