Bargue copies

Core Topics General Drawing
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Hi @SiBreen!

  1. If you haven’t seen them already - I would draw your attention to the Bargue Redux selection available here, along with a lot of other shape rep advice and observations, these simplify what you’re attempting to do and may make that step easier:- https://www.smartermarx.com/t/shape-replication-exercises/80 - I did a number of those after my shape reps and got a real improvement and enjoyment from them.

  2. Any heavier paper (pastel/charcoal paper) should be okay, in the UK I try to use the canson sky blue mi-teintes : pastel paper (160GSM), I think it’s called light blue in the US. You should be drawing your lines very lightly anyway, leave any mistakes intact until you’ve established the correct line, then you can erase any mistakes after your proportions are correct - if you want to. You should only be putting a line down when you’re confident it is going in the right position - as with everything mistakes should happen with less frequency the more you practice! Also - dabbing with a kneaded eraser rather than scrubbing helps preserve the texture of the paper rather than burnishing and smearing it smooth.

  3. I use a helix rotary desktop sharpener (around £12 or so in the UK) it deals with the general’s charcoal pencils brilliantly and gives a long tapered point, I’ve also sharpened some of the fatter conté style pencils with softer pastel cores without snapping them too. It is very quick to sharpen and with minimal effort.

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