Transcripts
1. Introduction: When creating a
drawing, the subject is the main focal element, but there is also
another part of the picture that you may want
to take into consideration. Hi, I'm Jamie, and I've been a professional artist
for over 20 years now. Many of my works
have been published, as well as widely exhibited
in galleries and exhibitions. And I also have a website, YouTube channel that showcases the type of work that I do. Backgrounds can
help to add drama, as well as give a sense of
the animal's environment. From dark and dramatic
to something more moody, or maybe you don't even
need any background at all. This purely depends on the type of look that
you want to create. So that's what
we're going to take a look at in this class. We'll start by looking at
the choice of materials, and you might be surprised
at some of the things we can use to create these
different effects. I'll then show you how to create three different types
of backgrounds. Starting with a
smooth even tone, then moving on to a dusty
more hazy appearance before then finishing on the blurred out of focus background, and, of course, many other
tricks and tips as well. This class is aimed
at all abilities, as there is something
for everybody. So if this is something
that you'd like to do, then why not sign up, and I look forward to
seeing you in class.
2. Class Project: For the class project, you're
going to learn how to use some relatively simple tools to create some very striking
and effective backgrounds. In this class, we'll
first take a look at the different types of tools and materials that we're
going to be using. We'll then use the
different tools to correct the specific effects
that we're looking for. The first of these is
probably the easiest, and that's to create an
even gray or black tone. Moving on from that, we can create the hazy or dusty
looking background, and this can really
be quite atmospheric. And finally, for the blurred
out of focus background. Now, this may technically be the most difficult one
of the three to do, but it's also the most fun and can really give a picture
a sense of depth. Each lesson forms part of the class project,
and as you progress, you'll gain confidence
and understanding in the application of the
techniques that you're using. Now, it is totally up
to you how much of your work that you upload to
the class project section. But it would be really
nice to be able to see your progress and how you're getting on with
these techniques. And remember, I'm always here to ask for any
help and advice. Now, I had provided a couple of reference images for the
more creative backgrounds. Or, of course, you
could use your own or just your imagination. It purely depends how
creative you want to get. In the first lesson, we'll take a look at the different
types of tools and materials that we're going to be using
during this class.
3. Materials: Let's take a look at
the different types of tools and materials that
we're going to be using. And some of these are not
really what you might expect when it comes
to creating a drawing. Paper choice is the main
foundation for any drawing, and I always recommend using a hot press watercolor paper, as I feel that it gives the best result when
working with graphite. But don't worry. If you
haven't got a piece of this, just for learning, any smooth finished paper should
work just fine. And incidentally,
the paper that I'm using is St. Cuthbert
Saunders Waterford. You're also going to
need two pencils, and I'd recommend a
two B and nine B, but any similar grade
should work just fine. Now, the next one
is not a censor, and this is a nine B
graphite block or stick. And this is for producing the very dark black backgrounds. And the reason for this
is it's just a bit more economical than
using a nine B pencil. You're also going to need
some form of blending tool. Personally, I like to use a blending stump,
but, of course, if you haven't got
one of those, you could use a tip or cotton bud. In terms of an eraser, I'd always recommend
using a kable one. But of course, if you
haven't got one of these, then blue tack or sticky
tack will work just as well. We now come to the
more unusual tools, starting with the makeup sponge. Now, there are different
shapes of these available, and personally, I prefer
these wedge shaped ones. A makeup pan is
another useful tool, and unlike cotton wool, it doesn't tend
to leave a lot of fibers on the surface
of the paper. You're also going to
need some form of brush. I'd recommend using
a makeup brush for this as these tend to
have very soft bristles. But again, alternatively,
if you've got a very soft paint brush,
you could use that. And finally, graphite powder. Now, you can buy
this, but of course, alternatively, you
could make it. To make it, I'd recommend using a three B graphite
block or stick or any similar grade and
also a peppercorn grinder. And that's what I'm going to
show you in the next lesson.
4. Making Graphite Powder: There are a few different ways that you can make
graphite powder. The first of these
is to take a pencil, shave off the wood
to expose the core, and then sand it down. But this can be quite
time consuming. So I prefer to use
a different method, and this involves
using a graphite block and a peppercorn grinder. Now, I'm using a three
B block for this, as I feel this is the
easiest grade to work with. But you can use any grade
that you like for this. You want to first
place the stick in a thick plastic bag
and then seal the end. For the next part, I suggest
doing this outside on a firm surface just in
case the bag splits, as we're going to have
to break the block up. Place the block on
the firm surface and then cover this
with a relatively thick piece of material. Something like an old tea
towel is ideal for this. Trust me, you certainly don't want to be using
anything that's new. It's also a good idea to be cautious and wear a
pair of safety glasses. You now want to
break the block up into small chunks
using a hammer. You don't have to
hit the block hard. You only need to tap it as
the block is quite brittle. So just go over
this a few times to break it down into
relatively small chunks. I'd still do the next bit outside because it still
can be quite messy, and you may find that the bag will have split in a few places. Remove the towel,
unseal the bag, and then carefully tip the chunks into the
peppercorn grinder. Screw on the lid, and then you can grind out some powder into a pot. And that's it. You now have some graphoite
powder to work with. So the key points to remember, work outside to prevent
making too much mess. Only tap the block lightly with the hammer because it is
quite brittle and will break into chunks
easily and make sure to wear some eye protection
to be on the safe side. In the next lesson,
I'll show you how to create a couple of even
dark background tones.
5. Even Tone: Getting a smooth,
consistent tone for a background may initially
seem a little bit challenging, but there is quite a
simple way to do this, and that's what I'm going
to show you in this lesson. So for this, we're going to
use the graphoit powder, the makeup sponge, and also, you're going to need a
piece of scrap paper. Simply take the sponge and then dip it in the
graphoit powder. Tap off the excess and then work this
into the scrap paper. You may have to do this
a few times to get the sponge well and truly
loaded with graphite. And also by working
on the scrap paper, you leave any excess
grains of graphite behind, which could potentially
scratch our work surface. I have masked off two areas on the paper using a low tack
decorating masking tape. One is for the gray and the
other is for the black, but they both start
the same way. Taking the sponge, I use a
circular motion and just press down and then work
the toe into the paper. You want to work
over the whole area slowly building the
tone in layers. Particularly with a new sponge, you'll have to regularly go back and reload it with graphite. Build the tone in layers until you achieve the
effect that you want. Also, as well, then
go back in and just smooth out any harsh
spots that you can see. We can now just do the
same with our second one, and this will give
us a good base for our black background. So now we've got that done, we're ready to add
some dark tone. Watercolor papers tend to have a grain or a tooth
to the surface. And by using the
sponge this way, we get toned down into that. Then when we build our
darker tones upon it, we get a more even appearance. This prevents the harsh
appearance of grain from showing through when we apply a
darker pencil over the top. For the black background, I'm going to use my darkest tone, which is a nine B pencil. This is applied using a
tight circular motion. Now, as you can see, this
does take some time, and it does wear through
pencils quite quickly. So the other alternative is to use a nine
B graphite block. Again, the same
process using circles. The reason why you want to use a tight circular
motion when doing this is because depending on how the light hits it,
at the very worst, you will get a slight
mottled appearance to it, whereas if you were to
use a straight lines, then they will just
look out of place. It's a good idea, whether
you're using a block or a pencil to
occasionally rotate it, so you wear it evenly. Because graphd is a crystal, it will reflect light. So this is something that
you have to take into consideration when doing
the solid black background. So with the background
now blocked in, the last thing that I want to
do is just go back to using the pencil and just finish
off around the edges. I'm again using a
tight circular motion, but this time I'm just working
over the edge of the tape. Okay, so with that done, the thing to do now is
to just remove the tape. I would say that
if you are going to leave tape on a picture, only use it on there for
the minimum amount of time necessary and
then remove it. Even low tack tape like this will adhere quite aggressively
if left on too long. And when removing it, don't try to pull it off too heavily. Just apply a little
bit of pressure and let the glue
naturally release. This way, you avoid tearing
up the surface of the paper. So that's our gray and
black backgrounds done. And as you can see,
the black background has a very slight
mottle look to it, and this gives a very
natural appearance. But remember, the
darker the tone, the more it's going
to reflect light. So this is something that
you have to take into consideration when
displaying a picture. So the key points to remember, make sure to build
your tones in layers and always work in a
tight circular motion. In the next lesson, I'll
show you how to give a background that hazy
or dusty appearance.
