I'm often asked where do I start with one of my drawings; I usually answer 'top left hand corner' and that is true, however I believe that a good drawing really starts well before you pick up a pencil. Before anything else, there has to be an image that you want to devote some time to drawing. But once you have that and have identified what it is in the image that you want people to notice, the drawing really starts with selecting a good quality paper. I have some drawings of my children from over 20 years ago when I didn't know any better, which are on cheap cartridge - the paper has not aged well and certainly will not last.
All my current portfolio has been completed on Hahnemuehle Britannia Aquarelle 300gsm NOT surface. Yes, this is a watercolour paper and I use it because I love the way this paper handles and behaves. At the risk of sounding too much like an advert, the intrinsic qualities and texture of this paper provide a surface that enhances various light effects. Other manufacturers probably provide papers that are equally good (I haven't tried them) but this is the paper that I find a joy to work with.
The surface tooth works well for fine details and broader treatments. The tooth also provides an unobtrusive pattern that can bring a pleasing harmony to a drawing that is never conspicuous. Whilst the resilience and robustness of the surface is also able to withstand heavier handling, it is still fine enough to allow subtle, much lighter passages allowing the surface to support a very broad range of expression. I've always found the surface of a consistently high quality with no rough patches to impede the flow of the pencil and cause errors because of slipping or catching across the surface.
All these are qualities that I find actively help in creating the effects that I'm looking to show in the finished result. Oddly enough, a good paper actually means that you'll make less errors when drawing as well and any that do happen are far more easily corrected. I don't know why that should be but think it may be connected to the robustness or resilience of the surface.
Plus, quality paper is made to last and this will preserve the hours I've spent on producing my pieces - they'll still be around when I'm not. Nothing is going to last forever but it doesn't make sense to use inferior papers when you want your drawings to last.
Today I began a new drawing from my recent trip to Venice - no working title as yet - and decided to try their 'Turner' paper for a change. I haven't done enough to see how this compares, all I can say about it so far is that the surface tooth is slightly finer.
So, if you are thinking about trying your hand at drawing, explore a range of different papers and see how they can work for you, find out which ones have qualities that you can exploit for the effects you want to create and which papers actually make creating them easier for your style and your techniques.
But most of all have fun :-)
Janine
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Contributor's Note
The attached drawing shows some of the potential that pencil has to offer. My latest finished piece - 'Sunbeams' - will be added to my site during the coming week.
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