I recently found a Prismacolor Ebony 14420 at the Rossdale warehouse outlet here in Cheltenham, and I thought I would give it a try. The blurb on the Prismacolor website states:
"Draw penetrating details, stirring shadows and sultry highlights with Prismacolor Graphite Drawing Pencils. The jet-black lead means advanced portrait artists and skilled amateurs alike will have the tools necessary to create piercing marks and outlines. Each ebony pencil features leads with superior smoothness that are effortlessly supple yet strong enough to sharpen to a fine point. Bring precision, intensity and depth to your craft with Prismacolor drawing pencils."
Which pretty much says what these pencils are all about, although I would go on to say that they are a very intense graphite, somewhere in the 6B or 8B range. The feel of the pencil when drawing is very creamy rich, velvet smooth with a lovely dark tone. It also draws very lightly if you wish, enabling you to create a full tonal range with a single pencil. In spite of the pencil being in that 6B 'soft' range, it sharpens to a beautiful point and retains that edge for a good 4 strokes or so. The graphite responds well to blending with a paper stump. They layer nicely, but too much pressure and the tone can become shiny quickly. The core isn't 'crunchy' or overly grainy like a traditional 6B but smooth and satisfying.
Anyway, my classes next week will be doing more tonal value work, and our theme is 'three views, three tonal techniques' using a red capsicum as the drawing subject. For these demonstration images I have used three different papers, a single Prismacolor Ebony 14420, a paper stump and a kneadable eraser.
All of the following works were created with just these three tools.
Capsicum, Angle #1: Approximately 1 hour drawing time, creating soft, smooth tonal graduations. Paper is A4 Art Spectrum Toned White paper, 250gsm.
Capsicum, Angle #2: Approximately 45 minutes drawing time, creating tone by using hatching. Drawn in A4 Windsor Newton Visual diary, 210gsm.
Capsicum, Angle #3: Approximately 1 hour, creating tone with abstracted, tonal blocks - using 4 tonal values only, plus paper white. Paper is A4, Art Spectrum Watercolor pad, 300gsm.
As you see, you can achieve a wide tonal range with this single pencil. That makes it a great travelling companion! But also, the dark intensity you can achieve with it means it is fabulous for negative drawing of the darks. The pencil is not overly expensive, around $3AUS in most art shops - but I got mine for a mere $1 at Rossdale! However, don't all rush there to buy one there, as I went back this morning and purchased all their leftover stock of some 28 pencils... not for me, but for my students next week as an early Christmas gift. I know they will enjoy playing with this pencil as much as I have!
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And just a reminder - I will be at Tacit Gallery this coming Sunday for a Meet and Greet session. Please come along and have a look at the art, stay for a chat!
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