IMPROVING PICTURE PRODUCTION- Drawing with Pitt Oil Base Pencils

Pitt Oil Base Pencils are a product of Faber-Castell.

While holidaying in San Francisco I shopped at Dick Blick Art Berkeley as you do if you want a wide selection of products and great bargain prices: https://www.dickblick.com/stores/california/berkeley/

I now buy these Oil Base pencils through the Art Shop in Bayswater, Victoria:

https://theartshop.com.au/

And as I do when travelling, in the USA or Australia, I grab small items to take home and trial them. It only took one of the Faber-Castell Pitt Oil Base pencils and I was hooked. I also purchase Strathmore’s Bristol paper pads because we simply cannot get the range of sheet sizes as are available in the USA. In fact I purchased a larger suit case just so I could bring home lower priced materials for myself- and yes, the price for the suit case has been covered by just two trips.

RIVER RED-GUM, PARACHILNA GORGE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Combining both pencil and paper and you will get the blackest black and softest grey for sketches and final drawings as shown in this drawing of a River Red Gum (Eucalyptus) growing in the river embankment of the Parachilna Gorge, South Australia. There are hundreds of beautiful big mature trees growing along the rivers in the Flinders Ranges.

Achieving consistency

I have struggled with impatience while drawing over the years and finally stumbled upon a remedy to the ailment in my personal management style. I made two decisions:

1. I bought a very good and reliable pencil sharpener and installed it next to my drawing desk. I like using mechanical pencils because they are consistent and enable different size and lead hardness to be used e.g. 4B 1mm diam graphite leads.  I dislike the experience of getting towards the end of the led and the mechanism no longer holds the lead stable. A sharpened pencil is pure delight to use and I am more forgiving of any flaws they might have. And
2.  I bought packets of twelve Oil Pitt pencils at a time; and I keep about six or more sharpened throughout a drawing-session. By starting off with six or more sharpened pencils , and stopping to re-sharpen them all when the last pencil becomes blunt, I find I draw more consistent lines and shading.

With the oil base, these pencils offer rich black which I cannot achieve with graphite; but can achieve with charcoal but compared to charcoal the amount of smudge and dust is much less problematic. Too much black when drawing can also be easily lifted off with the Faber-Castell Kneaded Eraser or similar product.