March 2012 – September 2012
This period of time is when I first started ‘pre-conditioning’ my paper so that I could create highlights with an eraser. For ten minutes before the workshop started, I’d use a piece of sandpaper to grind a graphite stick to produce a powder, which I would then rub on the paper with a piece of paper towel. I created the backgrounds I was looking for, but was time consuming and very messy. I’d discover the joys of toned paper much later.
In addition to this, I also began adding conte to my graphite drawings to increase the contrast. The conte allows me to get darker darks, while the graphite pencil allows for finer accuracy. This method, plus the lifting of highlights with an eraser, would define my style for quite a while.
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