A study

A study in charcoal. 9x12 inches. White paper.  Good lighting even if it's a photo always helps. That's what I always look for to make my job easier. I wanted a quick-rough study in charcoal. I did this in 2 hours. 

Classic face of Sophia

Sophia Loren. Charcoal. 11x14" toned gray paper. 

Inspired from Casey's drawings

Charcoal. 11x14 inches toned gray paper. Inspired from Casey Baugh drawings.

I was staring at Baugh's recent drawings on how he rendered light. It's pretty amazing that I see minute details of darks and light on some corners that makes sense. His range of values are wide, and he render it with great care. Those are the point that struck me and made me do a version of my own. The reference for this project was pulled out from black and white photos online.

This project was done last night that is why I'm getting some yellowish background on some pics. I have to wait till next morning to shoot this final product to get a true color to post it.

I enjoyed doing this project. You can do it too if you put your mind to it. Happy drawing!

Caricature studies

6B graphite on white paper. It's been quite some time I haven't done any caricature. I'm trying to see if I haven't lose my touch. 

On this two studies I was trying to approach the primary stage in a different way that I might be able to express the exaggerations right, yet still maintain the likeness of the character. 

I was thinking that if I stare at the reference and imagine the alteration, I might bring out a good result -in a more careful approach. Prior to this, it was just random and see what happens next kind of thing. And honestly, I am not quite satisfied with the results, though I was able to pull out some good caricatures.  Nevertheless, I have to spill a basket of apples to pick a solitary good one, so to speak. Such a waste of time and energy!

So to start I blocked in the whole image with that thought I had of the overall shape of the face (sorry, I didn't shoot anything showing the WIP). Within that block I mapped  the exaggeration of the face resulting like a shape of an inverted triangle in the case of Al Pacino (directly below), and a pear fruit for Brad Pitt (bottom pic). 

Second, I  mapped the exaggerated features the eye sockets and the forehead, the nose, the lips, the cheek bone, and the jaw. I look back to check the outline of the hair if I wanted a thicker or thinner one. No details yet, think of it like sculpting.

 Third, I define the lights and darks of the face and slowly shaping the eyebrows, furrows, and protruding bones  to help me articulate the face. At this stage, more or less, I have an idea the exact exaggeration I wanted. Every step seems to be going smooth. Up to this point, I thought that the overall shape of the face is more important than the detail drawing. 

Now that I pretty much see how I wanted the exaggerations done, I start to draw the details of the eyebrows, eyes, nose, mustache, lips, beard, and neck. 

Normally to start the whole exercise, artists would launch their attack with great details on drawing the eyes, brows, nose, and etc. There is more risk of commiting mistakes on doing that, and most often than not, they end up wasting time and energy, frustrated, pissed, and worn out. That whole baggage kills your passion, your goal, and as a whole, your dream. Some even kill themselves! Please don't do that.

I chose not to emphasize the hair because I wanted my viewers to focus on the face. 

I hope this little discussion helped you somehow. The operating words here are understressed. And remember, drawing is not only about aesthetic, opening your right brain makes all things work out. If the early stage of your work seem not working, most likely it's not going to work, or you will struggle through out the end. So do it right. Keep it spiffy. Happy drawing!

A sketch for the day

I just have this urge to do a quick drawing.  I'm throwing in more of the pics to show the stages of the process. I was in the mood to shoot more.  They are self explanatory, I suppose, or you might want to check the project prior to this on a more detailed explanation of the steps. 

Think that you can do it too. Happy drawing.

Sweet water

Charcoal in white paper. 9x12 inches. Below is showing the 3 stages of the progress.

Artist Casey Baugh's demo emphasized his approach on drawing/painting, and they are in the following sequence: value, color (if you're using it), edges, and then drawing. 

I started throwing in smudges of charcoal powder to where I think the dark tones are going to be mostly. In the pic at bottom such case is the bangs on the face, the sides, and the area where the hands are going to be. 

Next I started sculpting the figure with the use of a kneaded eraser. At the same time I began attacking the darker tones with the use soft charcoal vine, trying to define that soft and hard edges of the face. At this stage I didn't have to worry about the details- just block in the eyes socket, nose and lips. Repeat the same process moving on to the glass and fingers. At this stage think of mass of values, not lines and boundaries. To push the smudges smoothly I use Sofft knives or you can use stumps or the ever handy cute tips. 

Next stage as showing at the middle pic, continue working on the edges and some details, slowly sculpting to its likeness. Use the eraser for defining reflected lights and widened your tones from the darkest to the lightest. 

I try to stay loose as I work on its likeness and give a bit of my interpretation for a more original version. Don't be so uptight on details that you desperately want to perfect the likeness. It's going to drive you crazy.  This exercise is suppose to be  "cruise drive". 

