The Post-Pencil Cleanse: Why understanding drawing fundamentals is important for painting

After nearly a month off from painting, I returned to the oils this week. I've done nearly 35 different pencil studies and sketches using only a 2h, hb and b pencil, as well as an eraser, a white pencil and a toned sketchbook. While I am not a huge fan of pencil as a medium, and I really enjoy working in color, I can successfully say that my work has become so much more clear and defined. I began this week on a sketch of a cavalier of sorts, riding a giant flying eagle. I started out sketching on a piece of illustration board. I sketched for about 25 minutes, easily and quickly locking in a loose sketch, and not being afraid to erase and adjust things as I went (this is something I've always struggled with, but something which is also getting better as I work more and more in pencil.) After completing this, I laid in the first coat of oils- expecting to have lots of trouble adjusting to get the right shade and value, and probably anticipating 3 hours to get things right.

To my surprise, the lay in took only 20 minutes. From having had so much experience seeing in shades of reduced value (the pencils only really had 3 different shades, and the paper), I was able to quickly identify the value I was looking for, and having selected a restricted color palette, it became clear that I didn't really need to worry about whether I used orange or blue, or a mixture of the two: as long as I was in the correct value, it made sense as a realistic image. I then tried to keep blues in front and back, and oranges in the middle. It all worked really well, and I cannot wait to continue with the lay in!