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Denise Cat

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I have always fancied doing a drawing with the humble biro. I thought I would put this up as a wip. Maybe someone can learn from it or learn from my mistakes. I don't know at this stage how it will turn out. I did a quick study of Albrecht Durer's Head of the Dead Christ. I used a Hb pencil. I intend using a red BIC biro then using the blue biro over the red. I have to say, I've found it quite difficult starting. The biro stops working when trying to shade on an angle. So, I will be continuing with it on a flat surface. I'm also figuring out the shading as I go along. The original piece was a charcoal drawing from 1503.

Alan Bickley

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Interesting start Denise… I’m not a great fan of biro, I never use them for writing, so let’s see how you go with it. Irrespective of the implement, I don’t like cross hatching as a means of creating shading etc…( which you haven’t used), it doesn’t look good in my view, and was pretty much outlawed at my college…

Edited
by Alan Bickley

Denise Cat

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This might be my only biro drawing Alan. I thought it would be quick but it is going to be more time consuming than I thought. I'm not finding it easy but thought I would give it a try to see what sort of effects can be accomplished. I'm not sure what I'm doing. I'll go with the flow of it and try and gain some balance in the overall drawing. It could end up a mess but I'll finish it.
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Russell Edwards

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Good luck with it Diane, I've seen some brilliant work drawn with a biro. I've tried it but without much success, a blot can spoil the whole thing!  I'm interested to see how you get on.
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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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That’s an impressive start Denise the red on the base sketch looks good. I tried biro sketching a very long time ago , due to having no pencils and boxes of black biro , was in the back of beyond at the time , not something I took to nor seriously ,far harder than I thought.  Very brave attempting to do it more so as WIP, will be seeing how it develops and how yiu deal with any issues.
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Lewis Cooper

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Looking very good, Denise.  Beyond scribbling ideas, I’ve never used biro seriously.  In my pen and ink thread recently I covered art made with biros, there’s some astonishing work out there.  You’ve made such a good start, I shall watch with great interest.

Denise Cat

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I'm not sure I'll have success here Russell but it's always interesting trying something new. I definitely agree Paul, more difficult than one would imagine. I've finished today and will hopefully get most of it done tomorrow. I hope I will do it some justice Lewis but I'm not afraid to fail if it doesn't work. I am finding it interesting seeing it develop. It's good fun.

Edited
by Denise Cat

Alan Bickley

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I’ve got The Addictive Sketcher, a book by well respected artist Adibanji Alade PROI. It’s full of scribbles done with a biro, most are portraits drawn while commuting on the bus…so nothing too highly finished in fairness, but typically sketch book information. Well worth getting a copy!

Tessa Gwynne

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I have that: excellent book. Must dig it out for a reminder.  Look forward to seeing how this advances Denise.

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by Tessa Gwynne

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George Cutter

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Yours is a great attitude towards this Denise, which ever way it goes keep going and enjoy it. Looks good so far.

Denise Cat

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So, I think I'm happy with the coverage of red. Not fantastic but biro is definitely difficult. They certainly are not a fine point to work with. I'm going to continue on with the blue biro now.
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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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Looking really good Denise , can’t Waite to see the difference with the blue added . I agree about biros being difficult to use  , certainly not a fine art tool but some of the work done with biros is absolutely amazing. Your doing a cracking job with then on this piece. 
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