SOMETIMES UPSIDE DOWN IS BEST ... If you're having difficulty drawing an object and it's possible to turn it upside down, try that. Usually it will improve your drawing. (The method is not suggested if the object in question happens to be an unfriendly dog, an even less friendly IRS agent, or your spouse.)THOSE CONFUSING PENCIL DEGREES ... Artist-grade graphite pencils are designated in degrees of hardness, and unless you use them regularly you may forget the designations. The sequence below has the hardest (thus lightest) at the left, the softest at the right:9H-8H-7H-6H-5H-4H-3H-2H-H-F-HB-B-2B-3B-4B-5B-6B-7B-8B-9B
The HB grade hiding in the middle is roughly equivalent to a number 2 writing pencil. The softer degrees to its right are primarily used for drawing, the harder to the left are usually reserved for drafting purposes. (The Art Police won't get you if you use some harder ones for fine detail or burnishing.) Better brands are good about maintaining a careful distiction between the various degrees. In lesser brands a 4B and a 6B may be indistinguishable. Not every maker offers the full range shown above, but all use the same method of separating one degree from another by a numerical rating combined with H or B. (Please don't ask us what that F lurking beside HB stands for. We have absolutely no idea.)
BLACK, BLACKER, BLACKEST ... If you turn out finished pencil drawings (as opposed to merely sketching), don't restrict yourself to graphite pencils only. Carbon pencils will produce a deeper, richer black than any graphite pencil we have seen. Conte makes some good ones, and also makes a pencil called the Pierre Noir which is blacker yet.
FOR A SUPER-SHARP POINT ... Try the metal pointers we carry from Alvin & Co. They will outlast hundreds of the familiar sandpaper pointers.
BOOK LARNIN' NEVER HURT NO ONE ... Counting kid's books we probably carry more than twenty titles dedicated to drawing, but one stands out from all the rest. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain has sold more than 2.5 million copies worldwide and is the most widely used drawing instruction book ever printed. If you think you can't draw, or can't draw well, this book will almost certainly prove you wrong.
OUT OF THE HANDS OF KIDS
Col-Erase pencils are primarily an office-use or kids-quality product, but our colored pencil classes have found a use for them in serious adult art. They are just the thing for doing initial rough layouts, in preference to graphite pencils which show through the finished layers. Pick a color close to the intended final hue and they will vanish as the final layering is applied, and if the first sketch doesn't work out, it can be erased easily.
THEY GO ON WHEN OTHERS WON'T ... Colored pencil artists are sometimes frustrated when ordinary colored pencils like Prismacolor reach a point where no more color can be layered on. Now there's a solution. Just switch over to new Softcolor pencils from Germany's Schwan-Stabilo and you can keep pouring on the color. We have them in sets now, but open stock is due in by September, 2001.
FIRST-AID FOR PASTELISTS WALLETS ... Don't throw away those stubs that can no longer be manipulated. Save them, and when you've accumulated enough of a color, grind them into powder, then make a stiff paste by adding water (preferably distilled). Roll them into sticks and let them dry. You'll have a new pastel for your efforts. (You can also create new colors by mixing bits of different shades.)
THE GRAY AND THE BLACK OF IT ... If you draw a lot with charcoal you probably know this, but for neophytes, Vine Charcoal normally makes gray lines, while Willow Charcoal is a rich, deep black. There is also a compressed variety (the best-known is trade-named Char-Kole) which is also an intense black.