I enjoy working with pencil in many different ways in diverse contexts and in response to a range of challenges. As always, my artistic choices have a practical starting point. How I use my pencil depends on how long I’ve got, where I am, the subject matter and the purpose of the drawing.
My first decision when starting a pencil drawing is which pencil to use. I always use blue Staedtler pencils and only ever use one grade, for example a 2B or a 5B for any given drawing. I’m often asked why I don’t use a range of grades within one drawing and my most coherent answer is I feel that each grade has its own tonal language and is capable of creating a complete and harmonious tonal range by itself.