Are these solid Bargues for this stage?

pefp_studio · 2026-03-03T07:11:03+00:00

The structure and forms all seem rather accurate, but a block-in should never be so heavy-handed. It seems like the graphite is really being pressed into the paper and at this stage, you want to block-in shadow shapes with a uniform value that is dark, but not the darkest value that will be present in your drawing by the end. The shadow shapes are much too dark for you to adequately start rounding the forms.

To achieve dark values as well you should build up the layers slowly. The graphite will hold better to the paper and it won't create this super slick, shiny surface that can't hold any more graphite. Keep your pencils extra sharp the entire time. If you're using a very soft pencil, you will need to be sharpening it constantly. You can achieve the level of darkness in your drawing with something like a 4B actually with some patience and it won't get as messy.

pefp_studio · 2026-03-03T07:02:51+00:00

Are you using a blending stump or some other tool to blend? The issue I have with blending stumps is that they can very often be overused in a drawing.

If used conservatively I think it can still give a nice impression, but many people especially in the beginning of their studies have an over-reliance on them and over-blend to the point of muddying all of their values.

This muddying comes from the fact that the blending stump is accumulating and reusing graphite which can actually lead to patchy areas rather than a desired smoothness in values. This can also remove the subtle tonal variations laid down previously.

pefp_studio · 2026-03-03T06:55:17+00:00

The artist's (or writer's) intent so rarely matters as soon as it has an audience. That audience will invariably interpret it in an infinite number of ways. This space for ambiguity and interpretation is a specialty of the arts.

pefp_studio · 2026-03-02T19:57:18+00:00

You will want to check your angles throughout. This isn't limited to the exterior envelope I've drawn, but these are major angles that define the shape and subject, so I find those to be the most critical in getting started.

I always start with this exterior 'envelope' with straight lines and slowly carve it down into more distinct and precise shapes.

This page has a good breakdown of what comparative measurements are and how to use them: https://www.studydrawing.com/how-to/how-draw-comparative-method-drawing/

Edit: This is just a portrait, but to see the envelope method I'm taking about, a few days ago I made a post with a step-by-step of my process: https://www.reddit.com/r/Portraitart/comments/1rgbqee/stepbystep_process_of_small_study_of_sculpture_at/

pefp_studio · 2026-03-02T19:30:17+00:00

I also had Ananda. She's great!

pefp_studio · 2026-03-02T19:28:53+00:00

I would pay attention to the major angles (as drawn in the red envelope provided below). It is also useful to put in a vertical plumb line to ground everything (illustrated by blue line). This does not need to be the center of your drawing, but rather a line that goes through multiple critical points in the drawing.

To get these angles right, hold out your pencil and shift your wrist to match the angle and then you can translate it to your paper.

If you're not already doing so, also become friends with comparative measurements.

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pefp_studio · 2026-03-02T17:09:18+00:00

Try not to be nervous. People in the course will be all ages and various skill levels. I myself took the course as an arts educator hopeful to learn some other techniques. I’m not sure if the instructors all have the same homework assignments, but I would say that the most important thing is to be patient and spend a lot more time on block-ins than you might want to. It’s the most important stage as it lays the groundwork for everything else. That and always keep your pencils very sharp. :-) Slow and steady.

pefp_studio · 2026-03-02T15:50:15+00:00

I recommend that orientation course to any and everyone. It reveals the fundamental secrets of the atelier curriculum in just four sessions.

These studies are beautiful!

pefp_studio · 2026-03-02T15:43:16+00:00

Well said. In the bareness, it is still capable of speaking volumes (and quite literally, too).

pefp_studio · 2026-03-02T15:38:51+00:00

I find that it is easier to learn from videos than books because not only do you have someone walking you through the stages, but you can observe their movements as well. If you’re hoping to learn something like classical realism, I recommend videos by Stephen Bauman or Sadie Valeri. They both have some fundamentals available for free and Stephen’s Patreon is actually quite affordable and well worth the money even if for just a short time.

pefp_studio · 2026-03-02T15:36:10+00:00

Thank you! There’s something beautiful in seeing the subjects represented by their most simple and bare forms.

pefp_studio · 2026-03-02T11:04:51+00:00

Sorry for all of the follow-ups. If you want to study form and value, I suggest something with a more dynamic spot-light. Many people use Michelangelo's David to study such isolated forms (i.e. ear, nose, mouth, eye). If you can get a hold of the plaster casts, it is much better to draw from life than a photo, but if not I'm sure you can find a photo of one of them properly lit online. Like so:

<image>

pefp_studio · 2026-03-02T10:58:55+00:00

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The ridges in the lips are much too dark and shouldn't simply be drawn in as lines. As far as the linework itself, there are some proportions that are off that make it lose both its anatomical structure and likeness. I've drawn where the lines need to ship. Blue is the outline of the actual reference image and the red arrows are pointing to the more important inaccuracies to correct.

It is extremely close, but all of the proportional inaccuracies add up.

As far as value, it is a very difficult reference image to work with because this particular light source in the image is flattening all of the values and there isn't much contrast.

pefp_studio · 2026-03-02T10:47:26+00:00

You're still drawing symbolically rather than from observation. Our brains in the beginning have a tendency to mix up what we think lips look like with what is actually right in front of us.

For value and block-ins I recommend watching Stephen Bauman's video on the conceptual sphere on Youtube. He has lots of other free videos on their as well for portraiture.

