Buttnekkiddoodles

Took a beverage break after life drawing today and was warmed up so got out my Hahnemühle Cappuccino toned sketchbook and nabbed the unusual stripped shirt with a shallow “fin” running up the back. Pitt Artist Pens.

So a feature I like very much is texture, whether it is implied by a variation in the nature of the marks or if I should take advantage of the surface, aka tooth, of the paper.

The top sketch of the young man in the coffee shop was done on Hanemühle Cappuccino, a smooth toned paper the color of coffee with a lot of milk added, hence the name. The surface and hue are very uniform so it is incumbent upon the artist to create texture through a variety of means. Those of you who visit this blog regularly or are familiar with my work know I draw with several types of tools of different medium and nib or brush size. I also employ my hands, fingers in particular, and drag, burnish, blot, stamp, and smear the pigments, wet & dry, across and into the paper.

A close look at the dude’s face and backpack will illustrate that on such smooth, quick absorbing paper, I build texture by adding inky fingerprints that effectively describe facial hair and denim or a coarse fabric.

On the following three close ups, which were done on a very smooth but slower absorbing paper which allows me greater ability to drag, smear, or blot still moist marks; you can better feel the subtle tooth of the page which when so defined, enhances features of skin or cloth. That I’m using Faber-Castell’s Pitt Artist Pens, which once dry are waterproof and contain no solvent beyond water, I can layer without obliterating or dissolving previous marks in a solvent. This fingerprints over washes or washes over fingerprints become additive layers building the complexity of textures.

With the final detail, executed on Hanemühle Watercolour paper which has real texture, aka cold press, the layers add up do to concentration and variation of marks in addition to implied and dimensional textures.