TOOLS & MATERIALS

To create graphite pencil portraits, all you really need are a few basic tools, Including the right paper and a few different types of pencils.

Drawing Paper

Paper can vary In weight (thickness), tone (surface color), and texture. Start out with smooth, plain white paper so you can easily see and control your strokes. Also, use a piece of paper as a barrier between your hand and your drawing. This prevents you from smudging your drawing and keeps oils from your skin from damaging the art.

Pencils

Graphite pencils are labeled with numbers and letters — and the combination of the two indicates the softness of the graphite. B pencils, for example, are soft and produce dark, heavy strokes, whereas H pencils are harder and create thin, light lines. An HB pencil Is somewhere In between the two, which makes it a good, versatile tool for most artists. For the projects in this book, begin with a basic #2 pencil and a 4H pencil.

Erasers

Erasers remove mistakes, but they are also effective drawing tools in themselves. You can use them to pull out light lines, add crisp highlights, subtly lighten areas of tone, and more. Vinyl and plastic erasers are usually white with a plastic feel. They leave behind a clean surface and are gentle on the paper's fibers. Kneaded erasers (usually gray) are pliable like clay, allowing you to form them into any shape. Knead and work the eraser until it softens; then dab or roll it over areas to slowly and deliberately lighten the tone. To "clean" it, simply knead it. The eraser will eventually take in too much graphite and need to be replaced.

Pencil Sharpener or Sandpaper Block

Sharpening instruments give you control over your pencil tips, which in turn gives you control over the quality of your lines. Handheld sharpeners shave pencil ends into cone shapes, exposing the lead and creating sharp tips. A sandpaper block is essentially a few sandpaper sheets stapled to a soft block with a handle. Holding the block in place, stroke and roll the pencil tip over the surface to sharpen.

Holding a Pencil

There are two common ways to hold a pencil: the underhand position (A) and the writing position (B). The underhand position is great for loose sketches, shading, and broad strokes, whereas the writing position is ideal for detail work.

Additional Materials

• Gesso

• Reading glasses with a powerful correction or a desk lamp with a built-in magnifying lens

• Ruler

• Toothbrush

BASIC PENCIL TECHNIQUE

With just a few basic shading techniques, you can render everything from a smooth complexion to a simple background. Shade evenly in a back-and-forth motion over the same area, varying the spot where the pencil point changes direction. Don't shade with a mechanical side-to-side direction, with each stroke ending below the last, as this can create unwanted bands of tone throughout the shaded area.

Blending Smooth out transitions between strokes and create a dark, solid tone by gently rubbing the lines with a blending stung or tissue.

Shading Darkly Create dark, linear areas of shading by applying heavy pressure to the pencil.

Hatching Make many parallel strokes close together. Crosshatching is adding another layer of hatching at an angle.

Gradating Apply heavy pressure with the side of your pencil, and then gradually lessen the pressure as you stroke to create a transition from light to dark.

Shading with Texture Use the side of the pencil tip to apply small, uneven strokes for a mottled texture.

Scumbling (scribbling) For more contrast in your drawings, include loose, circular strokes and squiggles. When used with hatching, these strokes create many interesting textures.

ADDING TEXTURE

A texture should be rendered based on how the light source affects it. Don't confuse texture with pattern, which is the tone or coloration of the material. Use texture to build a shadow area and give the larger shape its proper weight and form in space. Think of texture as a series of forms (or lack thereof) on a surface. When using this book, you will draw a few different textures, including cloth, leather, metal, and a stonelike texture.

Cloth The texture of cloth will depend on the thickness and stiffness of the material. Thinner materials will have more wrinkles that conform to shapes more. Shading with choppy horizontal strokes and occasional scribbles will convey that a character's robes are made of some sort of rough, primitive material.

Stone To replicate the look of stone, use a variety of different strokes and angles. To avoid the appearance of crosshatching, do your best to stop the lines from overlapping. In addition to the pencil work, occasionally dab a kneadable eraser over the surface to add a blotchy texture. Finish by drawing some cracks across the surface with a sharp pencil.

Leather For stiff, highly polished leather, shade with a deep black and do minimal blending. For soft, well-worn leather, use a variety of pencil strokes to define the scratches and distressed marks.

Metal Polished metal is a mirrored surface and reflects a distorted image of whatever is around it. Metal can range from dull to incredibly sharp and mirror-like. The shapes reflected will be abstract with hard edges, and the reflected light will be very bright.

DEPICTING VILLAINS

While you're drawing, try to remember that one of the grand themes in the Star Wars saga is that it's never too late to turn from the dark side. With some characters — Kylo Ren, for instance — the struggle between darkness and light is part of what makes them who they are. Conveying that inner conflict visually can really bring your work to life.

Here are a few visual cues you can use when drawing to indicate your subjects' allegiance to evil.

Lighting Kylo Ren's armor provides protection in battle, but its most important purpose is to intimidate. Accentuate Kylo's menacing look in your sketch by drawing him emerging from the shadows, light glinting off the silver around his eyes, which — like his heart — are shrouded in darkness.

Facial Features and Expression Facial expression is another important aspect to keep in mind when depicting bad guys. Darth Maul conveys danger by simply looking at the viewer intently from under furrowed brows. This is simply a portrait-there's no action or movement occurring-but because of his expression, the explosive tension within Maul is evident.

Posture and Camera Angle Supreme Chancellor Palpatine...