I finished a third winter landscape, and it’s interesting how they fit together as a set.

All three are 9”x12”. The paper varies, and they each have a unique look as a result. The top is on Stonehenge Legion drawing paper, the bottom left is on Strathmore Bristol vellum, and the bottom right is mineral paper. The most versatile is the mineral paper, but it’s potentially not archival, so my pick is Stonehenge. It’s a bright white with some tooth. If I had more hot press papers to try, I’d probably prefer those, so there are future purchases down the road, I think.

I’m taking a little break from the messiness of charcoal to try out some new graphite pencils. I love graphite once my eye adjusts from black to silver, and these new pencils, Faber Castell’s Matt Graphite, promise dark values without a shiny glare. So far, there’s not much glare, but the pencils themselves feel rather hard compared to a normal graphite pencil. Even the astounding 14B feels like an B or 2B when I use it. They’re definitely different.