paper for graphite

[kim]

I have a bit of a dilemma as to what type of paper serves pencil best.I have been doing pencil portraits on winsor and newtons medium surface paper,but on the wrong side.I like my paper and drawings to have a bit of "tooth" and texture in the pic,but recently been chatting to some other pencil artists who really go for Bristol Board smooth,so i went dashing down to the shops to get some,got all excited as i started to work and found that i really did not like it :( ,it was a bit of a let down i can tell you!!!!I know that you can really achieve beautiful skin tones on BB,but surely you can get something just as good on a different surface paper!!!!!So all you great graphite artists out there,what do you use and recommend?Thks for all answers :D ;)

[Denise]

Kim-
I work on crescent illustration board cold press 300. I do not use any stumps or other blending tools but lightly build my values like in cp. I find the board is very nice in terms of texture and tooth for both graphite and cp. I have since discovered the greatness of stonehenge for cp. I haven't tried it for graphite yet. Hope this helps.

Denise

[Arlene]

I like a bristol vellum finish although the one of david I did on smooth and for getting the marble feel it was great. I don't like stonehenge for graphite personally.

[Gemma]

I also like a bristol vellum finish.
Gemma

[kim]

Thks Denise,Arlene,and Gemma for your answers,but if you can just clarify something for me Bristol Vellum,is this the same as Bristol Board or a different variation,and is it available in the uk? :D

[PaintedHorses]

Some placed it's called Natural or Kid Finish, has a bit of texture that lends itself well to animals.

This is a little graphite on Bristol Vellum:

[beth]

I am a Bristol user as well. I use smooth for babies and women and vellum for basically everything else. I've also done a few things on Arches hotpress watercolor paper, which holds darks really well but doesn't take well to erasing and blending. I found I had to be too gentle with it compared to how I can abuse the Bristols. I've seen all of these in fairly large sheets on dickblicks, which is the only place I buy art supplies being in a country that supplies are harder to come by. :rolleyes: I do practice sketching on various toothier sketchbooks because I like the texture in sketches. :)

That's my ramble on paper. :p

Good luck!

[kim]

Ok thks to all for the advice,so what i will do is upload a picture that i did in graphite on winsor and newton medium surface paper,but on the wrong side.This is the third portrait pic i have ever done,as usually my subjects are animals,but this something i really want to get into.What do you think?

[kim]

oops sorry think these might be in the wrong place,just wanted to keep to this thread,so if i have screwed up sorrrrry :o

[Heidi]

Hi KIm :bye1: ...wrong place or not that is a really good portrait. I use w&n medium myself for graphite work and it suits me just fine, like you I like a bit of tooth.
Lene mentioned Mountboard for cp ,I don't know if this any good for graphite or not. I have not tracked any down yet.


By the way ,great to see you here :clap:
Heidi

[Jazz]

When you say Winsor and newton Medium surface are you talking about 'Lana' paper or some other paper by W&N?

I think you have a lovely start with your portrait but i feel you could build it up some more by adding some more layers to increase the darks , do you see what I mean? At the moment it is very much all one medium value so it needs some more darks and lights to really make it stand out.

The face is lovely and so I think of you can add a few more shadows it would make it stand out even more, I am sure if you hang on some of the more experienced portrait artists will add some comments to help you out :) .

I use Winsor and Newton 'Lana' paper -medium surface for my CP work but I find it just as good for graphite and it has a nice meaty texture to it :) .


Huge hugs,


ALI

[lacy mouse]

Hi. I'm brand new here.

I use Arches Watercolour Smooth. They also have a medium but I prefer the smoother surface, particularly when I work in charcoal. I didn't enjoy the Cansen at all. I don't know if this is much help at all. Just thought I would put my two cents' worth in!

[lene]

Hi
lovely little girl, you caught her expression so nice :) I think you need to have a broader variaty of values :bye1:

[kim]

Hi Jazz thks for the comments,yep i mean lana paper,i just love it,and use it for everything.Its funny you mean the tones in this pic,as i have only just started doing these sorts of pics,and have just recently finished two more,which i feel have the contrasts much better,probably cos i am more confident in doing this now,and am really enjoying working in graphite again.As for this pic i have felt that it needed more defining so i think i will get it out again and work it a bit more. Thks Lene and Heidi,as always your support and comments are always appreciated. :D :)

[Foggy]

Kim
I too got all excited at the prospect of drawing on Bristol Board and awaited (Ahem - patiently), for the arrival of the BB in our local art shop (had to order it up here in Orkney).......so how excited was I when it arrived!!!:clap:
Having seen some of the brilliant work done on Bristol Board I had great expectations, but alas, I also found it just wasn't for me.
As you rightly say the very white smooth surface gives great definition and potentially really smooth tones - but I struggled to work on it after my usual paper (Daler Rowney 220gm watercolour paper).
I found that I couldn't work the graphite so easily on the BB (probably my technique is lacking) and as a result have returned to my old faithful paper. It is not as white as BB, but I find it far easier to work on, easier to lift the graphite off of when I make one of my many mistakes and most importantly - I'm comfortable with it.......or.......maybe I'm just getting old and old habits die hard! :bangin:

Jim :bye1: