Rendering Part 2
Reference Image
Rendering The Neck
I move on to the neck.
It’s more of the same. I lay down graphite, soften, fill holes in the paper surface with a sharp tip, dab away with a kneaded when necessary, and if that isn’t enough, rinse and repeat
First I lay down graphite loosely. This time I used a 2B lead because the values here are in shadow – they will be darker than the face, which is in light.
Next, I soften what’s laid down with a tortillon.
After that, I begin hole filling. I’m using an H (that’s 1H) lead for this part.
I actually tried 2H to start, but I found that it wasn’t dark enough. I don’t use it for the darkest areas in this part to fill holes, but I kept it toward the lighter areas of the shadow.
If you’re wondering why I use H‑grade leads for this part, it’s because they hold their tip longer and they won’t darken too far too quickly. That’s the way I control my values at this point in the procedure.
As usual, where I need to, I dab off areas of graphite accumulation on the peaks of the paper tooth.
I reintroduce the 2B to bring everything to their final value.
In the rightmost upper corner of the neck, there’s an occlusion that I use 4B for. I usually save the 4B for the absolute darkest darks.
Every now and then, I might hit it with a tortillon, but again, for this phase of the rendering, it’s done sparingly.
Detour: Back to the Face
As I was rendering the neck, I actually took a detour back to the face. Now that I was putting in the darker shadow values, I saw that I had made the values of the face too dark.
I went over both the areas of light and areas of shadow with a kneaded eraser. Then, of course, I made sure the graphite was laid evenly, reapplying it and then dabbing back with the kneaded when necessary. As I needed to keep the value very light, it was mostly the hard grades of 4H and 2H.
I’m happier now with the balance of light against dark.
Self‑Assessment
Not done yet, but I’m liking how the drawing’s progressing. I think I’ve made progress with my skill here.
I’m not exactly studying in a classroom, but I’ve always seen those studies where you draw from a bust. I’ve admired when it’s done well, and maybe here, I’m starting to achieve that – even if I haven’t studied a lot of busts.