6. Hazy and Dusty: A hazy or dusty background can really help to give a picture
a sense of atmosphere. We're still going to use
the graphite powder, but this time, we're
going to apply it using a makeup pad. These have more structure
to them than, say, cotton wool, and they don't tend to leave fibers on the
surface of the paper. Just as with the makeup sponge, we first need to load
this with graphite. And then just work the
graphite into the pad. Again, this will leave the excess grains behind
on the scrap paper. So now we've got some
graphite loaded into the pad. We can start to apply
this to our paper. We don't want to use a circular
motion when doing this. We want to do this in quite
an erratic sort of manner. And as you can see, that
very simply gives it quite a hazy look to
it. Very, very simple. And not too time consuming. And like I said,
that can just add a little bit of atmosphere
to a background. So that's quite effective
and also very subtle. But for the more
dusty background, we first need to again start
with the same base layer. But once we've done that,
we can then go back in and exaggerate
specific areas. Again, being very erratic
with how we use the pad. And this really makes
something a bit more dramatic. Remember, you may also
have to occasionally reload the pad with
some more graphite. We can now enhance this further
using a blending stump. Again, more graphite can be
added to this if required, but this is quite an old stump, so it is very saturated
with graphite. You want to look
for specific areas like this and just harden
up the edges with it. This just helps to
give a sense of more dust kicked up in the air. This is still used in
an erratic manner, but just more targeted. So areas can then be
highlighted using a needable eraser with a point
rolled on the end of it. This can then be
dabbed into some areas just likely to add some
subtle highlighting. I Sony wants to be
very subtle, though. You don't want to go too
over the top with this. And you can see I'm not
pressing very hard. I'm just literally just
brushing it over the surface, just to lift out a little bit
of the tone in some areas. And then to finish, just take the pad and just soften the look by just
lightly rubbing over the top. As you can see,
there's a couple of nice effects and
relatively simple to do. The key points to
remember this time, make sure to work in
an erratic manner. And also, more than anything, don't be afraid of
being creative. In the next lesson,
we tackle what is the most challenging yet
enjoyable to do, and that is the blurred
out of focus background.
7. Blurred and Out Of Focus: By using a background with a blurred out of focus appearance, you help to create a
sense of depth and distance between the subject
and its environment. And the main tool that we're
going to use to create this effect is a makeup brush. So this time, in addition to
our powder, blending stump, and kneadable eraser,
we're also going to be using the makeup brush
and to be pencil. And also, it's not
a bad idea as well to have a small piece
of scrap paper, as well, and you see
white in a minute. Taking the piece of scrap paper, we now want to make a small
trough at the bottom of it. So I just want to literally
fold this over like this. It doesn't matter how big
you make this at all. And then what I'm
going to do now is just fold over the corners. Like that. And again, on the other side.
And there we go. So now we have a trough
down the bottom. So dip the brush in the powder and then
tap off the excess. We can now use the brush
on the piece of scrap. And as you can see,
the excess grains fall into the trough, and we can use those
as we work through. So now I've got rid
of the excess grains, I can start to work
on the picture. This gives me a reservoir of graphite powder to work with. And at the end of the
day, when I finish, I can just tip this
back into the pot. You're not looking to be hugely accurate when
you're doing this. All we're doing at
the moment is just literally sketching
in with the brush, the shapes that we
want to put in. And every now and
again, I just load up the brush with
a bit more powder. Remember, the reference
is only a guide. You can basically be as creative as you like
when doing this. So this gives a nice
soft edge to everything. And now I've built
in the basic shape. I can go back in and
strengthen the tone in some areas by just applying
more layers of graphite. You have to be prepared to use a bit of patience
when doing this, as it does take a fair amount of time to build up the depth
of tone that you want. Well, that's the basic
background pretty much done. So now I can go
back in and start to work in more specific areas. To do this, I'm now going to
switch to the two B pencil. But the important thing with this is it wants to be blunt. I want to add more tone to
the very darkest areas, but I particularly don't want to lose these nice soft edges. For example, here, I'm
just applying the tone to this sort of central
area of this part. I'm just using tiny
circles to apply the tone. And I'm not pressing hard. I'm just letting the pencil
glide over the surface. With that done, I can then take the blending stump and just carefully manipulate
it and blend it out. And then using the makeup brush, just soften the edge further. Again, this may
take a few layers to achieve the desired effect. This is now just
really a matter of applying tone softening it, as well as also
blending out the edges and literally just
working between the different tools
of the pencil, the blending stump, and
also the makeup brush. The blending stump
can also be used for any of the more
finer detailed areas. And then just softened
off with the brush. This is now just a
process of building the tone with layers
of two B pencil, then blending out the edges
with the blending stump, and then smoothing this out further with the makeup brush. So now I've got to this stage, I want to go back in using the makeup brush and
some graphite powder and just smooth out
the tones a bit further to make it a
little bit more subtle. It's worth remembering that when doing one of these backgrounds, that you don't
want it to detract from the main subject
of your picture. This can take a
little bit of time, but it is very effective. The reference is only a guide, so don't be afraid to use a fair degree of artistic
license with this. And there we have it nice and subtle and not too overpowering. For this next one, we've got
a few leaves to deal with. So the first thing
that we need to do is to just sketch those in loosely. And the best tool to
use to do this is the blending stump because it
will give a nice soft edge. You only want to do
this very loosely, and it doesn't have to
be massively accurate. Like I said, you can use a fair degree of
artistic license. This is literally
to just give us an idea of the shape for
where the leaves are. Also, as you work
through, don't be afraid to block in some of the gaps using either
the makeup brush or for the smaller areas, you can use the blending stump. So that's our base layer dum. And now we can add more tone to our darkest areas as we
did with the previous one. Initially building more tone
in the central area with the makeup brush before
switching to the two B pencil, once you've got the
darkest tones blocked in, you're now ready to start
working on the leaves. The first thing to do is to work over the edge of the
leaves to blow them out. You want to make sure to only
do this over the very edge. As you work over the edge, the blender will actually
diminish the darker tone. So if you need to, you
can always go back in with the two B pencil and
just strengthen it up. I'm going to use the
blending stump on each leaf to help
to add some shape. I can then switch to the
makeup brush to build up some more tone as well as
also soften out the look. To add some more tone
to the detailed areas, you can always switch back
to the blending stump. But just remember
that you may need to occasionally reload
this with graphite. And if you want to add
any highlights anywhere, then you can just use
the kneadable eraser. With a fine point
rolled on the end, you can just use this to very
likely draw tone back out. And again, don't be afraid of using a little bit
of artistic license. I'm just dabbing the
blending stump over this leaf to give it
some subtle texture, which has a very
soft edge to it. You'll probably find as well, though, that when doing this, you have to constantly reload the blending stump with
more graphite powder. The makeup brush
can then be used to just soften the appearance
a little bit more. This same process is then
repeated for the lower leaf. At this point, it's a good idea to just look at what you've done and then make any
slight alterations or changes that you want to. For me, I just want to soften the edges on these very
distant leaves at the back. So I'm just going to use
the blending stump to just brush some tone
in to the ends. So that's quite a nice effect, and it also helps to
create a bit of separation and distance between
some of these leaves. So that's two variations on the blurred background with one being more subtle
than the other. You probably noticed
I've only used a two B pencil and a three B
powder for my darkest tones. The reason for this is because it helps
to create a bit of separation between the subject and the out of focus background, which could otherwise
become a bit distracting if darker
tones were used. So the key point is to remember, use the different
tools to create these subtle effects
and don't be afraid to use a degree
of artistic license. In the next lesson, I'll
give you a couple of bonus tips as well as
my final thoughts.
8. Bonus Tips and Conclusion : So we've been through creating some various different
backgrounds, but I do have a
couple of bonus tips that will definitely
come in useful. The first of these is
to add the background in after you've sketched
out the subject. The reason for this is that you'll then draw the picture to match the background in
terms of contrast and tone. This then prevents
the overall picture from looking flat
and washed out. This is a mistake that
I made years ago, and it's so easy to
prevent it from happening. You don't have to put in
all the background to start with enough around the picture to give you a visual reference. The other is that
you can not only use the dust effect
for a background. You can also use this to give a subject to sense of movement. But make sure if you
are going to apply this over any part
of the subject, this area would be lighter as well as also slightly blurred. So the key points to
remember this time, add some of the background
after drawing out the subject, and also, don't be afraid to use the dust effect to help to create movement
within a picture. Don't forget you can upload your work to the projects
gallery at any time, as it would be really nice
to see your progress. And remember, I'm always here to offer any
help and advice. In conclusion, I hope that you found the class
useful and enjoyable, as well as learning more skills to push your artwork further. With each picture you do,
you'll gain confidence and experience in the application
of these techniques. Just don't get too
ambitious to start with. Just remember to take your time, enjoy what you're doing, and
don't overcomplicate things. So thank you so
much for watching, and I look forward to seeing
you in another class.
Jamie Boots, Wildlife Artist, Teacher
