[MikeP]

hello all, i have a couple of questions (i did search and couldn't really find the answers)

first, when i spray charcoal with hair spray or something like that to keep it from smudging, does it have to be aerosal? or can it be any hair spray? if not hair spray, what else can i use? WD-40? anything else (like spray deoderant maybe?)?

also, when you are doing life drawing, what exactly do you do to get the proportions right? i mean, i know there are many techniques, but is there one widely taken as best (e.g. do loose contour lines and correct as necessary after measuring with the end of the pencil and your eye or draw a skeleton/stick figure and then add mass or something along those lines)?

any help with these would be appreciated, and sorry if these questions have been covered exhaustively, because i couldn't find direct answers.

[MadSamoan]

Don't use hair spray. Use fixativ, that's what fixativ is made specifically for. You can get it at any art store and there are two types. One made for a glossy finish and one for a matte finish. You'll want the matte finish and it allows you to work over it even after you've applied. One warning though, only spray it outside and let it dry before bringing it inside, because it has obnoxious fumes that will bother people until it's completely dry. Also when you spray it, you'll want have the artwork lying flat on the ground so the pigment/charcoal won't run when the spray is applied.

Getting accurate proportions is a combination of plumming, measuring angles and relating abstract shapes. That will takes years of practice and patience.

[jr]

mad means workable fixitive. it's good stuff, but kills little babies and turns your lungs green if you breath it... so use it outside.

[MadSamoan]

That's right, workable fixative. There is a non-odor fixative that's available too. Hair pray will yellow the paper over time.

[egerie]

I wonder what WD-40 would do to the paper in the long run.. eek !

[jesse-k]

might be interesting to experinment with different stuff on art you don't want to keep, just to see how much it destroys the paper/charcoal.

You might discover an interesting technique.