NEVER, EVER smudge with a pencil! I know, I know, we've all seen "portrait artists" on
video and TV taking the lazy route and smudging to make shadows on the subject's face.. The result is just, plain and simply, heavy and dull or washed out. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that. If one of the old masters were miraculously resurrected and saw that, they'd want to stick a pencil down their throat!
The beauty of pencil art lies in the lines you produce with it. you build up a masterpiece with fine line on line, using only the tip of a very soft (8B or 9B) always sharpened pencil. Keep a good artist's pencil sharpener handy. The line must always be very light at first, giving way to darker and darker strokes as the work builds up intensity. An inaccuracy can always be erased when the art is very light; but one should try very hard to use an eraser as little as possible It's a hard and demanding discipline - not for the impatient. To avoid initial frustration it's best to work with an expert first, whether in person or online. This is a simple, elegant and ancient tool going back 500 years that gives the illusion of being easy to handle. Given the wrong approach the work can come out wishy-washy and weak, or crude, hard and muddy looking. Again I say that a perfect pencil portrait should be as light and elegant - and delicious looking - as a crepe suzette! Always use quality drawing paper with a little bite for your pencil work. A good pencil sketch pad 14" x 17" will be best for a beginner.. Make sure you sign and date each effort so you can mark your progress. Be patient and practice every day. To reppeat, have a professional teach you how to hold and move the pencil for maximum effect. Perha[s the initial experience may not be much fun, but if you persevere ghrough the failures and frustrations it will one day become pure joy to dance with yopur pencil like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers!
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