The Pencil: Thinking and Technique
James Gurney shares six ways to use the pencil and six ways to think about it
The pencil is the most basic tool for visual thinking, and it can be used in a lot of different ways. I’ve taken some random sketchbook pages and grouped them into six categories. For each one, I’ll tell you about what I’m thinking and how that thought process influences my technical approach. Not every sketch turns out great, but it’s more likely to be successful when it starts with a clear goal and a strategy to achieve it.
Thinking
When a solo musician gives a concert, it’s a good chance to sketch a person actually doing something rather than just posing. They are in constant motion but they return to one or two home positions. At first I’m a bit overwhelmed by the complexity of the accordion, so I count the keys and double check it to try to get it more or less right.
Technique
This is drawn with a water-soluble graphite pencil in a watercolor sketchbook. I use a water brush to blend the pencil and create the soft gray tones around the figure. I switch to a harder pencil for the fine lines between the keys.
Thinking
What grabs me about this scene is the juxtaposition of architectural styles. The art nouveau building stands tall and alone, a survivor of the WWII bombs that flattened much of London. It also nearly got torn down during the urban renewal movement of the ’60s. I’m not interested in a snapshot or a retinal impression. I want to understand how time has altered this little corner of London.
Technique
After drawing light perspective guidelines, I use two grades of graphite pencils, HB and 3B. Graphite pencils also come with flat, rectangular cross-sections that are ideal for this kind of drawing. I sharpen the soft pencil into a chisel tip, which lets me draw each window in a single stroke. Under the clock is a statue of a friar, and there are iron balcony railings under the windows and a pedestrian fence at street level. These ornate details contrast with the stark geometric forms of the postwar structures around it, which I shade in with the side of the pencil.