| figure drawing from life - charcoal study |
charcoal - self portrait step by step |
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Selfportrait drawing I bought a big mirror and the model is myself. One learns a lot by designing oneself since it is possible to touch and move any part of the body to check the deeper structure (skin, fat, muscle, bone). Then, feeling and 'living' the character is interesting to get a living design (I felt it so). Moreover, design is as long as you can stand, no need to torture anyone else with eternal standing. Start I started with CONTE H charcoal on a CANSON smooth paper. First, I don't worry about greyscale, I only consider proportions and forms modeling. |
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Charcoal pencil By using the charcoal, it naturally gets a bevel form, which is useful to perform both accurate hatching/broad lines depending on the edge/plane which is used. Hatching are only used to give form information. |
 
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Shapes and volumes Once proportions are OK (head was too small, I resized it), I refine forms by hatching (pectorals, ribs, clavicles) and connect muscles to build a living structure (thorax, abdominals, hips). Once bones, muscles, etc. are identified, it is easier to make a living design by resizing, refining muscle. Being its own model helps to feel which muscles are active or not. Finally on this dark design, latest touch gives some indication about ligth, shadows, etc. (note the design didn't aim to be realistic from a value point of view, realistic greyscale is not the point) |
| Charcoal and black chalk Another self portrait with dry H charcoal pen (the technique is the same as before) but I added som black chalk (just discovered this way that I want to explore). Contrast can be worked on a second step (black chalk is added at the very end and can be smoothed by putting some dry charcoal on it)... This work was done a couple of years ago... check latest improvments. |