The problem is you can't *see* the detail you are drawing if you have a big
> fat finger trying to do it.
Exactly, Mike. Seems like this aspect needs a lot of explaining to
get across. This is, in part, why pencils were invented as opposed to
using big chunks of sharpened charcoal to try and make fine detailed
lines.
It is already hard enough to do good drawing work in a small work
area when said drawing needs to provide a lot of detail. This is
where styli become almost necessary tools be they easily lost or not.
Heck, good artist paint brushes are about the same price as many
styli,
In art school we did thousands of charcoal drawings, some with charcoal
pencils, some with small blocks of charcoal. The only time we ever used
a stylus was for sculpture or to remove the ink layer that covered
colored wax. You can create minute details using pieces of charcoal.
Michelangelo did OK with his charcoal drawings. [Forgot...we'd find a
stylus to clean our fingernails after using clay.]
Cheap artists' brushes start about $4 each or so. I have too many sables
that cost well over $10--each--some over $30. Brushes for oil or acrylic
sometimes cost more than watercolor brushes, but don't often last as
long because they're harder to clean. The bundles of brushes at discount
are cheap and don't last. Quality brushes will last for years. One of
the good things about calligraphy was using the cheap bamboo brushes,
but fine sable brushes are very expensive.
Fat fingers are no excuse. You can either draw, or you can't draw. No
big deal. No excuses.
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