Silver Reflections

As with any new tool, you need to explore just what you can do with it  and new pencils are no different.  So I pushed from the lightest to darkest using only two of the grades, 2B and 2H, of the Palomino Pencils.  The sky is done using a light layer of 2B chamoised smooth, with subtle changes to reflect the clouds hovering on top of the mountain peak.  The distant mountain texture is taking advantage of the 2B graphite grain on the paper  (300 Series Strathmore Bristol Board smooth).  The 2B is continued to be used to create the mid and foreground trees.

The water is created using the 2H.  The harder lead lends itself well to create the glass smooth stillness of the lake.  Using horizontal strokes, the gentle and subtle reflections are drawn in. 

Silver Reflections 

4-1/2 x 7- 3/4

This is from a reference photo taken by my nephew, Kyle Clark, during a recent mountain bike trip to Mt. Shasta in California.

Palomino Pencils

Joey Centanni of Pencils.com requested that I try out some of their premier Palomino pencils. I kind of chuckled because if there is one thing I don't use is wooden pencils. But since they are featuring my artwork on their website, I thought the least I could do is to see if I liked their product.

I am pleasantly surprised and very impressed by the wonderful graphite quality of these pencils! They are encased in high quality cedar wood and the graphite is as smooth as silk.  The lead grades range from 2H, H, HB, B and 2B.  But don't let that fool you!  The 2H is comparable to an HB and the 2B is more like a 4B without the graininess!!

I'm an avid mechanical pencil user so I didn't think it was possible, but the Palomino just might make a convert out of me!  Here is my first drawing using these pencils.....but I guarantee it won't be my last.

Gentle Cascades