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PMucks — Basic Graphite Realism Tutorial
Published: 2012-06-12 05:36:39 +0000 UTC; Views: 17123; Favourites: 502; Downloads: 382
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Description
Mainly for beginners, but contains tips and tricks that can also benefit more advanced artists.Contains detailed information on:
Materials
Choosing a reference photo
Creating an initial sketch
The grid method
Shading
Finishing touches
Protecting and presenting your art
UPDATE: In the tutorial I recommended getting a good brand of pencils and I specifically named Derwent pencils. I no longer recommend Derwent. I now use Staedtler Mars Lumograph pencils. I also said using a scanner is ideal. I take that back. Scanners (at least mine) make the drawing look harsh and grainy. The part about taking a photo in bright sunshine, I meant to say take the photo on a sunny day, but don't let the sun hit the drawing directly. You can also take the picture indoors if you have a very bright room. Also, I no longer use a grid, but I still think it's a good way to get the proportions right.
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Comments: 82
I use the lightest brands a lot. They are very useful if you are drawing something where everything is very bright. Like a white flower in front of snow or something. Everything is white but there is still a wide range of values that you need to put in there. I also use them for drawing very fair and smooth skin. It is important however not to press the pencil against the paper because then you will indeed ruin it. You will get the best result by just resting the pencil against the paper.
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I've never used anything harder than a 2H. I don't know why they even make 9H, it's too hard. I guess you can use it if you need to chop some ice.
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Good advice, I never though of a make up sponge will defintly be trying that out
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Thanks. Makeup sponges pick up a lot of graphite, so you can actually use them like a light eraser too. Let me know how they work out for you.
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Nice work on this tutorial! I can tell you really spent some time putting this together
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Thanks! Fortunately, I already had my own drawings to use as examples. It was actually useful to myself to put everything I learned together, and hopefully it'll help others too.
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That's how it was when I did my WIP's for my cat's eyes it helped me to remember what I did and hopefully helped others too
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This is great! I love the tip about using white gel to add highlights. So much easier than saving white by sketching around the highlight. Thank you!!!
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Yeah, it's easier to use white gel for highlights but you should still try to avoid touching the highlights with your pencil and use the gel only as a last resort.
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Thank you so much for sharing this....you answered questions I didn't even know I had....i.e.tortillons and white gel pens.
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You're welcome. Glad I could help
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BEST TUTORIAL EVAH!!!
More! and more subject PLEASE!!!!!!!!!
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Thanks alot for this. There's some techniques I hadn't heard about here, those most were covered in drawing class.
Strathmore is way expensive though. 
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Will let you know if your tut helps ...shading ,hair, graphite shading , facial balance all areas that I now find myself heading into..A long way from my hb pencils...Thank you for posting this tut..cu..
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detailed and very informative!
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I seem to struggle with creating highlights in hair with my kneaded eraser. The wedge is never strong enough and collapses under the pressure I apply. If I make the wedge thicker, it makes the highlights look sort of "blobby". And if I don't apply as much pressure, it doesn't remove enough graphite. Even if I take multiple strokes. If anybody reading this has experienced and corrected this issue, any advice is greatly appreciated.
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Try a couple of different brands of eraser. Some are more dense than others and will hold their shape better. Squeeze the wedge sharply after each stroke and aim for areas that are already rather light.
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That checker board illusion really turned on a light bulb for me
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lots of helpful advice here! 
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Thank you very much! It was fun piecing together everything I've learned.
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You're welcome! Glad I could help
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i like the point where A and B are the same shade of grey. I mess often up because i don't calculate the light decrease of the lightsource on the drawing.
very nice tutorial!
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Thanks! Sometimes it's really hard to calculate how dark a shadow should be and you just have to go with your instinct and draw what looks good to you.
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