Kim Taggart

Answering the often-asked question, “Is that just pencil?”
After experimenting with the graphite medium, my focus took me to a whole new level I define as “Extreme Graphite.” Influenced by the Precisionist graphite style of Charles Sheeler, the passionate traits of Grant Wood, and the artful black and white celebrations of the ordinary by Mable Dwight, my style emerged as an emotional saturation of tones. My extravagant technique involves subtle delineation from powder graphite in the smoothest textures to my 9XXB pencil for the darkest values and multiple layers in between. I find that large makeup brushes create a soft overall value to sky backgrounds. Water-soluble graphite adds a painted background on some, and I soften edges with a small brush creating my own painterly blend. The size of my graphites is larger than most pencil drawings adding to their extremeness. My landscapes and skies are depicted in energetic black and white tones, challenging the viewer to interpret a sunrise or storm without the element of color. And although so much can be said without color, my newest style has incorporated color graphite in powder and liquid form along with Pan Pastels. The subject’s size and simplicity are “comfort food for the soul,” easily digested and building curiosity among viewers as they ask me to explain my process. I have developed a visual aid to help answer that.