First 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!
Posts Tagged ‘charcoal’
Alex
Saturday, September 6th, 2014Contemplation
Saturday, April 12th, 2014Charcoal on A3 Bristol board.
Windswept
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:
Figure Study
Sunday, February 28th, 2010I’ve decided to start putting my drawings up as well as photos, partially because I’m not taking many photos and the blog is looking a bit starved of attention. I may end up back-dating some drawings, so expect some to pop into the middle of all the photos.
This is a quite large figure study, a mix of charcoal and graphite on board. My first real experiment with charcoal. I like it much better for the dark colours and doesn’t have the shine of graphite. It suits my drawing style much better and I hink there will be many more charcoal drawings to come.
Work in Progress video starting after ~4hrs and each image is ~1hr apart: