First new drawing of 2016. Hopefully will be a productive year!
Archive for the ‘Drawing’ Category
Out of the Darkness
Sunday, January 17th, 2016The Thinker (Drawing)
Wednesday, December 16th, 2015Drawing of The Thinker photograph
Glow
Monday, October 27th, 2014Another figure study. Been putting off including faces with the white-on-black and this time the contrast is not so high as the previous rim-lighting, and so lacks the impact of the other figures, but some good practice on working with tone using the white charcoal.
Fur
Sunday, October 26th, 2014Lots of lots of fur!Usually I don’t like hair or fur — so hard to get right. So I thought it would be an interesting challenge to draw something which was almost all fur!
Still enjoying the look of white on black and keen to try more!
Laughter
Sunday, October 12th, 2014Sun King
Saturday, October 11th, 2014Shine
Sunday, October 5th, 2014Yet more white charcoal on black paper! Still enjoying the look of them and the relative speed of finishing them.
Silence
Saturday, October 4th, 2014Another quick white charcoal on pastel paper!
The level of detail is so much less with the white, but somehow the flow or look of it appeals to me, despite the lack of detail. It has some power with just the rough lines.
Escape
Saturday, October 4th, 2014Another white charcoal on pastel paper. Unfortunately I mistakenly picked up the white graphite pencil to sketch in the outlines — white tinted graphite is much harder to remove! Hence some of the lines still being visible. That’s the second time that’s happened – I will need to hide the graphite pencil away
Mist
Friday, October 3rd, 2014A 2nd white-on-black attempt (white charcoal on black pastel paper)
I still like the ethereal sparkle of using white, and I’m still amazed by how quickly it comes to life (perhaps because it’s still new to me, so I’m not looking so critically at every imperfection). Looking forward to doing more like this.
Posture revisited
Saturday, September 20th, 2014A revisiting of the same image I drew back in 2010, only this time starting with black paper using white charcoal.
First time with only using white charcoal — have occasionally used it for highlights, but only rarely and never as the main medium. Was very surprised how quickly the drawing took shape and the ethereal nature of the result. This was “finished” in less than a quarter of the time of the original!
White charcoal on black pastel paper.
Alex
Saturday, September 6th, 2014First big drawing in a very long time. Choarcoal on A2 Bristol Board. Still needs some finishing, but is very large and cumbersome to work on! Took photos along the way for a Work In Progress animation, perhaps I will add it once it’s finished!
Laura
Sunday, August 31st, 2014The incredibly beautiful Laura.
After a long break, finally back drawing again and a very beautiful new start! Hopefully marks the beginning of a whole new series of artwork!
Manta
Saturday, August 30th, 2014Inspired to draw the magnificent Manta Rays after seeing them up close and personal in Hawaii. Extremely beautiful and graceful creatures.
Contemplation
Saturday, April 12th, 2014Charcoal on A3 Bristol board.
Graceful beauty
Monday, June 24th, 2013Windswept
Sunday, September 4th, 2011Balance
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011This one had an unfortunate spillage half way through — see if you can spot the water marks. From a distance still looks ok to me though.
Charcoal on A3 Bristol Board.
Youth
Sunday, October 24th, 2010Charcoal drawing on Bristol board (60 x 50 cm)
This one was a new one on several fronts — many of the usual facial shadow / highlights are obscured by the freckles and there is a shallower depth of field (with the hand, background and some of the face out of focus) which I’ve struggled to convey in previous drawings (often just looks like part of the drawing was rushed)
Writhe
Saturday, October 2nd, 2010Charcoal drawing on Bristol board (39 x 27 cm)
Last in my series of nudes. Thought it would be fun to explore a scene with a wide tonal range but with many darks, try to explore the much darker aspect of charcoal (over my previous choice of graphite)
I think I’m sold on charcoal, the wider tonal range, the beautifully dark blacks and the lack of shine all fit into what I like and enjoy in drawing.
Posture
Friday, September 10th, 2010Charcoal drawing on bristol board (24 x 39 cm)
Drawn from reference photo ~12 hrs to complete.
For me, the lower half of this drawing is what makes it — and not just for the obvious …. well, ok, a bit for the obvious! The reflected light from the floor, the little toes and the beautiful teardrop curves all add up to a wonderful scene. The harsh top light which makes the bottom half work, also makes the top half tricky to make work.
Deterimination
Monday, July 12th, 2010Charcoal drawing on Bristol Board (33 x 20 cm)
Drawn from reference photo, ~ 15hrs to complete.
I decided to experiment with mixed media: there is a small amount of ink used in some of the darker shadows. When I was working with graphite, I always found the darks to be too light and so occasionally used ink to bring the blacks to a good black (but found the black ink to graphite transition quite difficult) so I thought it might be easier with charcoal given its darker blacks.
Turns out that the ink doesn’t really add to the tone, charcoal can already get very dark blacks. On the down side, the ink adds a little shine to the areas where it has been used (which wasn’t a problem with graphite, since it shines anyway, but is a major distraction with charcoal).
The only place it might be useful is in outlining since you can add a very thin ink line which cannot be erased or smudged.
Live and learn as they say…
Crouch
Sunday, May 30th, 2010After managing to spill coffee on my ~70% finished charcoal figure study, I decided that I would do another quick figure study. Tried to make a weekend project out of it, but after a very productive Saturday, the majority is done. It’s not as detailed or finished as some others — may continue to work on it.
Total of ~10hrs, Charcoal on A3 bristol board.
Scarlet
Sunday, May 9th, 2010Latest charcoal drawing, only charcoal on A3 board.
I thought is would be interesting to try only using charcoal for a relatively high-key drawing.
Statue
Monday, March 8th, 2010Charcoal drawing on A3 board. ~16rs drawing time spread over around 1 week
Work In Progress video, each image is ~ 1hr apart: