Category Archives: Biro drawing

More work in progress.

Posted on by Soulcraftcandyman
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Having wrapped up the two “megatwin” drawings thoughts turn immediately to what’s going to follow on behind them. As methodical as one might wish to be it’s not always a simple case of reaching over to shelf and picking up the next sheet in the pile and cleaning off the business end of the biro.

Not being in a position to work on the drawings every day means that the work flow can be a bit erratic at times. As much as one would like to have a selection of different pictures in various states of readiness to work on it don’t always happen like that. Gaps appear in the chain, as it were, when only doodles and quick sketches lie on top of the pile. At these times I reach for said sketch pile and skim through them looking for any likely candidates for refinement. My noodling sessions, coffee powered periods of ploughing through the image archive, bike mags and various web sites with a pen in one hand and a pad to hand always throw up a rich crop of little ideas. Now it’s simply a case of working a few of them up to a point where a more finished idea emerges.

The sketches here show that kind of process in loose form, from initial doodle to something I’ll transpose onto Bristol Board for inking in. It may very well end up as two versions, one with the question mark thought bubbles and one without. easy enough to do but there’s a good chance one may end up getting some paint thrown at it. The form of the bike may lend itself very well to that. Also, the detail on the horizon line in the initial sketch has been left off the latest version but may very well re-appear later on.

Two pens are better than one.

Posted on by Soulcraftcandyman
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Ok, so here’s the final finished version of what’s called Megatwin 1. It took me some time to finish as working on getting all the shaded areas seemed to consume me. Knowing when to stop fiddling with an image can be such a difficult thing to learn, but with practise the end result becomes easier to see earlier, one would hope.

 

Working on this Bristol Board type of paper provides you with a very smooth surface which is ideal for pen work but its smoothness also seems to encourage the ink to flow with only the merest touch of the pen to the surface. Training your hand to almost hover over the drawing whilst shading, maintaining the lightest of touches consistently is quite difficult, not to say quite tiring at times. Thus getting consistency in some of the shaded areas with my usual weapon of choice, a Bic medium point, can be hard. As a way to get around this, and to create a wider variation of tone I have started to use a fine point pen, Bic again the one with the yellow barrel, in conjunction with the medium point pen. Not only does this give me the variations I’m looking for but also means it’s easier to achieve differences in the density and thickness of the cross-hatching. Ultimately you get greater control everywhere and it really helps in bringing out the forms in certain details like the belly pan underneath the engine.

 

Deep joy.

Posted on by Soulcraftcandyman
1

The big twinned sled is finally finished and I’m very happy with the final drawing. What I finally think of it will come in time, there’s that process of revisiting a picture and casting a fresh look over it to come over the next few days. For now though a couple of things spring to mind.

What pleases me most is the tonal balance across the image, I’ve managed to avoid what I dread in some cases and that is that an overriding sense of greyness comes across. By not over shading certain areas of the drawing such as the upper bodywork I’ve managed to preserve enough contrast to keep a sense of depth. I find it very easy to keep laying on the ink, chasing some contrast only to end up with a picture that has very little real contrast left, just swathes of varying tones of grey.

The other aspect that pleases me is the figure on the bike. He’s come out just right. I have to admit that it is a slow process learning how to make the wrinkles and folds in any clothing look convincing with plunging into too much detail. It’s getting there but there is still some way to go, and the end results that I’m looking for may very well come from applying less, not more detail.

Overall not a bad effort and I’ll write some more thoughts about it as subsequent viewings stir the grey matter. Things are definitely moving forward though.