a1calypso

People ask me this all the time. How do I get such dark backgrounds on my drawings. The answer is complex, so I will step it out below. 1) The paper you use MATTERS! I use only Bristol, which is 2 or 3 times thicker than drawing paper, so it has a strong tooth to the paper 2) I use either B or 2B. The softer you go (3B-9B) the more wax is in the graphite, which makes it like a crayon and hard to blend. 3) I KEEP the pencil SHARP, and I hold it SIDEWAYS. 4) I do small sections at a time 5) I TURN the pencil in my fingers as I darken the area. This also helps keep the pencil sharp. 6) I use a back and forth scraping motion, that I can FE

First off, before you can really get into serious fur work, you might want to invest some time into making your own fur brushes or in finding some.  Well I found two good sets some time back that I found to be rather priceless.  So unless you want to spend the rest of your life filling in one hair at a time, I suggest looking into these, they will save you a lot of headache ;). Trust me, I have tried to do the 'one hair at a time' method...it really kills your wrist. Brushes: http://www.3dmenagerie.com/goodies/bag/brushes.htm (compatible with both photoshop and paint shop pro) Now onto the more important part.  So you now have the brushes a