47 Fewer Shades of Gray

Only 3 shades of gray, that is. Just black and white on gray paper.

Teenage Beast by Joe Williams on Strathmore Toned Gray Paper

I bought this Strathmore Toned Gray sketch pad about eight years ago, but it mostly gathered dust. I meant to use water-soluble graphite, yet nothing that slid off the pencil onto this sketchbook ever excited me. The black pencils were never black enough, and the white charcoal I tried for highlights vanished if you so much as breathed on it. I would bear down on the pencils trying to increase the contrast, but it all wound up gray on gray. Step back, and the drawing felt as if it wasn’t there.

Eventually you had to call the drawing finished, then drown it in spray fixative so it wouldn’t smear. I hate that step. It stinks—literally.

Ink is far more permanent than pencil. The blacks are pure, absolute—100% black—with a final visual impact that hits like a sledgehammer. I use a white Sakura Gel Pen for highlights and let the paper’s natural gray stand as my mid-tone. I’ve sampled other materials along the way; most proved to be dead ends. There’s no denying good old India ink. Once it dries, it won’t smear—that steadfast reliability keeps me coming back.

I’ll use this sketchbook up and see where it takes me. Maybe I’ll even buy another. I don’t recall what I paid back then, but like everything else, the price has climbed.

These ink drawings are headed for The Teenage Beast—a story I’m still shaping. The cast is taking form, the direction is sharpening, and the beast itself is starting to show its teeth.

Stay tuned!