Materials and Equipment (Part 1)

“Some of my freehand works in graphite take over 500 hours from start to finish so great care has to be taken during that time not to do anything that will damage or cause deterioration to the all important piece of paper ...”

In this first of two articles on the subject I am going to give you the drum on setting up your own workspace and organizing the gear you need for your own personal tilt at the graphite chiaroscuro journey. It took me years of trial and error and experimentation to get to here. Many of my methods and working techniques are purely personal and may or may not suit you, but all I can do is explain as clearly as I can my own likes and dislikes, as with everything from my world, that I arrange into strings of words for these articles. Please at least try all the ideas and concepts. Take the ones useful to you and discard the rest. My way is certainly not the only way but it’s the only one I’ve got and it has served me very well so far.

Some of my freehand works in graphite take over 500 hours from start to finish so great care has to be