Hi Everybody, Mark Carder recommends the Stabilo 8044 pencil for drawing on canvas. I have been using the said pencil to draw my outlines for painting. I find the pencil soft and prone to snapping. Perhaps I'm heavy handed? It's not a bad pencil but I can't draw any detail with them at all. What do you draw with on canvas?
Comments
Switch to a smooth panel (Ampersand) or a Dibond aluminium panel, coated with a metal primer.
You won’t have to fight the texture to draw detail.
With a smooth panel you can use a 2h pencil, or any softer pencil with some working fixative.
I like drawing on panels with Conte crayons. I can use a Sharpie, when confident everything is in place.
But, I then do an acrylic under painting with oils on top, otherwise the Sharpie lines would show through the transparent hues
Denis
@GTO, I just use one light spray of gloss varnish when the painting is finished and dry. I only use a light spray because I don't like a smooth, really glossy surface. Sometimes a painting sells before the required few months have passed so in that case I just spray lightly with retouch varnish so that the drying process can continue.
@oilpainter1950, "For a detailed still life I draw on paper and transfer to the canvas with graphite paper." Can you explain that a bit more? I've tried tracing (daffodils),but didn't really like that method and found it led to inaccuracies.
However I have not been using a fixative. I am aware of theories that this may cause problems down the line with the painitng, but I cant find evidence that this is certainly the case.
@dencal regarding using a fixative-Its not a problem to paint oils over fixative then ?
I happen to have been given a can of Daler Rowney Prefix Colourless Fixative it says on the can-for pastels crayon and charcoal drawings.
Do you know if this will be ok to use over graphite drawing prior to oil painting ?
No problems just benefits, though ten years is hardly an archival test.
# Preserves the underdrawing, even after wipe outs
# No smudging.
# Works with most drawing media, ink, pencil, charcoal, pastel etc.
# Creates a nice tooth for subsequent paint layer.
# Moisture proofs support and drawing
# Reduces absorbency of gesso and support.
# Temporarily creates tracing paper from typing bond.
# Neither mat nor gloss just invisible.
# Not a coating - absorbed by the surface.
# Surface easy to clean with a damp face cloth.
# Pastel highlights dulled, darks muddied.
Denis
Im just doing a little test with it on one of my panels at the moment.
After the training I either used brush line drawing or tonal drawing.
"Faber Castell Polychromos Pencils are a unique tool in the world of sketching. They are oil based as opposed to being wax based like other pencils, allowing them to blend with solvents, like turpentine or white spirit in a similar way to how you would blend oil paints".
I like them and have had no issues so far.