Pencil Shaving tutorial for +Ken Bruce on +Google

This is a tutorial in response to a request by Ken Bruce on +Google.  It is also my first chance to use my new camera and I think you will agree the difference is very noticeable!  I am still getting over being sick for the past 4 days or so and will say, after three starts and a less than stunning finished image here, I think the idea I was trying to get across is there.

The image is a little light but in reality pencil shavings are thin and pretty light so it all works out in the end.  The main reason for this tutorial is to show the wood texture and that you don't want to outline a pencil drawing.

There really isn't much of the colored part of the pencil in this image but that's ok since it's about the wood texture and not the paint texture. 

First I started with a .03mm HB pencil to shade in the only paint parts there were to draw.  Next I used a .03mm 4H pencil to fill in the wood areas.  I did this by making small directional marks to simulate the grain of the wood.  When drawing this pencil shaving you have to realize that the piece of wood your drawing is shaved off of a small thin pencil so there is no wood grain to speak of.  I filled in these small marks all the way around darkening areas in the shadow areas small angle areas that happen when you sharpen a wooden pencil with a hand sharpener.  I then used a .05mm 6H hard pencil (the flat side of a wedge tip) to blend all of this without losing any detail.  This method is really useful when you want to smooth an area out without losing all the detail you just drew!

If I remember the next thing I did was to draw the area around the outer edge where the painted part bled through the thin shaving with a .03mm H lead.  The opposite side had the thicker painted edge.  I then filled in the inner part where the graphite would have been shaved off along with the outer wood with a .03mm B pencil. 

You may have noticed that almost all of my drawing is done with my .03mm lead pencils.  I much prefer these for any detail areas because they are much easier to keep sharp and in general have a smaller lead which is easier to get finer details with.  In reality I use these pencils for almost all of my graphite work regardless of the size because of the textures I can achieve on a much finer level than with a .05mm lead pencil.

Again the finished drawing leaves a little something to be desired but considering I haven't left the house for four days I think it came out ok :-).

Ken I hope this helps you but if I have left anything out or didn't describe anything fully let me know and I will make sure I make myself more clear.

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