Hi there welcome to my studio thank you for checking out this video
my name's Siobhan, on this channel i share videos about a dynamic and expressive approach to figure
drawing. I focus on drawing techniques that will help you improve your figure drawing as
well as help you to unlock your own artistic voice or your own unique style of drawing.
today i wanted to make a video to explain how i use two different types of drawing
tools i was asked in the comments last week about my approach in using
two different types of drawing tools in the same drawing and so today i wanted to share
this process of a drawing that i did and explain how you can match really abstract marks
with very refined detail line work to create a strong drawing
so here's the video i'll explain the process step by step and i'll check back in with you at the end
as usual if you'd like to see the image that i'm drawing from then i'm going to leave a link in
the description below to the exact pose and and let me know in the comments if you get around
to drawing the same pose tell me how you got on with this one and with this particular approach
so a lot of questions that i get for dynamic expressive figure drawing often relate
to you know the idea of how to use one kind of charcoal
matched with a pencil or as i've done in previous videos even using ink matched with a pencil
idea of using two different types of medium in one drawing
and the answer is i could sum up the process as such that i use something like willow charcoal
or a soft charcoal to first of all map out the gesture of the pose and to get
the main shadow areas down in a very very loose expressive way and then afterwards refine that
first pass if you like with a very fine detail line that is best achieved with a sharpened pencil
the thing that i'll say though at the very outset is that i would caution you to not just
simply you know adopt this in order to achieve an effect
i find that drawing with a soft charcoal and then matching that with a completely different
drawing tool like a sharp precise line it does create a beautiful drawing but i'm always trying
to be very careful that i'm not making this decision in order to get a special effect
that can actually really stand out as a bit obvious in your work and what it
does is in the long run is that it will detract from an otherwise more honest
response in your drawing so my advice when you're thinking about materials and mixing things
up and using different techniques like this think about the material that you
are drawing with and think about how it can help you to express the pose overall
you might not need to add in a fine line if your soft charcoal marks are enough if they are
describing the forms perfectly you can continue your whole entire drawing just using soft charcoal
having said that though it is always really good to experiment with techniques and with
your drawing tools and your materials and to know what kind of materials are going to give you
what marks this is the only way that you're going to build up your unique or your own vocabulary
your visual vocabulary that's going to be your signature and your way of expressing yourself
so definitely i'll encourage you to try this method out and the main thought process that
leads me to switch up my drawing tools usually is that okay i feel like i've started out and i've
mapped out the pose initially with very rough and loose marks that i can make with a charcoal and
then i usually find that i need to slow it down and work much more kind of slower and much more
carefully so then i'll start to look for fine edges and contours and i could continue and do
that draw those fine edges and contours with the edge of a charcoal but i find it's better
sometimes to use a really sharp pencil so in this video here up until now i've just used the
side of a very small piece of willow charcoal and now i'm going to try and get more details
i use willow because it does give such a great quality to the shadows and it's wonderful for
giving that sense of volume to the forms plus it's very easy to erase out willow charcoal and that
allows you to not only move your drawing around as you figure it out and correct your marks and
refine it but it also comes in handy later on with a kneaded eraser you can then actually draw with
the eraser to give you highlights once you know you're into that final phase of the drawing now
i've used charcoal as you can see up to this point even to make some of the kind of more definite
lines but you'll notice that the lines made with charcoal can be quite heavy and dense so this is
where i would then switch over to a sharpened pencil and use a very fine line to continue
the pencil that i'm using is act it's not a lead pencil it's from conte a parie it's like
a charcoal pencil but i think it's mixed with a bit of wax or crayon so it has a really nice
consistent line it's not as chalky or as brittle as a charcoal but it's not not like lead drawing
with this allows you to get as i say very delicate marks that can then contrast or balance with the
bold larger charcoal marks that works really well in a in any drawing if you've got contrast and a
ver a variety of different marks plus you can also use this pencil to trace cross contour lines and
work out the volume now i've got a whole video about the difference between contour lines cross
contours and blind contours and if you want to check that out i'll leave a link for you as well
so again let me know in the comments if you draw this pose and if you use
this particular approach i'd love to hear from you and love to hear how you got on
remember going forward in your work don't use any technique just simply as a stylistic
thing try to apply any technique that you do use to what you feel the drawing needs
thanks so much for watching this video i hope you enjoyed it i hope you got some useful information
out of it and some inspiration for your own drawing practice again please let me know in
the comments if you try this approach in your own work i'd love to hear your feedback give
the video a like if you think it's worthwhile and consider subscribing so that we can stay in touch
thanks again for watching and i'll see you in the next video