starting with charcoal
3yr
Eli
Hi folks,
I did this sketch of a portrait with graphite pencil and am now planning to value it out with charcoal.
Is this even a good process for beginners? Or should i start with charcoal right away? Would you recommend put some more details in the sketch, or some hints for shading etc.?
If you want to point out any general critique on the sketch, please feel free :)
Also, it feels like she is looking to the side, rather than into the camera like in the ref. and I can't figure out why?! ':D
Sorry for all the questions <3
Thank you in advance!!
You're on a good start! The thing about charcoal is that they're really fun to use at some time, but at some other time they can also be frustrating. It's normal though because the nature of charcoal itself is more punitive than graphite. Charcoal smudges, and doesn't get erased as well as graphite.
So the key to using charcoal successfully is to layout the separation between light and shadow first, or 'form' as we call it. Only after that, it'll be easier for you to know where you should put the charcoal on.
The common mistake people make in using charcoal is that they jump too early, and end up erasing and smudging the charcoal all over the place. In the end, the piece looks dirty.
As I can see from your work, it's still in line art phase, thus I will say it's a bit early to introduce it to charcoal. I will advice you to take some more time to understand the form better. I've attached a sketch over on how I approach form of the figure. You see, I only separate it into two areas, one is light and one is shadow. That's the simplest form. By doing this, I can clearly see where I should put the charcoal on, and where I should stop and keep the paper clean.
Check out Stephen Bauman, he's really good at presenting form, and how to shape them with clean and clear strokes.
Hi @Vincentius Sesarius , thank you so much for the feedback and the sketch, it is super useful!
I have one more question: I tried to figure out the halftones and the reflected lights (see attached img) however i kind of struggle to seperate them from the shadows. Are there even that many halftones in it? Since the key-light is very bright and directional there aren't so much soft transitions, more than hard edges and direct conversions form light to shadow... i think...?
But i feel like i need to identify these nuances better if i want to paint them thoughtfully and not just "copying" the values from the reference :/
Also i need to redraw my lineart, now that i have seen how impressivly dynamic your's is looking.
I'm a total beginner myself but I've just started a similar project.
I just went for it with charcoal and I've loved the process so far.
I'd highly recommend some paper stumps (not sure of the official name) they really help for blending.
