Jessica Crabtree

“Cloud Bird,” or Okuwa Tsire in Tewa. Photo by Edward Curtis c.1905 at the San Ildefonso pueblo. 8×10 charcoal (4b & 6b) and graphite. (Click for full-size view.)

An Irish swan from a gorgeous photo taken by Stephen Heron on Flickr. Click to see it close up. I used a 6b charcoal blended with a tortillion to make the backdrop; the swan is done primarily in graphite and the water with a combination of both graphite and charcoals. Here’s a shot from the halfway point:

I did this fun little guy in graphite over the weekend. Thanks to Larry Johnson on Flickr for the great photograph.

An impromptu caricature sketch of Hogarth’s Servants (more of a doodle, actually). The painting has always been one of my favorites so I couldn’t resist tossing this up in honor of Hogarth’s birthday:

Another portrait of Braxton, also 8×10 2b graphite.

A recent portrait commission done in soft graphite, 8×10.

This is really impressive material coming from a genre that isn’t often considered part of the realm of serious art. A Cherokee graphic artist has created this amazing comic-style pamphlet presenting on overview of how Sequoyah’s written language system has adapted through time.

See the whole feature on the Indian Country Today site:

The Indomitable Language: How the Cherokee Language Went from Parchment to iPad

HELP! A bit of eraser debris got caught in the point of my pencil and left a black mark on my drawing. What do I do next?

First of all, if you erase often, be sure to clean your paper surface frequently by blowing or gently brushing to avoid this problem.

But if you are faced with the infamous black blotch that embeds itself into your paper (invariably in the most conspicuous part of the picture) and won’t erase, the most important thing is to leave it alone. DO NOT RUB IT! Erasing it harder, or trying to scratch it out, will only make it more permanent.

Here’s a quick solution: Grab some tape – a small piece of scotch tape or packing tape will do – and fold it sticky-side-out, just small enough to target the obnoxious black spot. Press it on and lift it out. You may have to repeat a couple of times, but this works far better than even a kneaded eraser and won’t cause wear on your paper.

Clean the area of debris and get back to work, your drawing one less casualty of the dreaded “eraser-dust blemish.”