Chiaroscuro Drawing of a Female Model
Charcoal on Canson Mi Teintes Paper, 5/2/07

As I sat at my bench working away at this drawing, I was busy thinking about a few different things. Things at work have been tumultuous. We have new management and my job is currently being “looked at.” Sometimes this means one should start looking at jobs. My mind has been racing around ideas for the job hunt. I need a portfolio. I should “network” more, right? Monster.com is kind of crappy, right? I could always work at a bookstore. Or maybe a Chapeau Shop. You know, like, “what size do you wear, sir?” And then you answer…

My instructor’s voice woke me up from my day-dream-drawing. “Are you drawing on the rough side of the paper on purpose?”

“Shit,” said I. “I mean, ‘yes.’”

The drawing wasn’t going well, and it was my last one of the class, and I made it even more difficult by not paying attention to what I was doing. The rough side of Canson Mi Teintes paper has a waffle texture. It’s easy for that pattern to dominate your drawing, especially if you use broad strokes. I wasn’t aware of it. I was simply going very slowly and putting down small marks.

After the embarrassment passed, I decided to try to use the waffle pattern for the model’s hair and the drapery. I stuck with very short controlled marks for her skin.

This style of marking caused me frequent trips to the electric pencil sharpener. Chunks of charcoal, conte or graphite were always jammed inside of it.

From my bench, I would listen to a student, an art teacher, I believe, grind her pencil away in that sharpener, tsking and sighing. When it was my turn to sharpen and I found that I could barely insert my pencil part-way, let alone sharpen it to a point, she always popped over to ask me: “Do you think there’s something stuck inside of it?” A few minutes of surgery with a fellow student’s pocket knife would invariably produce a chunk of whatever material the woman was using.

Great class. Looking forward to more figure drawing. A big thanks to Mr. Norman, too.

Chiaroscuro Drawing of a Male Model
charcoal on Canson Mi Teintes Paper, 4/11/07

Here is a two-session, 5½ hour drawing of a male model. There are two sides to paper like this, rough and smooth. I worked on the smooth side here and it was easy to make marks. I’m working on the rough side in my current drawing. I’ll talk about that in a future post.

Chiaroscuro Drawing of a Female Model
Graphite and Chalk on Canson Mi Teintes Paper
12 X 14″, 3/15/07 - 3/28/07

This chiaroscuro drawing was a two-week pose, so I put about 5 ¾ hours into it. Using graphite forced me to slow down and build the values, both light and dark, gradually. The trick is to let the toned paper do the work. I still rendered the majority of the figure, defeating the purpose of using toned paper. There was so much to see, the subtle shifts between forms. I felt rushed, but probably would have felt that way after 20 hours.

Next week we start another 2 week chiaroscuro drawing. I’ll probably try some cool-toned paper and a sharper white chalk pencil. I’ll also work in some more line.

For a look at some really strong chiaroscuro drawings, check out Anthony Ryder’s work. He has a popular drawing book out, too.

Charcoal Reduction Drawing of a Male Model
Charcoal on Paper 18 X 24″, 3/8/07

The charcoal is much looser and gestural than the chiaroscuro. I struggled with the proportions, and this drawing is tough for me to look at, particularly the head. In fact, I was really close to cropping the head right out of this drawing. I liked going into the forms of the shoulders and torso with the kneaded eraser: it felt like painting with broad strokes. Just needed to tighten up some of the shapes and introduce some line.

(If anyone has suggestions on photographing artwork digitally, let me know. What a chore.)

Untitled 2-28-07
charcoal on paper

In my figure drawing class, we drew portraits in charcoal again this week. The instructor didn’t drape black fabric behind the model, so instead of starting with a gray-toned ground, I just used the white of the paper. I tried to introduce more line than last week’s drawing. (I focused on getting more detail, too. No ominous eye voids this time!)

The model had a great expression that, when she wasn’t dozing off, her face held for 30-40 minutes at a time. She moved a lot, but her face stayed on the same attitude: an irritated, ready-to-boil-over look. I missed some things in her brow and lower lip, so I didn’t draw the subtle anger as much as I wanted. She just looks a little sad in my drawing.

Portrait with One Eye Missing
Charcoal, 2/21/07

My charcoal reduction drawing from last Wednesday’s class, using this technique. I ran out of time. The model even stayed still for a few extra minutes after the instructor called time, but it wasn’t enough for me to get that right eye drawn out.

I’m happy with the shapes around the mouth, the chin and the neck. Those values were really easy to pick out. The nose and eye were trickier for me to see. I’ll probably focus on the eyes next week.

That empty eye void is… unsettling.

The Austere Gamer

Know anyone who spends countless hours playing Massively Multiplayer Online games? Next time he plops down in his comfy chair, throws open his laptop screen and raids The Ancient Crypt of the Tooley-Noonoo, grab your sketch pad and start drawing him. He’ll probably sit still for a long time.

Close up of the Austere Gamer.

This pal of mine sat motionless for almost two hours!

Profile of the same Austere Gamer

It was great to have friends visiting who enjoy sitting for long stretches.

She Watches SNL While He Games.

Peter Steinhart says in his book, The Undressed Art: Why We Draw, that one reason you draw is to better understand something that intensely interests you. Often, you have an emotional connection with the subject of your drawing. The act of drawing pulls your mind into attending to stuff that you would ordinarily ignore, or fail to notice.

How about focusing intently on friends? Can’t think of a better subject. It’s easy. Say: “Hey, I’m going to draw you.” It will only feel weird for a few minutes.