Assorted life drawing pt.2 : Starbucks.

More life drawing. A salted caramel cake pop from Starbucks.

Product reviews pt.3: Staedler mechanical pencils and leads.

Staedler mechanical pencils and leads.

Staedler is known for their drafting products, and one of their most common items is the mechanical pencil. Like most brands, they come in four sizes. 03, 05, 07, and 09. This post will also cover Staedler lead holders, leads, and sharpeners.

The mechanical pencils are a joy to use. The rubber grip makes them more comfortable to hold than other brands, and their thick bodies are the ideal proportion for a tool such as this. Like some modern technical pencils, they have a sliding indicator for lead weight, allowing you to keep track of what weight is in what pencil. This is particularly useful if you are using a large number of these with a large variety of weights. Sizes are color coded, and the overall appearance of the pencil is pleasing. If nothing else, it is a fine example of industrial design.

The only real issue I have with these pencils, aside from the cost, is that they have a higher than expected rate of mechanical failure. I have had to replace 05’s several times. Other sizes don’t seem to have this issue with the same frequency, but perhaps this is just because 05 is my default size for sketching, and therefore those pencils get more extensive use. This issue has come up in other brands as well, such as Pentel, but it is not universal.

All in all, these are my first recommendation when it comes to technical pencils. They look great, feel great,and are mostly reliable.

Staedler lead holders are even more reliable and solid than their mechanical pencils. They may be lacking in aesthetic qualities (though the metal grip on the one to the right does look nice), but overall they are very agreeable. Staedler sharpeners are…well…sharpeners. They’re reliable, but sometimes a bit stiff in their operation.

Staedler lead has a decent level of quality, though it isn’t appreciably better or worse than anything else I’ve tried. If nothing else, you get plenty o refills for a low price.

Venetian Tattoo.

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while. This is an illustration of a young woman with a living tattoo. The tattoo of the venetian mask is emitting black light and gusts of wind, with leaves being carried by said gusts.

I the gallery below you will find the original sketch, and the full illustration. Please click the thumbnail beow the gallery to view the full magnification of the final illustration.

Venetian mask tattoo

Venetian Tattoo.

Venetian mask tattoo

Venetian Tattoo – sketch.

This was the sketch for an ink and marker illustration I did a while back. The tattoo of the venetian mask has two black lines flowing from it, and from these lines leaves are spilling forth. It doesn’t represent anything in particular. I just thought it would make for a nice image.

Venetian Tattoo.

Drawing utensils.

I’ve been working on this for some time now. I actually let it sit unfinished for a good portion of that time. Anyway, here is the final version of this piece. I’ve posed previews of it in the past. A pixelart that depicts assorted illustration tools.

You obviously need to click on the image to see the full magnification.

Illustration tools.

Assorted older stuff and sketches.

Just some older stuff. Two negative space images I did for a drawing class, and a pencil sketch of the 20’s pulp character The Shadow.

Red Panda Shirt cont.

Just an update on the Red Panda image that I may submit to Threadless. This is a closer iteration of what the final idea will resemble. The way the Panda interacts with the diamond shape is still a bit incongruous, but I just need to make the movement more dynamic, so it looks like the panda is leaping through the opening. Right now it looks like it’s just leaning over the edge, and doesn’t have a sense of motion. Anyhow, the next version will, hopefully, be posted within the next week or so.

Girl near…some kind of bars/poles/tall metal things.

A young woman, standing near some sort of metal structure.

Cthulhu Opera House development.

Sketches of various elements that will be part of a coat-of-arms for an opera house, with an octopus/cthulhu head.

Pink.

A girl in pink.