Pencil and Single Pigment Demo

Artist Stuart Loughridge demonstrates a pencil drawing with some pigment to create more value while using the white of the paper as the highlights.

He begins by laying out the landscape with trees and hills from foreground to background with light lines. As he sketches, he remembers the light source so that he can place his lights and shadows properly. After he has the information he needs sketched out, he cleans up his lines with a kneaded eraser.

Now he will work from back to front and is more specific with the contours and topography that he layed in. He’s using a medium pressure on his pencil to sure up his lines.

Stuart explains what is in his single pigment sketch kit. He has a simple palette made of cardboard, packing tape, and clips. There’s also a small vial of water that he can put in a bottle cap. He also has a paper towel on hand. The pigment he is using is a neutral black as it matches the graphite of the pencil well.

Starting in the distance, he lays down a simple tone on the mountain, reminding us that the watercolor will dry lighter than it looks when it’s wet. Avoiding any bleeding, he moves into the middle ground and foreground as he starts to put in some shadows. When it dries, he continues in the sketch with his pencil. He’s accenting the outline from the watercolor wash. He expands the circles of depth, pulling trees and the river in front of the mountain. He works over the pigment wash with his pencil to create texture. Now he can use more pressure on his pencil to fully accent foreground features like leaves and rocks. He advises to be aware of any “floating” darks and tie them into other darks around them.

At the end of the drawing session, Stuart shares that you may want to take some notes about the scene on the back of the drawing for future reference such as time of day, where the sun is moving, and which way you’re facing.