Testing TikTok Trends, 1.0

Testing TikTok Trends - Toned Grey

We've been in lockdown for over 3 months now, and I don't know about you, but I'm still not tired of TikTok. I could literally scroll through it all day. If you've been living under a rock and don't know what I'm talking about, TikTok is a social networking platform where users create and share short videos. Some videos are funny, relatable skits, some teach you how to cook meals, and others show people attempting popular dances (which we've all tried, admit it). Among all this is a big community of artists who share their work. They are amazing, and deserve much more recognition! So, I'm starting a series of posts about art equipment and techniques that I've found on TikTok, which will maybe inspire you to try out some new art!

I watched a video by user rae_dizzle_ in which she used this grey-toned paper from Strathmore. I've briefly seen it before but never thought to give it a go. That's partly because it's quite expensive; I got an A4 pad for about £13.60 on Amazon. Although, after using it I can definitely say that it is worth the money. It helps to make drawings look realistic because you can emphasise the highlights. In the video, she shows users how to draw realistic droplets of water using a graphite pencil and white colouring pencil. Simple, but effective! I've tried it myself and here are the results, as well as a brief tutorial.





Draw a circle, or whatever shape you want the water droplet to be. Shade one side with quite a lot of pressure, and continue shading about 2/3 of the droplet with less pressure. You should leave a small circle towards the top because this is where the light hits the droplet. Next, you should blend the pencil with either tissue, your finger, or a blending stump until smooth.








After that, use a soft pencil, such as a 4B, to draw in the shadow on the outside of the water droplet, on the side next to the highlight.

The light inside the droplet disperses near the bottom, so this is where you need to add the highlight using a white pencil or pen, which is the best part because it makes the drawing look really three dimensional!







I tried some running water too, where the same principles apply. At first glance, drawing water droplets looks quite difficult, but if you follow these steps it's really easy!

One of the advantages of using grey-toned paper is that it can save you a lot of time. You already have a shaded background, so all you have to do is add in dark shadows and highlights to create dimension. It's sort of a 'let the paper do the talking' kind of thing, which is what I did with the glass below.






Overall, if you're looking to produce realistic pieces with graphite, charcoal, or even paint, then grey-toned paper is a good choice.

I'm glad I saw this TikTok because it pushed me to try something new, so thank you to rae_dizzle for broadening my horizon! I'm sure this paper will be featuring a lot more in future posts.