Question for oil painters.... (dance, artists)

[Sundance]

I am going to paint a portrait.
If I use a graphite pencil to sketch the head and details, will it smear when I put oil paint over it?
Can you use a regular lead pencil?

Should I "sketch" with a fine brush with Burnt Umber?

What sort of pencil or medium, do oil painters use, to sketch on the canvas with, so that they can apply paint over it?

Thanks for any info ~

[artyst]

Originally Posted by Sundance

I am going to paint a portrait.
If I use a graphite pencil to sketch the head and details, will it smear when I put oil paint over it?
Can you use a regular lead pencil?

Should I "sketch" with a fine brush with Burnt Umber?

What sort of pencil or medium, do oil painters use, to sketch on the canvas with, so that they can apply paint over it?

Thanks for any info ~

graphite pencil will not smear when you paint over it. of course you could directly sketch your portrait with burnt umber and then work from dark to light. i use liquin to thin my oil paint. this medium also causes the paint to dry quicker. i like that for the initial underpainting stages.

[Sundance]

Graphite pencil won't smear, even without spraying it with a fixative? I got a bunch of oil painting supplies, but I forgot fixative, or wasn't sure if I needed it. I guess I can sketch with diluted burnt umber.

[artyst]

graphite won't smear unless you use a very soft pencil like a 6B. but a regular 2B pencil won't smear. charcoal will smear.

[Sundance]

Thanks - I just looked and what I am using is a graphite drawing pencil 5B.

Do you think that's ok to use without fixative? (By the way, I am researching on the internet, also, so I won't continue to pester you with questions!)

I have painted before, but I was never really sure how to use the materials properly, etc. Thanks

[harry chickpea]

Even if it does smear, it isn't a particular issue in oils or acrylics, since the next stage is the scumble, or blocking out the colors in preparation for the actual laying down of the image. The scumble covers and seals the sketch. It would be an issue with watercolor.

[jaxart]

Use an ORDINARY graphite pencil - the kind that comes with the eraser on one end. If you use a #1 or #2, smearing will not be an issue.

Some artists prefer to make a complete value drawing of the subject they later paint over. For that much graphite or charcoal application, a fixative coating is necessary.

[tilli]

Be aware that if you use the glazing technique, the pencil lines will be visible.