Head study - 4/26/10

Charcoal on newsprint

A small 3 1/4 inch charcoal drawing. More finished than a sketch, in spite of its size.

Sketch - 4/25/10

Charcoal on newsprint

Sketch - 4/23/10

Charcoal on newsprint

We're getting kind of sketchy here. I sometimes set time limits that are too short.

Head sketch - 4/20/10

Charcoal on newsprint

Quick sketch

Charcoal on newsprint

Catching some rays

Charcoal on newsprint

This woman was lying in the sun. (In case you thought the drawing was crooked.) Drawings that are light and ghosty like this one were done kind of quickly, and are not anywhere near finished. The most benefit in a practice drawing is gained in the first stage. Spacing and placing, laying in the proportions and shapes.

Claire's mother -- practice sketch

Top - Charcoal on newsprint
Bottom - Charcoal on bristol (heavy drawing paper)

This is a sketch (top) of the same subject I recently posted. It's kind of interesting to compare the two.

Charcoal sketch

Charcoal on newsprint

OK, so not all of my sketches are of women. It's a good idea to draw men once in a while. I saw some work by an artist who specialized in beautiful women. Among all the drawings was only one man, as I recall. He looked kind of feminine. The artist limited himself too much.

Practice drawing

Charcoal on newsprint

I practice from photos, and fashion photos are often good ones, in terms of size and lighting. So most of my practice drawings are of attractive women.

Sketch from a photo

Charcoal on newsprint

This sketch is a few years old, from a photo I took of a friend wearing a scarf. It appeared as a miniature painting in the early days of this blog (about three years ago). The likeness of the painting is good; this one is not. If you didn't know that, it probably wouldn't matter.