I just picked up a sketchbook. Didn’t think much about the paper. I’m in Japan and I think Japanese paper is very good although the sketchbook I’m using is no different to the stuff I used in England.
I found a solution to the smudging problem is using H pencils instead of B and I actually like the hardness. When I first started drawing I hated H pencils. Totally the opposite now. I used to put a piece of paper under my drawing hand when I used B’s. Don’t need to worry to much about that now.
I don’t tire of portraits. Until I’m as good as I can possibly be I’ll keep doing them. I love faces. A bit of an aesthete when it comes to faces and the human form which might be my driving force with art.
This stuff is just for my own pleasure. I do freelance digital illustration for pay but recently got into drawing again because I wanted to make an online course as a kind of venture.