Pencil Print E-mail
Pencil is the easy way of not doing pen and ink. It works the same, cost effective and less of a mess, and it does not drip and is forgiving. I love doing pencil sketches, there is nothing like it, to take a book of paper out to a mountaintop and sketch away. There are many different type of pencils, my choice of pencil is “ebony” they are user friendly. Be sure to carry a pencil and charcoal eraser with you that are solid and made just for the purpose of a smug or erasing. Paper is always your choice. When using the pencil or charcoal do not be so conscious of where you are placing your lines, look at the scenery and sketch while looking, not at the paper, train your mind to work with your hand. While you are sitting there sketching, take a blade of grass and smug it onto the page and take the pencil or charcoal over it and see what happens. Use some dirt that is there and do the same process, it is art, it is fun, it is freeing.
Try to keep your hands soft; do not tighten up on the handle of the pen or the pencil. The softer the touch the better, you will see what I mean when you get use to it. There are many different colors in pen and ink and you can make it look like a wash of color when using a paintbrush. It will remind you of watercolor and is a lot of fun. But remember you can overwork the paintbrush way as well, so go with a light touch and less is best. With pen and ink colors you could use your imagination and mix it up a bit with pencil, pastel and acrylic.