What you will need: ⁠⠀
Graphite Powder (or if you’re very patient, the side of a
pencil)⁠⠀
Erasers - large, small, all shapes⁠⠀
Paper - cardstock, watercolor paper or something a little
thicker than printer paper is perfect. In a pinch though,
printer paper is a-o-k.⁠⠀
Larger placemat, newspaper, or something under your
project…it can be a tad messy!⁠⠀
⁠⠀
STEPS: ⁠⠀
1. Using a crumpled up paper towel or tissue, dip into the jar of graphite powder and coat
one side, then rub in circular motions across your page until an even tone of grey appears.
(Don’t be afraid to press down quite a bit!)⁠. If you don’t have graphite powder, the side of a
pencil will work to cover your page, just press down gently and make swooshing movements! ⁠⠀
2. Lightly brush any excess powder away by whisking another tissue across the surface. The
graphite should be kind of ‘scrubbed into’ the paper, like a stain.⁠⠀
⁠⠀
3. With a pencil, sketch in a few lines to show which shapes you intend to make lighter
(might be the area around a shape, as in this case!) Erase with a giant eraser or kneaded
eraser.⁠⠀
⁠⠀
4. When you have the shape you’d like, fill in details with a finer eraser, the end of a pencil,
or one of those refillable cartridge erasers (these can apply a decent amount of pressure)⁠⠀
⁠⠀
5. Now add finishing details in pencil or pen. You can even overlay thin watercolor washes on
top of the erased spaces or the graphite-tone
parts, just be aware that the moment you put
water down, it’ll fix your image on the page in a
permanent way—no longer erasable.⁠And there
you have it! Drawing in reverse. ⁠