Pencil Love!
There is something sensual in the way pencil and paper dance with each other. It happens when you’ve chosen the right match between the the softness of the pencil and texture and firmness of the paper. It’s a marriage that either works beautifully or struggles to deliver your vision. There’s a pencil for every drawing subject—figure drawing, botanical studies, children, landscapes. We can choose from charcoal to fine graphites. In the colour pencil ranges there’s never been more to choose from than there is now. I’ve always enjoyed drawing, even as a young child. In 2008 when I was invited to become a registered artist with Derwent—the UK’s best known pencil brand—I was delighted to extend my experience of different pencil media through their extensive range. You’ll see examples in my Gallery of Derwent’s Inktense, Coloursoft, Tinted Charcoal, Pastel Pencils and Graphite.
Other favourites of mine are Germany’s Faber Castel Polychrome, (used for all of the colour drawings in The Children of Gaia) Pitt Pencils (Charcoal) and Staedler’s EE Pencils. For a great graphite all-rounder you can’t go past Rowney’s Black Beauty.
Life without pencils would be so much less exciting and joyful!