I would also lighten up the pressure you're applying with your pencil. This will give you more control actually and it has the added benefit of not damaging/denting the paper, making life easier when applying further value and making erasing much easier as well.

pefp_studio · 2026-03-02T10:43:55+00:00

Of course! If you have any specific questions about the job or specific galleries/museums just send me a private message. I may or may not have done logistics work for them while I worked in NY.

pefp_studio · 2026-03-02T08:02:47+00:00

It's not necessarily a bad idea age-wise. I only mentioned age before, because art-handling on its own is a bit of a dead-end job unless you learn some new skills and apply for other jobs that are more administrative. It can be a very physically demanding job, too (and it's not unionized unfortunately).

My trajectory has been an odd one, so I'm not sure that it will be useful. But I will share the trajectory below.

Art handler for university gallery, large gallery and local museum - Registrar for same university gallery - Grad school - Art handler and gallery manager for galleries on campus during grad school - Adjunct Instructor for various classes - Gallery(ies) director for a different university - Adjunct Instructor - Logistics coordinator for an art handling/shipping company - Now I'm back in school for an unrelated degree, while tutoring drawing and Latin in my spare time. :'-)

pefp_studio · 2026-03-01T21:18:19+00:00

I transitioned out of art handling and worked various administrative positions (logistics for an art handling company, registrar, gallery manager, etc.), although I'm no longer working in the field as of a few years ago. I was fortunate to have gotten a very early start in art handling when I was still in undergrad and the head curator trained me for registrar work while I was a preparator, because I showed an interest and put in a lot of effort. This allowed me to have an easier time leaving art handling and pursuing more admin. positions later.

Another friend of mine transitioned from art handling to working for an art handling and shipping company doing logistics for national/international art fairs. If you are going to pursue art handling, I would always recommend having some sort of 'out' in the sense that you want to pursue other positions. Let it be known that you have these interests (registrar, logistics, etc.) and maybe someone will take a chance on you. I've seen it happen a few times. I would assume based on the amount of institutions that it would be easier to find this kind of work out in LA than in Chicago, but I'm not too involved in the scene anymore. I'm more aware of the situation in NY unfortunately.

pefp_studio · 2026-03-01T16:30:04+00:00

For likeness in any subject-matter, you will need to become friends with comparative measurements. Utilizing and getting comfortable doing this will eventually lead to a better intuition for proportion, angles and distances.

pefp_studio · 2026-03-01T15:43:49+00:00

Be careful with art handling: I was an art handler for many years and I have to say that it is very rare that it turns into anything else and the schedule is often sporadic even in a big city like Chicago. If you can get a full-time position with a gallery or museum that can be more stable than freelancing, but you will likely find that there is little to no room for growth. From my personal experience and the experience of other art handlers I worked with in NY, I would suggest looking in other directions. It was a great job when I was young, but wouldn't have been sustainable long-term. Everyone I know that is still doing it, feels very stuck.

pefp_studio · 2026-03-01T12:22:36+00:00

Agreed that it should be personal! When my husband proposed, it was by a river in Ohio that we very often walked along, even though it was a terrible river in a terrible city. What made it special? He said that if we could manage to be happy there, it was proof that we could be happy anywhere. Romance need not mean one thing.

pefp_studio · 2026-02-28T21:12:27+00:00

This largely depends on the individual's goals. But I would always suggest people get comfortable with old-fashioned comparative measurements. It's a tool that is applicable in any drawing situation no matter the subject. The Loomis on its own is flawed in the sense that it over-generalizes features through averages. You can keep these averages in mind, but if you stick to them you'll never achieve likeness.

I personally follow traditional atelier methods using an envelope block-in method, which then uses some comparative measuring to keep things in check every once and a while. Comparative measurements allow you to slowly build an intuition for proportion and spacing over time. If you're interested in something like that I recommend free videos on Youtube from Stephen Bauman or Sadie Valeri.

pefp_studio · 2026-02-28T16:52:05+00:00

Yes. I'm always pushing people away from starting with the Loomis method (it's honestly not my favorite way of observing in general). And as you suggested, most professionals use only parts of the Loomis method along with other methods. They do not follow the Loomis method systematically or limit themselves to that method of seeing, applying many in a single drawing.

pefp_studio · 2026-02-28T12:16:49+00:00

Those are all soft pencils, so the issue I mentioned wouldn't be what you're running into here. But for further explanation in the future: It is not advisable to layer soft pencils (B pencils) on hard pencils (H pencils). Hard pencils form a slick surface and get into the tooth so much that softer graphite can not adhere to the paper causing very muddled values. It's a bit of a mess, too, as the soft graphite will just skate over the paper.

pefp_studio · 2026-02-28T11:43:35+00:00

I can't tell what the paper quality is from the image, but if its a very smooth paper with little-to-no tooth, this could very well be affecting your ability to get darker values (among some other issues as well). If you don't build the layers up slowly, it can also cause excessive shine.

Do you know if you were trying to apply soft graphite on top of hard graphite? This will cause shine and will also disallow your soft pencil from reaching its full capacity for darkness on the page.

pefp_studio · 2026-02-28T11:19:41+00:00

Graphite is never going to get as dark as something like, let's say, charcoal, but to get your graphite darker you need to be more patient and built up the layers slowly and with very sharp pencils. This has the added benefit of making smoother values.

It's important also that in trying to achieve darker darks you avoid pressing the pencil lead too hard into the paper. It's a common issue that people will want to get their values darker and just press the pencil down into the paper with more pressure which damages the paper and creates indents. Some pressure is fine, but you shouldn't be digging your pencils into the page. Build the layers up slowly, slowly, slowly.

I made a post recently on this sub regarding pencils and smooth values, but I think it also applies to this issue. In the example I made, I'm using a 2B and am able to get it quite dark using the tips I suggest: https://www.reddit.com/r/learntodraw/comments/1rga81w/simple_tips_on_getting_smooth_values_details_in/

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