Update to Charcoal drawing of Flamenco Dancer

Did a little work to smooth out the features.

Saturday Afternoon Still-Life Drawing

The Still Life

Beth Steinbrenner the Flamenco Dancer @ Webster Groves Christian Church

pen and ink sketch

charcoal drawing

black ink pen

Green Ink Pen

Drawing Beth of Los Flamencos

Last night we had Beth of Los Flamencos pose for us. I decided to go with charcoal which was something that I had not done in a while. This was to be a long pose, but to begin with we did two 5 minute poses. I took the opportunity to do some digital sketches.

My brush settings in Brushes 3 look a little different her as I asked my friend Michael Anderson what his recommendations, or favorite settings for brushes were. Michael is very good wit the digital mediums. Below is a screenshot of those settings. I will play with these and see how they work for me. I think it is a good setting that seems to mimic an actual brush well. Michael uses the Sensui Brush, so together they probably work quite well. I on the other hand tend to just use my fingers.

Here is a quote and a screenshot thanks to Michael:

"Would it kill Brushes 3 to give them names btw? I adjust the menus & size it to give it the painterly brush effect. Pushing the Jitter & Scatter sliders a bit farther will create a random paint drops which are cool too! Specific settings in attached screen shot."

And lastly, my return to charcoal after a long neglect of the medium is below. I have a bad habit of wanting to fill in the background completely. In this case it might have been better to take the approach of focusing on the form and grounding it lastly with little hints of the background. These are things that are learned after using different tools for some time. How then might it also effect my approach in the digital realm? Do I also focus too soon on background in an attempt to fill the space? It's something to be conscious of.

Drawing from Photo Reference

photo  reference source: 3d.sk

Figure Drawing from Reference

photo  reference source: 3d.sk

Figure Drawing from Reference Photo

Photo reference source: 3d.sk

Figure Drawing from Reference

Photo reference source: 3d.sk

Drawing from Reference

Charcoal drawing from reference photo

Photo reference source: 3d.sk

Continued Portrait

A more developed portrait drawn on a grocery sack

Paper grocery sacks are becoming rarer here. I get them from a Grocery store called Aldi's. they actually charge you 15 cents for each bag. Not bad though to draw on.

The paper does like to suck in the ink a little bit. I am going through the Nexus pens voraciously. They don't really last all that long. I think if I drew a bit slower and more judiciously they would last longer.

I need to do some more break-downs like that. I reverted to relying on my drawing too much and copying, instead of studying the anatomy anew the second time. Old habits are hard to break. It is so disheartening at times how difficult it is to keep consistently progressing and breaking through the layers of old.

Charcoal Study

Here is a 30 minute charcoal study that I did last night. Sorry about the quality of the 4th shot.

one

two

three

four

five

What's with that paper anyhow? Maybe I am drawing on the wrong side: all those vertical lines... Sorry... I'm just on the 'art' drug lately... I'm fiendin' for a fix!

Sketching from the SoFA IIX

Here were some suggestions from a friend Chris Solarski:

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"These pencil/drawings drawings I prefer to your marker drawings, without being able to describe why. They have more 'life' to them, whether that means anything to you!

I especially like the first and last drawings, in which you've captured an individual character and, it seems, done something more than just copy the model.

To push your drawings a little further I'd suggest thinking more about how you use light and shadow to describe form. You have done this to some extent. However, in the case of the last drawing, if you'd visualised the face as a simple cube and decided the light is coming from the viewers left, this would reinforce the feeling of form by establishing the side of her face as being in light and the front, in shadow.

I'd also recommend making more use of construction lines.
Great progress!"

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Thanks CAS. I think I need to be in touch with making intelligent choices with light and shade as a tool rather than as a strict effect of nature, so that I can in choosing manupulate the form. It is a language that can tell one story or another with the very same form.

I think that I will try to use construction lines. All good suggestions!

Thanks again!

Vermeer Academy Drawings

Sketching from the SoFA VII

Now, to put the markers down for a bit, here are some drawings.

I did this a few weeks ago.
I loved drawing this model, and her pose.
She had a very interesting face.

Next is a series of gestures.

3min. study

10min. study

15min. study

15min. study

Vermeer Academy Sketches

Sketching from the SoFA IV

Thanks everyone who commented on SoFA!
:)

(demented) When starting off it's always a question who likes the back and forth c&c and who doesn't. I'm glad to be able to get some good talk going.

Markers are fun and also frustrating. I agree, Mentler's quality is a lot to live up to. I think that I need to draw with more courage and speed. I drag my pen too slowly, and the vitality suffers.

(sonboss) I'm using the disposable Koh-I-Noors, and some of the Tombo ABT markers with one stiff nib and the other end a long, flexible brush-like nib. I haven't quite tamed the brush end yet.

Here, today I left the markers for a bit last night. I did a drawing from

1.) tv
2.) a photograph (the really loose suggestive one)
3.) from an image that popped into my head (the one on black)