Reference for this is a photo. The tools I used are the following: charcoal powder, soft sable brush, soft charcoal vine, soft charcoal pencil, stump and Sofft knife, and a kneaded eraser. 

I hope you find this little tip helpful for your own drawing journey.  Happy drawing!!!

Charcoal. 9x12 inches. Whtie paper. Another study of same Baugh style. 

Adopting a new style

Charcoal. 9x14 inches. Inspired from the style of artist Casey Baugh charcoal drawings.

Cashing in Cash

Johnny Cash. White on black etude. Still trying to get used to drawing white on black paper. Holding the pencil on the tip is important for me, alla artist Zimou Tan, so I don't tend to put more white more than I should. Moreover, I wanted lesser light on Cash's face than what it looks in the photo reference to give more drama and originality.

 For now most of my artworks are relatively small, ranging from 9x12 to 11x14 inches dimensions. I thought that small projects like these finish fast and keep me from boredom. Mostly, if not all, are done in two seating sessions because of time constraints. 

Eureka!

Still pushing on how can I make it better. I watched artist Zimou Tan on Youtube for a bit more on how he does his white on black drawings, trying to look for something I could pick up from his incredible skill.  Then I thought of holding exactly the way he does with his pencil or sticks -at the very tip of it.  In school we were taught to hold it in somewhat similar way but not so much of an emphasis. But I discovered that holding at the very tip makes sense.  You just need so much of pressure to make a desired mark. You get more control of not puting so much. It feels awkward at first but you'll get the hang of it. Of course, you got to have an easle holding your paper vertically.

Smoke

Another white on black surface. Just trying to explore more. Nothing satisfies me more than waking up early morning to start drawing and finishing up as the day is just starting. That way I have accomplished one already and still have a full day ahead of me. 

Young lady

Graphite on white paper. I got inspired looking through the gallery of artist Daniel Bilmes. I thought that he's a great artist. I love his drawings, his paintings, and his style. 

I read it somewhere that to own your style is to mix all the styles you try to emulate. You don't consciously seek for them, they come out naturally as you thrive to express your own art. 

Perlman

Itzhak Perlman, the father of all virtuosos of the violin in the classical world. White charcoal on black paper. This is just another way of consumating my practice of white charcoal against black surface. I'm trying push this skill to where it will take me. Artist Zimou Tan is inspiring me.

Jobim

Carlos Jobim, Brazillian songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, and instrumentalist. He created the Bosa Nova style of music. If you're not familiar of this genre of music and rythm try "Girl from Ipanema. 

I got the idea of doing the portrait of Jobim from a Japanese Instagram friend/follower #marsalu.  White charcoal on black paper.

Bell

Joshua Bell, violin virtuoso. White charcoal on black paper. Slowly I am getting a hang of this white charcoal on black surface. At first I was spinning my head on how to approach this going reverse mentally with white charcoal instead of black. I copied this from a colored photo which makes it a little challenging. I did a bit of adjustment  also with the left hand taking it closer to the face so I could include it in the composition. It looked a bit odd being too close; I know this because I play violin myself.  Anyway, I had fun doing this.

I included some stages of the process to show how I tackled them to come up with the finished work.

Pucinni

Giacomo Pucinni, Italian operatic composer of the late 19th century. Known for his operas like La Boheme, Tosca, and Madame Butterfly. White charcoal on black medium paper.

Showing below are the stages of how the process was done.

Fritz Kreisler

White charcoal on black medium paper.  Mr. Kreisler is an Austrian-born Anerican violinist who manifested his extraordinary talent at the age of 4.  By 7 he was already at the Vienna Conservatory of Music.  He surrounded himself with people of big stature in music and benefited so much from them.  Awards and accolades came out easy for his genius talent, and toured Europe and US 
almost instantly.  Then he got bored, decided to be a doctor of Medicine. When he came back to music he was welcomed and even came out bigger with his natural gift in music. 

He was known for his immortal compositions like Caprice Viennoise, Tambourin Chinoise, Schon Rosmarin, and Leibesfreud. In other words, in our modern street lingo, we say, the guy is a natural born cool dude.

Claude Debussy

Charcoal. Juggling between straight portrait and caricature throws off my skills that I tend to slack more on working the likeness of my portrait. I haven't even mastered that part yet. I decided to delay posting it instead and thought it hard of what else am I missing here. In caricature it's more loose and forgiving. 

Another retouched- George Lopez

Funny man George is always amusingly hilarious exposing the funny things Mexicans do and being proud to be one of them. Love the authenticity of the man.

Retouched old posts

I decided to retouch some of my old posts smoothening and defining more of the lights and darks. I am glad and proud of the results that it made a huge difference. I am actually getting them ready for frames and for a fundraising for my mother's trip to Vienna where she would put up a show of her own works. Yes, she's also an artist and I got my genetic talent in art from her.