SKETCHING IN CHARCOAL
Have you ever caught a glimpse from someone in a fleeting moment and had that single frame in time burn into your memory? Its often these memories we remember the longest, they appear out of nowhere in our minds at random times but come through crystal clear. They aren't the big holiday moments or the major milestones we think we should remember but rather the seemingly inconsequential, little freeze frames frozen in time.
In this drawing i've tried to capture with a sketch in charcoal one of these moments.
First stage is to start with a rough and quick map in of some tone for the shadow spaces. Using charcoal dust and a paper towel, i quickly move across the paper in broad strokes. This helps lay down a bed for the 'energy' i'm looking to create. It also helps to start messy like this to get past the initial 'writers block' of staring at a nice clean empty page and wondering where to start.
Next stage is to use an eraser to start picking out some areas where i want to form the face. I've made direct straight lines along the general planes of a face to define some basic anatomy. If need be, i can easily take the dirty paper towel and add some more tone and erase again until the desired shape starts to form. I'm using big broad strokes with the eraser to keep the sense of energy. By continuing the lines through and past the form it creates a sense of movement which will help in creating the effect of a 'freeze frame'.
With a bit more refinement i've found the mouth, check, jaw line and nose which are the main forms i want to bring out of the darkness. The messy areas are like the frames before and after the frame i'm trying to capture. It was only a fleeting moment and only a part of it managed to bounce light back sharply. This creates the mystery, the movement, the moment.
Adding some white can help highlight the forms a bit more. As a general tip, try to use your lines sparingly when adding highlights. Often less is more, it's just about pushing the highlight a bit higher than the middle and dark tones set by the paper & charcoal. Follow the forms and the shape your trying to highlight rather than just adding white randomly. With only a few lines it can help create dimension and get across the impression of reflected light. Think about how a drop of water would run along the form your trying to highlight, what path would it naturally take? - that is the direction your highlight lines should follow.
Finishing up (and trying to make a bad phone camera photo look a bit nicer!), here she is. A moment in time. The 'who', 'what', 'where' and 'how' of this moment doesn't really matter, it just 'was' and now 'is' - and thats where the beauty exists. That's what fine art does best.
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