It is good exercise, most certainly gives you good practice at taking criticism.

It is also a great opportunity to work quickly, at a large scale and under pressure, because you have to wash and scub it all away before midnight (or you turn into a pumpkin… only kidding).

Below you can see the first of my street paintings on the road. I was of course doing it all legally, with an official “Madonnari” license in the centre of Florence on via Calimala, just off Della Republica.

Construction Stage

The construct outline and shadow shapes form the next stage. The 2B pencil is kept sharpened like a needle of graphite, as it facilitates more precision. It is safest to work on the paper as lightly as possible so that there is room for adjustment with the putty rubber if needed.

The outline of the forms which the figure makes are carefully observed, and the previous gesture stage gives a decent (albeit simplified) measured base to use for guidance with this construct stage. The construct lines should be lightly-sketched small straight lines around and along the gesture lines, indicating changes in direction.

Line rhythm or music depends on the shape of your lines, their relation to each other and their relation to the boundaries of your panel.

In all good work this music of line is in harmony with the subject (the artistic intention) of your picture or drawing.

The two lines with the least variation are a perfectly straight line and a circle.

A perfectly straight line has obviously no variety at all, while a circle, by curving at exactly the same ratio all along, has no variation of curvature, it is of all curves the one with the least variety.

These two lines are frankly boring to look at, and are seldom used in pictures except to enhance the beauty and variation of other lines. Even then, subtle variations and some amount of play is introduced to relieve their dreary nature.

However, used in this way, vertical and horizontal lines are of the utmost value in rectangular pictures, uniting the composition to its bounding lines by their parallel relationship with them.

Further, these stark, hard edges serve as a contrast to the richness and beauty of curves. Vertical and horizontal straight lines are of great value, and are constantly used for this purpose.

2B and HB graphite pencils are my main two grades of pencil. Some people also prefer to use a 2H, although I would not initially recommend using hard pencils like the 2H because they are more prone to irreversibly damaging the paper through indentation.

By using a mechanical pencil and changeable, replaceable leads, you gain a number of advantages:

They are quicker to sharpen to a finer point; They are more portable (lots of leads and different grades can be carried easily); The leads cost less than wooden pencils; There is no need for a blade (Xacto knife or craft knife) to shave off the wood and there is less waste produced from sharpening. Although there are all these benefits, some people still prefer to use normal wooden pencils, as they feel that the weighting is different and they are more natural.

To sharpen the lead a two-grade sandpaper pad (made by Faber Castell) is used. A grey (not white) putty rubber is good for erasing, as it is less destructive to the paper.

You are constantly observed by a wide range of passers-by and under pressure to deliver and finish a work that the majority will admire.

If you don’t do something at least ‘pretty good’ you could be in for a barrage of criticism from all sorts of people – So I would say it is a little bit stressful too!

Well, despite all that, it’s worth it to see a smile on so many people’s faces as they walk past, or stop and watch.

First of all, you’ll need a pencil. If you can, I suggest you buy a mechanical graphite pencil with interchangeable leads. You’ll need HB and 2B Graphite leads.

If you can’t get hold of a mechanical pencil with interchangeable leads, you’ll need a small craft knife or Xacto knife for the first stage in sharpening your wooden pencils.

You’ll also want a small, usually wooden sandpaper pad for sharpening your pencil, and a grey kneadable eraser (putty rubber).

Also, get a Drawing board (about 50cm/18-20 inches on the longest side). This is small enough for you to rest it on your knees and lean it against your desk, but also large enough to use for medium-sized life drawing on an easel.

This is an essential and fundamental drawing tutorial which shows you explicitly how to sharpen your pencils for use at a professional artist’s level.

First I will start with the technique for traditional wooden (graphite) pencils. After this I will also show you the method for sharpening mechanical pencils.

Many people opt for typical wooden pencils over mechanical pencils because this is what they have become accustomed to using.

This poem by John Keats is most famous for the following last two lines, generally considered to be linked with the writings of Sir Joshua Reynolds.

This is because the whole technique of allusion, and even short quotation, was fundamental to the neoclassicism in which both Reynolds and his readers had been educated.

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” – that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

Half a figure is really enough to cope with for these short poses, essentially capturing the gesture of the pose and if there’s time, some spontaneous construction and articulation. If i’m lucky with how the speed sketch has gone, I have time for some basic tone.

Of course it is possible to grab a quick snapshot of the entire pose, but this is more difficult and can just become a useless scribble.

If you can only manage a couple of days a week, it will still benefit you.

Shape exercises are really simple and effective drawing exercises that help you train your eyes to draw the abstract shapes that make up what you see in real life.

(Obviously), this is especially useful for life or figure drawing, still life and quick outdoor sketching.