Ears are something I need to practice as well, mostly because I want to get the inner shapes right on a profile-view.
Human Figure
Drawing Eyes – Graphite & Charcoal
I have several books on portrait drawing, and drawing facial features. This is practice drawing eyes, and remembering that eye is actually a ball. The eyelids wrap around the spherical shape of the eyeball.
Drawing Hands – Studies in Graphite
I recently purchased the book Mark Crilley’s Ultimate Book of Drawing Hands, because I have such difficulty drawing hands, particularly fingers. I can look at my left hand and draw it, palm down or palm up, but things like a hand at rest, a hand holding a spoon, a hand on the hip are more challenging.
I think this book will help me — assuming I practice daily.
Here are my first attempts.
Seated Figure in Willow Charcoal
This study was based off a reference photo from an ArtTutor class I took. This is my first time using willow charcoal, which seems to me quite similar to vine charcoal, only it’s black as opposed to dark gray. And it’s a bit harder than the vine charcoal, although both are labeled Medium, and the manufacturer (Winsor) is the same.
Girl on a Swing
This study, done using vine charcoal, was done on white paper toned first with charcoal powder so I could use the kneadable eraser to lift up color for highlights.
The reference image used was by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay.
Little Boy on the Beach: Charcoal Study
The reference image for this charcoal study is by Nadine Doerlé from Pixabay.
I’ve used this same image for a work in pastel.
More Charcoal… I’m on a roll.
This is another piece I did, based on the ArtTutor.com class “Studies in Charcoal” by Joann Boon Thomas. Same vine charcoal, and toned paper. This reference photo was one of the instructor’s based on a life drawing she did. I need to find a life drawing class myself, although with Covid, it might be an online/Zoom version.
More Classwork from ArtTutor…
This piece, like the one posted yesterday, is also from the “Studies in Charcoal” by Joann Boon Thomas. Same supplies — vine charcoal and toned paper. I definitely need to practice hands and feet.
Color Study with the Color Grab App
I was uneasy about my color selection for the little boy’s rubber boots — the part in shadow. The color constancy illusion would lead one to think the entire boot is yellow, but if you squint and then look at the photo, the boot in shadow is clearly not the same yellow as the boot in sunlight. So, at first I used a bluish-gray for the boot in shadow.
Then I remembered, I have the “Color Grab” app on my Android phone! I can check the suggested color, and then see if I have a pastel to match.
“Color Grab” showed the shadowed boot to be a yellow green, as shown in the first screen grab (see the small and larger white circles). Then you click on the Hex code for the color, and, if a listing of approximate paint colors is available, they will be listed. That display is what I used to approximate a pastel stick color.
I then added the yellow green color to the boot, but I need to blend it in.
In addition, the sunlit part of the boot is actually a whiter (paler) yellow, as shown by the screen grab, so I will need to adjust as appropriate there.
BetterLateThanNeverArt 