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The Penciling Tutorial
Published: 2006-06-12 05:35:56 +0000 UTC; Views: 175202; Favourites: 4759; Downloads: 16170
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Description
Update: Thanks everyone for the DD. I've uploaded a higher contrast image, so you may see the text better. : )Dedicated to my the watchers, who seem to enjoy my pencil work.
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This tutorial covers the materials, process, and mistakes of the penciling process, and there is even a short step by step demonstration showing how I do my pencil drawings. Although the example is anime, this can really be used for all styles and the methods and steps taken carry outside of the genre. I worked quite hard on this, so I hope you all enjoy it. This tutorial IS reading intense, but it's worth it--I promise.
Feel free to ask me a question by sending me a note. And, please do tell me if this tutorial helps you any as it encourages me to make more and it simply makes me happy.
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How do I prevent smudging after I am done drawing?
All you have to do is go down your local arts and crafts store and purchase some fixative. It's like a spray that you can use on your drawings to prevent smudging. Make sure you step back away from your drawing when you spray and if you are sensative to sprays or odors, use it outside. Also, you make sure you purchase a 'workable' fixative' so that you can still come back and edit easily. You can also use hair spray as a cheap substitute^^ Don't grab the adhesive spray by mistake!! They are usually placed right next to each other in similar cans.
I make my tutorials for free, but if you enjoy my tutorials and want to donate some funds for gas, art books and such, I would appreciate it. [link]
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The Lineart Tutorial ---> [link]
Make your own Tortillon ---> [link]
Tutorial by my buddy, ~leinef ---> [link]
Related content
Comments: 580
Amazing how useful this is. (I can't shade. At all.)
Although I have to admit I skipped a lot throughout the tutorial. But I think I understand most of it
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I really love reading your tutorials. Not only are they useful but the descriptions are really thorough as well. They make me want to go out, buy a bunch of art supplies and start sketching. But then I remember, crap, I don't have anytime (exams >
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Wow, what an amazing and useful tutorial 
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As for the prevention of smudging after one`s done with drawing - different fixative sprays can be expensive, so you can also use the common hair-spray domesticus vulgaris
A little trick they taught us/me at college. Works like a charm! Don`t know if anyone has posted that here, though...
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Yes, I've already put it in the Artist's Comments, but thank you 
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great tutorial. i needed hnelp badly with penciling.
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I have this graphite set I got and it has
2H - H - F - HB - 2B - 4B - 6B - 8B, two charcoal sticks [soft and medium], sharpeners, kneading eraser and all that....and charcoal pencils and a sketch stick.
....But I have no idea how to use them.
I've been going around and reading tutorials, and yours helped me alot. But I'm still confused on how to actually start it.
Do I use a regular HB pencil to start and make the basic outline of the person, then start using the pencils? ><
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Bah, sorry for not getting to this comment sooner T__T You were at the bottom of my messages...
First off, what an awesome drawing kit. Since I didn't mention charcoal in my tutorial. Your charcoal stick are probably too long to decently draw with (or they usually are) they should be about and inch long or you can break them in half. Soft will be blacker and easier to make marks with. Medium should be stiffer. You can use the stiffer one to do the outline and the softer one to build darker values. I would not advise mixing charcoal and graphite. I mean... you can, but graphite is shiny and charcoal is not. If you, say, make a sketch in graphite, and then go over stuff in charcoal, the the shiny material of the graphite will shine through your drawing.
You should start your drawing with a hard pencil, 2H or H. With this pencil create your outline/sketch of your drawing. The marks with this pencil will be easier to erase if you make a mistake. Don't press your pencil too hard into your paper to make the mark darker. Hard pencils aren't for dark marks, and you'll just end up making indents on your paper. Once you've got that sketched start using darker pencils. HB/B, Start shading with these. As you get to the max dark of these pencils switch up and start using the darker pencils, 2B-8B. Use the 2B some and then switch to the 4B and so on and so forth. Try not to get too dark : )
Hope that explains; Again, so sorry for being so late D:
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>w< thank you! Alot of things are much more clear to me now. [Bows] D: I am so bad at it~
Oh, I heard there was a spray[or something?] you had to buy to keep the graphite on the paper and not smudging away....o.0 What is it?
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Happy to help : )
Yes, you can buy spray fixative to prevent smudging. [link] A workable fixative lets you get to the layers beneath the spray, and you can still erase/whatever those previous parts. A regular fixative seals the previous materials below the spray.
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very informative, well constructed, easy to understand!
Thanks for making it!
(anyway, I found it hard to print it out, all my known programs failed with that extra long image, so a friend wrote a little program for me to crop and save the separate images where I click on the picture)
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Eh, well it wasn't really designed for print. Sorry : ( I'll be offering pdf versions with my other tutorials.
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Wonderful! I'm definitely going to use this. Very inspiring with lots of helpful hints.
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wow, that's the bestest tutorial in the world. Thankyou so much.
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Thanks very much for reading it : )
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where do u get blenders? are they items? like white sticks? i think i HAD one...
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you can actually use q-tips or cotton balls you know. or tissue.
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That was really helpful. I found a box of my dads art supplues but had no idea what the letters on the pencils ment. I just wnated to know that but got this other great stuff, too!
It'll take me a long time to get up to your level but I'm determined to try...
And you need to make a hair tutorial!!
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I'm happy you found my tutorial informative : ) I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with all of your dad's stuff.
Haha, that hair tutorial is in high demand *needs to finish it one day*
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thankyou for making this tutorial it very detailed and written well. I feel as thought this will help me become more confident with my lines!
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Thanks very much for reading it~!
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no problem it was really helpful, sometimes every one needs a refresher on the basics. ^^
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Wow! A wonderful tutorial! Thank you very much for making it! I have really been looking for something like this 
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No problem : ) Thanks for reading.
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Incredibly helpful! To the artmobile now, to put the learnings into practice!
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lovely i shall have to use this ^.^
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In your line drawing (before you begin shading with your values) how do you get so much detail in without things becomeing to dark/condensed. Whenever I try to do things like buttons, or knobs, or accessories of folds, etc. my drawing become to dark and all my detail is lost. How can I stop that from happening??
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Well, initially, I always draw very lightly. Also, I try to start off with a simple shapes and then add detail to it. For example, if I were to draw a button, I'd draw a circle and then add details to that. Divide the details into smaller sections and then add details. I can make a little mini-tutorial if you want of that... since others have made the same comments.
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Ok, yeah a tutorial for that might be helpful.... Thanks for the advice though I'm havign less trouble now.
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Happy you found it helpful : ) Thanks for reading n__n
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no, thank you!
you really helped me^^
and ur really goood
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Thank you for your wonderful tutorial. Today I was at a craft store and wondered what all the different letter values on the graphite pencils meant, now I know. Thank you. I'm so happy you went over material because that was where I was lost the most.
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i actually noted some of this down in my artbook
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Thanks so much, this tutorial is amazingly helpful.
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Thank you for taking the time to read it : )
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That is the longest tutorial I've ever read!!
you know how they say 'quality is better than quantity'?
Well you have both!! xD
You helped me ^^
I'm working with realism and looking at the most tutorials as possible.
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Whew.
Glad i'm a fast reader ^^
Very...thorough (I dunno how you spell it lol)
Definitly learned a few things there, thanks.
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Your tutorials are always helpful and your work is really inspirational,
Big thank you to you!
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Very nice, I enjoyed reading it. ^.^
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hope im not asking too much, but can you hint me or give me link on how to scan pencil drawings? mine seem always to be messy
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Erm, I'm guessing your drawings are too dark and that you own photoshop.
Scan in your drawing with photoshop or bring it into photoshop. Press command+L(windows) or control+L (windows) and a new window will appear. You'll see some sort of curve with little arrows/triangles beneath it (white, black, and gray). Drag the white triangle to the left until you've made your paper look white enough and removes most of the stray light marks. Move the middle, gray triangle until the image looks right. If you want your lines to be darker, move the black triangle to the right until you've got your blacks black enough. Press okay.
Hopefully that works.
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