[Nex]

yesterday i bought some charcoal to draw with and so far I have this:



I see some errors on the cheeks especially, but I would be happy to know what you think about it.

[ozenzo]

I like this a lot....very moody!!.....something around the left side of her mouth seems a little off....darken some of the shadowed areas to bring out more depth.....very nice though....first time using charcoal?

[Nex]

Its the first time that I use charcoal only in a picture.. I made a pic with charcoal and pencil some time ago..

this is the first charcoal+pencil try:



I lack the knowledge about techniques you can use with charcoal-

Spooge gave me some tips but its still something that I have to learn.. I recommend to try it however, its fun.

[CapnPyro]

when i blend with charcoal i usually blend it with my finger first, rub it in with a little cloth then blow on it to get all the extra stuff off.. on the first picture looks really cool.. mouth is alittle messed. looks moody, but maybe to much grey tones, not enough blacks or whites...the second one looks pretty good so far, i like the roundness looking of her face, id just blend it a little more and try to get rid of those stark lines on her face.. hehe sort of a mix between the first picture and the second and youll be all set

-CapnPyro-

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http://home1.gte.net/capnpyro

[Nex]

thanks.. i somehow find it hard to get really dark tones with charcoal.. as soon as I smudge it a bit it turns plain gray.. maybe i should use a fixation spray or something to keep the coal on the paper and allow darker colors. I will continue to work on the first picture I posted.. maybe I find a trick to do it better.

[Moose]

Try this with charcoal......

Cover the entire sheet of paper with a light layer of charcoal, I prefer using vine charcoal for this. Now, you have to make sure your paper is heavy enough, I recomend Lenox paper just cause it is nice. After you have all the charcoal down, use a kneeded eraser or something and erase out the light values. use your eraser then as a tool to capture value by pressure. once you get your light values, go back in with a charcoal stick or pencil and go into the shadows.

This technique is kinda difficult, but the final results willblow your mind.

As for your drawing there, it is looking nice for your first time. What I would sugest is that you put some value in the negative space (the space around her head). When you do this, it lets you control forms with value rather than line. I dont see much line in this, but some charcoal in the negative will really complete it once you finish.

here are some of my drawings i have done.....the first is a graphite, the second a conte and the third a conte/charcoal. They really arent that great of examples for the use of negative space, but the third one may be.

http://www.geocities.com/mountainiii/images/art/drawing1.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/mountainiii/images/art/drawing2.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/mountainiii/rachel.html

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http://www.geocities.com/mountainiii

[This message has been edited by Moose (edited June 09, 2000).]

[Nex]

Ahh thanks, I will try it with that rubber.

Nice site btw, design looks very classy.

[dr . bang]

Very nice pic, you need to work on her lips and thats it. Btw, i was looking at your page and it reminded me of this pic....quite a coincident. Ignore the icon, it was suppost to be a smiley face like this





[This message has been edited by dr . bang (edited June 09, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by dr . bang (edited June 09, 2000).]

[Nex]

your link is broken but i know the picture.. I liked the idea with the hair and the white dress. Although its not really based on it, I just liked the hairstyle 'n pose.

Edit: link no longer broken.



[This message has been edited by Nex (edited June 09, 2000).]

[samdragon]

Nex, here is an example of what moose was talking about. I copywrited this 99 but it's actually around 96 or so. Covered the paper in charcoal and then went back in and erased with an electric eraser. It's fun to do and you can learn alot from it. Fabric is a really good starting place for this method, it's doesn't require as much detail and it's more forgiving.
Give it a try.



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VISIT SAMDRAGON'S HOME

[Cos]

very cool for being your first only charcoal attempt. I agree with (I forget who said it) about darkening up the shadows to give more depth, and maybe defining some details but all in all great work ;D

also samdragon I really like that piece.