Article by Ronnie Rayner Larter
Over the years, as an artist, I always smudged graphite to create smooth, graduated tonal blends. I used various materials for blending such as the cotton bud, piece of soft leather, piece of linen, tissue, paper stumps etc., each one creating a slightly different result. However, there is a problem when adding more blended graphite to achieve a darker tone; the drawing often looked lifeless and shiny, which spoilt the final study. I was at a loss about how to overcome the problem. I tried not to take the smudging of graphite too far; but without darks, the drawing appeared weak.
This left me with a dilemma. Do I continue smudging graphite or not? Or do I push myself to use another medium such as charcoal. Because graphite pencils have been my favourite drawing medium, I decided to continue smudging but persuaded myself to find a way to overcome the problem. I used most of the grades from 4H to 8B to obtain all the tonal values I needed, but the 4Bs to the 8Bs were the main problem; they were the pencils that created the glossy look…