A stump is a cylindrical tool tapered at the ends and generally made of rolled paper.

Stumping then is to blotch or blend your hatchings with a stump. The goal of stumpingis to produce gradations and halftones and to give particular tone regions a softer appearance.

Blending can be accomplished in different ways. You can use tissue paper or even your fingers or both. When employing your fingers be sure to wipe off any oily residues with a tissue.

Stumping must be done in a sculpturally manner. You should literally cut out the form while invoking both the structural anatomy and the plane changes. As you sketch identify each anatomical feature. This is especially true when you work on intricate structures such as the nose and the eyes.

In a comparable fashion you can use your kneaded eraser to "take out" pencil dust to lighten particularareas. Again, go about it in a sculpturally manner. Employ the putty eraser as if it is a brush.

Now and again you may want to employ the concept of "finality". Your mind has a predispostion to fill in the gaps in your observations. That is, the mind has a need for "finality". You can make thoughtful use of this predispostion and leave particular parts of your portrait unfinished. It adds interest to your drawing as the viewer's mind will involuntarily finish the portrait for you.

After you have done lots of stumping and taking out graphite with your putty eraser it is time to further articulate the forms and planes by hatching with a harder pencil (e.g., a 2H pencil). But, there are a few things to look out for at this stage.

Be careful not to leave the light side of the face too darkly or it will look like a contusion. The smile-line is also difficult. If you over-emphasize it you will end up with a scorn. It is best to under-emphasize it and let the viewer's sense of closure finish it for you.

An critical consideration must be made when sketching from a photograph. A photograph should only be reference material. That means artistic decisions must be made. For example:

- What manner of emotional reaction are you after? When people view your portrait what manner of initial gut reaction do you want them to have to your drawing. Good technique is certainly necessary. But it will count for very little if it is frosty cold and dry.

- Make choices. You should not draw every little detail but only the critical ones. Use your artistic sensibility to make these choices.

A hard 4H pencil can be used to make the already dark regions even darker through hatching.

Careful attention needs to be paid to the edges of the forms in your drawing. For example, as a sketch turns away from the light source its tone increasingly gets darker and takes on a soft edge.

A cast shadow has a hard edge. The form of a cast shadow is determined by the form of the entity casting the shadow and the form upon which it is being thrown.

End the drawing by paying attention to the critical details. You also want to further tweak and stabilize the constructed tones. Your drawing must always read as a interconnected whole even if you decide not to bring it to a complete finish.

These few easy guidelines will set you on the right path. Apply them appropriately and soon your pencil portraits will show much improvement.