Bristol board

Neillydun · #1 03-30-2003, 09:24 AM

Hi,

I finally got around to buying the Bristol board everyone seems to talk about and I seem to have difficulty getting darker tones with it (more difficult than with other papers ive used). Is this normal because it has no tooth? And if so, whats the solution? Is it patience? Darker pencils? or both?

I started on a portrait of my brother-in-law and apart from the problems getting the dark tones, I like using this Bristol stuff. It takes a hell of a lot of reworking (always welcome to a beginner like me

) and the finish looks better close up.

and my ref:

/Neilly

SierraHD · #2 03-30-2003, 09:37 AM

Hi Neilly! I can't answer your bristol question, I have never used it. I recently bought some so I will be trying it out soon! I just wanted to tell ya that I think your portrait is great, excellent shading!

Original Renditions · #3 03-30-2003, 09:41 AM

Nice Job!! Your portrait is great but I agree it could use more contrast. I use smooth Bristol a lot and can get pretty dark with even a 2B lead. 4B or 6B should give you VERY dark tones without having to press hard. Hope this helps...

Al

**Crias** · #4 03-30-2003, 10:47 AM

I just used Bristol for the first time, but didn't find any problems with getting the darks. With the 2B lead I made several layers and was able to get close to black. All of the background and darkest areas on this piece were done with 2B lead.

Imaginee · #5 03-30-2003, 02:28 PM

Hi Neilly, what a great portrait, it's lookign good!!

I used Bristol for the first time a month or so ago. I found it to be so different then paper, I too couldn't shade as well, so i worked it and worked it till I got a better feel. It just takes getting use to, as anything else we try for the first time. I do love that the Bristol can take all I give it, it's so much better then the thin drawing paper I used for years.

~Linda

harmony · #6 03-30-2003, 08:00 PM

I'm not really sure about the bristol board but the drawing is fantastic. Great work.

~Harmony

dhesse · #7 03-30-2003, 08:27 PM

Very nice portrait Neilly. When I first started using Bristol I had the exact same problem. I figured out the trick is layering. You have to add a lot of layers to get the dark, smooth tone, blending well after each layer. Well, that is what I did anyway, others may have better ways to accomplish this.

Jester7 · #8 03-30-2003, 09:28 PM

Hey,

Good question... I use either Bristol board or hot press watercolor paper for most of my work. There are two types of bristol board, Regular and Smooth. You need to make sure you pick the regular stuff up for pencils. Or had a good point... go out and buy a set of pencils in various densities and that should solve your problem.

I usually start with H or HB and work towards 6H for darker and darker areas.

Oh, and very nice job capturing your subject! I like your tones...

J.

Neillydun · #9 04-01-2003, 02:42 AM

Thank you all for your kind words

I'm glad to hear others had similar experiences, and it is getting easier to know how much tone you can achieve. About layering the tones, thats what I meant with patience. Previously I could get a decent black easily but now it just takes a bit longer, which in itself might be a good thing

I'm still working on this portrait and i'll post it when finished.

cheers,

Neilly

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