I buy it, Peter. Something like this.

Thanks so much for your answer David. I love the ‘smooth’, flesh-like effect of the graphite powder. Is this something you buy or just make with a pencil and a pencil-sharpener?

Thanks, Peter. I used a photo reference for this one. Ethan’s not a professional art model, so making him sit for several hours wouldn’t be kind. He’s also family, so I can’t treat him too badly 😉

I don’t keep track of time when I’m not paying a model by the hour, so it’s hard to say for sure. If I had to guess, I’d say somewhere between 15 and 20 hours… maybe a little more if you count the time I spend just staring at it, wondering what needs fixing.

There’s no charcoal in the drawing. The brush is used to apply graphite powder, and the darker pencils are Staedtler Mars Lumograph black pencils that have carbon black added to the graphite leads. The white pencil is a General’s Charcoal “White”, which is a little more chalky than conté crayon.

Hope that helps.

I like that idea, Rachel. Thank you.