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  • In my last supplies video I went over supplies I use in my videos. Now let’s go over the

  • ones I use for longer drawings intended to be hung at a gallery or someone’s home.

  • I commonly use charcoal on newsprint paper when sketching and demonstrating. Newsprint

  • is very cheap and an enjoyable surface to draw on because of how cleanly it takes the

  • charcoal. However newsprint is not archival. It will yellow and wrinkle over time. So,

  • if youre doing a longer drawing that you want to preserve, it’s not a good option.

  • So, let’s go over some archival options.

  • Graphite

  • So, the first option I’m gonna go over is using graphite pencils, instead of charcoal.

  • Graphite pencils are great! They get you almost a full range of values, you can get a bunch

  • of them with varying degrees of hardness, they allow for very precise detail drawing,

  • and they don’t smudge much.. Most of us have been using graphite pencils since first

  • grade. It’s your everyday #2 pencil. So, were comfortable using it.

  • Graphite works best when using only the tip of a finely sharpened pencil. Since youre

  • always using the tip, the drawing ends up being very detailed. The medium wants to be

  • very precise, but it also takes a much longer time to shade.

  • Though you can just use any old #2 pencil to do a drawing, I recommend getting some

  • professional grade tools. When I made the switch I noticed a significant improvement

  • in my line quality and precision.

  • My favorites are the Staedtler brand. Individual wooden pencils are good, but I like the mechanical

  • even more. I like that it’s slightly heavier and the sharpener that you get for it gets

  • the tip very sharp, and mechanical pencils stay the same length no matter how many times

  • you sharpen them, so you don’t have to deal with tiny little pencils. With wooden pencils

  • you have to rely on access to an electric sharpener wherever you go or carry one of

  • those crappy portable ones. The sharpener for the staedtler mechanical pencil is portable

  • AND it works beautifully.

  • The whole pencil setup will cost you a bit, but it’s worth it. Let’s go through each

  • item.

  • Youll need a Staedtler Mars Technico Lead Holder. Now this doesn’t hold your regular

  • 0.5 and 0.7 mm lead. Oh no, youre working with the big boys now. This guy holds 2mm

  • lead! I get the hb, 2b and 4b packs. I use the hb for the initial layin and light halftone

  • shading, the 2b for darker halftones and some shadows, and the 4b for the darker shadows.

  • Youre gonna need a ‘lead pointer’, that’s what they call their sharpener. Pull

  • out about 1.5 cm of the lead, put it in the hole and spin! Just be careful not to get

  • too wild with the sharpener because you can break the tip.

  • For the paper, I like to use the Strathmore 400 or 500 Series Bristol Board. I prefer

  • the smoothest surface possible, so I look for the wordssmooth’, ‘plateor

  • hot press’. They all basically meansmooth’.

  • To erase, I like a kneaded eraser, or as the british call them, “rubbers”. I likeem

  • because I can shape them to erase large areas, or small details. They also don’t poop crumbs

  • all over the paper like some others do. And when they get dirty, just knead them to clean

  • em up.

  • Optionally you can add a layer of charcoal under the graphite pencil. Though I do use

  • it for most of my longer drawings, like this, you could manage without it, like this.. The

  • powder is applied with a brush, which I’ll show in the shading video. This allows you

  • create very soft gradations which are hard to do with the pencil. And it allows you to

  • quickly cover large areas of dark which is tedious to do with the pencil. When you use

  • the powder you blend a lot of your shapes together which can reveal some lost edges.

  • And lost edges look totally awesome in a drawing...

  • I use this same approach in my upcoming video on shading. Look out for that.

  • Youll also see me using a scrap paper or bridge to rest my hand on. If youre like

  • me, by the time youre done with the drawing, the bottom of your hand is completely covered

  • in charcoal. Use this to rest your hand on to keep your hand AND your drawing clean.

  • One thing many people dislike about graphite is the shine. When you go dark with graphite

  • it starts to become reflective. If this glossiness bothers you, then consider using charcoal

  • pencils.

  • Once youre done, you can spray the drawing with fixative to prevent any smudging. If

  • you used powder, I really recommend you fix it. After you spray the drawing, you can draw

  • on top of it, but you can’t erase what you sprayed.

  • Charcoal Pencils

  • So, a lot of the materials for my charcoal drawings is the same as graphite. We still

  • have the kneaded eraser, powder, brushes, scrap paper or bridge, and the spray. The

  • only two differences are the pencils (obviously, theyre charcoal instead of graphite) and

  • the paper. You could use the same paper for both, but these are just my preferences.

  • The pencil I use is a Conte 1710 HB, B or 2B. I like to use the hb or b for layins and

  • shading the light halftones, and the 2b for shading the shadows. If youre wondering

  • how to sharpen it like that, check out this video.

  • I've been looking for a paper that takes a charcoal pencil cleanly without much texture

  • breaking up the strokes, especially when using the side of the pencil to get soft gradations

  • of tone. Most of them just don’t do it for me.“Arches 88 silk screen paperis the

  • best I've found. It has very little texture, it’s soft, and doesn't fall apart much when

  • erasing. If you're used to drawing on newsprint this is a good archival alternative

  • Where do you get this stuff?

  • In the description I have the full list of all these supplies with links to where you

  • could buy them online. Depending on where you live, you might be able to find this stuff

  • at your local art store. But, i don’t know. You guys are watching this video all around

  • the world, so I have no idea about the availability of these where you might be. Hopefully you

  • could at least buy them online and the shipping isn’t too expensive.

  • Ok, that about wraps it up! To see an example of how I use these supplies, watch my next

  • video.

  • Make sure to check out Proko.com/store for all the online video courses I have available,

  • such as Portrait Fundamentals and Figure Fundamentals, and a lot more no the way.

  • If you like this video, share the wealth, tell your friends. Post it on your favorite

  • social network. Click this button here to subscribe to the Proko newsletter if you want

  • to be updated about new videos. Buh Bye!

In my last supplies video I went over supplies I use in my videos. Now let’s go over the

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