White graphite is a media similar to the white colored pencil in your colored pencils box.  This can be used to accent darker pictures, or used as the sole media on black paper.

 White graphite is a media that can be used in a few different circumstances.  It can be done to add detail and flare to a charcoal or pencil drawing (see the White Shading blog entry).  It can also be done on black paper to create a darker and more unique drawing.

Visual Effect White graphite on black paper is one of the less commonly practiced art forms.  This creates a darker, yet strangely more elegant, feel than dark markings on light paper.  However, white graphite does not fit every picture.  Because of the darker look, light hearted pictures are nearly impossible to create on the black paper. Often, black paper and white graphite will create a more peaceful or sinister artwork, depending on the subject of the illustration.  Peace has always been associated with the night, and the black paper gives the feeling of a night time atmosphere.  Night is also associated with a quiet, frightening, and sinister atmosphere as well, and so white graphite can create polar opposites in emotion.

 

One of the best white graphite tools is General's White Charcoal.

 

Tips on Art:

 

• To create white graphite with black paper illustrations with the best appearances, an artist needs to reverse their normal styles.
  

Normally, artists shade the outside of a round surface and the color fades as it moves inward to the circle.  However, white graphite requires the opposite of this.  Shade in the center of the drawing, and lighten the color as you move outward. 

• The color of this can smear almost as easily as pencil, and a stump (ruled up tube of paper which comes to a point, used for smearing) will greatly assist in the smudging of the white graphite.
  

• Adding black colored pencil to the white graphite can erase errors or add finer details. 
  

• Other ways to add fine details are to use an eraser to take out the color and allow the black paper to come through.  
  • The best type of eraser for this is a gum eraser, as you can create as thick or thin of an edge as you desire.

For light touches of faded color (such as clouds or smoke), the best method is to smear the color onto your finger and use your finger as the tool rather than a white graphite pencil or colored pencil.  This creates a misty, almost see-through look that is realistic and beautiful.

Colored pencils or pastels can also be added to white graphite to emphasize, or give a surreal feel.  Many times, drawing a picture on black with part in purely white graphite, and part in color will create a very dream-like landscape.  The eye is automatically drawn first to the color, then to the white, which gives the artist more control over what the viewer sees and how they see the image.