A Stake In The Heart (Dracula)

Pencil artist Robert Bailey delights fans across the globe with his amazingly detailed Star Wars sketches. His work was noticed by Star Wars creator George Lucas, who invited Robert to work on Star Wars Visions – which saw 30 artists create their own interpretations of characters and scenes. George bought many of his prints for both himself and case and crew members.

Robert uses a method called hatching, whereby he shades with closely-drawn parallel lines to imply shade, tone and texture. Whilst it may look messy, it’s a very controlled technique: the distance between the hatching marks determine how light or dark that area appears. Notable adopters of hatching include Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Michelangelo and Edgar Degas.

“Only by practice can the Dexterity of fine pencil work be kept up.”