I began sketching the general outlines of the creatures I wanted in the reef onto the canvas today. Very quickly I noticed there was a large void in the bottom center of the sketch. I decided to improvise a brain coral hiding a Caribbean lobster and some fan coral. I also began adding some additional fish to the image such as the hogfish in the lower right corner.

My sketches were done in graphite using General’s Pure Woodless Graphite. The pencils have a sleek and heavy feel similar to a good quality pen. However, you should take care not to drop them on tile floors as they will shatter. (Lesson learned!)

Couple the graphite pencil with a kneaded rubber eraser and you have a great combo for sketching your art. The kneaded rubber eraser is like a thick Silly-Putty that can be formed and shaped to your liking. Forming the eraser to a sharp point or blunt tip helps ensure that you do not disturb the surrounding sketch.