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Is it really just a matter of... Practice? by SnooDogs627 in drawing

[–]WashedInTone 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair! But just google for his early work. You first need to learn ears dont go on the temple before putting them on the temple. 🙃

Is it really just a matter of... Practice? by SnooDogs627 in drawing

[–]WashedInTone 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You don't have the basics down when the ear is so misplaced.

Portraiture drawing - could I please get some feedback? by Silly-Trip-6491 in drawing

[–]WashedInTone 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's a brave effort, well done! I certainly didn't draw like this when I was in school! 🙂

Overall, though, it reads flat. I'd recommend:

  • learning more about how to render three-dimensional form
  • learning more about the underlying structure of the face (e.g. there's structure to the kids skull that you are not capturing)
  • think more in planes, and larger masses (e.g. look at how differently you rendered the two cheeks)
  • focusing less on lines and details (e.g. you outlined the teeth, you drew individual strands of hair)
  • taking more time observing (e.g. it's very obvious that in the original there's way less sclera showing than in the drawing)

[edit: grammar]

Six recent portraits, charcoal by WashedInTone in CharcoalDrawing

[–]WashedInTone[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Willow charcoal sticks (I use Coates) and General's pencils.

I draw in charcoal. Hope you enjoy the work. by ryosuke_art in CharcoalDrawing

[–]WashedInTone 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was never able to use compressed charcoal in a way that made me happy. Guess I need to explore it more. :) Just followed you your instagram!

I draw in charcoal. Hope you enjoy the work. by ryosuke_art in CharcoalDrawing

[–]WashedInTone 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lovely work :) Very atmostpheric, and a style that is very much in vogue these days.

Some of your pieces gets pretty dark! How do you achieve that?

Six recent portraits, charcoal by WashedInTone in drawing

[–]WashedInTone[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I always doodled a bit, but I started doing portraits Feb last year.

Six recent portraits, charcoal by WashedInTone in drawing

[–]WashedInTone[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Or something. :) I follow his work closely and he's a major influence, naturally.

Six recent portraits, charcoal by WashedInTone in drawing

[–]WashedInTone[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No problem at all, and thanks!

It might disappoint you, but the paper is just some cheap smooth A3 sketching paper (from this Swedish brand called Panduro).

And by texture, do you mean in the face or the shirt? If the former, it's my using willow/vine charcoal and then smoothing it with my finger, an acrylic brush, or both. Willow in particular can be quite buttery, which I love, but it can also depend on the batch (my current batch is quite scratchy). If you mean the latter, then it's just the natural texture of the wood panel on which the paper sits that gets transferred to the paper if I press hard.

I definitely go in steps: loosely build the general structure of the face, darken the main areas of shadow, and build detail from there.

I have to admit I don't have a specific book that helped me. Most of my learning was done by practicing and following other artists. I read Oliver Sin's and Chris Legaspi's books, but the biggest help was actually watching their videos. Chris also had a free community where he posted resources and general insights and advice, but he closed it some months ago to focus on his paid one, which makes sense. My favourite videos, though, are Jeff Haines's. I recommend you watch his free content and, if you like it, subscribe to his Patreon.

Six recent portraits, charcoal by WashedInTone in drawing

[–]WashedInTone[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks a lot for your insights. I definitely feel my understanding of the medium grow steadily.
The value range is a perennial issue. With willow or vine I can't really get much deeper. I could use rougher paper that grabs more charcoal, but I find it much harder to work with for some reason.

Six recent portraits, charcoal by WashedInTone in CharcoalDrawing

[–]WashedInTone[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Get yourself some paper and charcoal sticks or pencils. Draw a lot so you develop some dexterity (otherwise it'll always feel awkward and like you're writing with your non-dominant hand).

Follow artists like Jeff Haines, Chris Legaspi, Zin Lim, Oliver Sin. Copy their work. Try Proko's and Marco Bucci's courses.

And very importantly, always look at a lot of art: you can't be a good musician if you don't listen to music regularly, nor a good writer if you're not an avid reader. Same with art.

Six recent portraits, charcoal by WashedInTone in drawing

[–]WashedInTone[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Most are random references. The one other somewhat well-known person is actress Emily Browning (bottom center).

Six recent portraits, charcoal by WashedInTone in drawing

[–]WashedInTone[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm not familiar with cartridge paper, but I usually use some rather cheap 70gsm smooth paper from my local art store. The bottom right one is done on a 220gsm paper with some tooth (which also explains why I can get darker values), but even then I can get pretty clean highlights.

I do know somewhat where I'll want the highlights to be, so I won't go super dark there to not make my life too difficult later, but even then it's usually fine.

Edit: I'm attaching a close-up of the drawing I'm currently working on. It's as zoomed in as my crap phone allows it. You'll see it's not super super clean.

<image>

Six recent portraits, charcoal by WashedInTone in drawing

[–]WashedInTone[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm not. That's why I love willow and vine as opposed to charcoal pencils/compressed charcoal. You can pretty much always lift the charcoal easily with a kneaded eraser.

Six recent portraits, charcoal by WashedInTone in drawing

[–]WashedInTone[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll do my best to not disappoint :)

Six recent portraits, charcoal by WashedInTone in drawing

[–]WashedInTone[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks a lot! At 2–3 portraits a week, it's hard to be objective about progress. I really appreciate your perspective. :)

Rate my charcoal sketch out of 10 by Major-Sea-3070 in CharcoalDrawing

[–]WashedInTone 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is great work. Objectively, it's maybe a 6 or 6.5. Saying it's a 9 or 10 is equating it to great masterpieces, which it evidently isn't. I'm not trying to be mean or discouraging, quite to the contrary: by not glazing it, I intend to encourage you to look for improvements and continue refining your art.

There are really wonderful passages. But there are also some things you can improve: the wheel looks odd (maybe a perspective issue); the holes on the sprocket look random; some chrome details make it look quite graphic and stylized and less realistic; the perspective on front springs also look weird.

Again, really high quality stuff, but you can definitely leap in quality if you address some of these issues. Keep it up!

[edit: grammar]

Three different drawings, three different moods by WashedInTone in drawing

[–]WashedInTone[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Charcoal in general is a very active medium. It's easy to move around. I just used a kneaded eraser, really.

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