Lesson #2

I really didn't think I would enjoy this lesson when I watched it. I haven't drawn with charcoal since art school, which was about 18 years ago, and I wasn't ever a huge fan. You can get great effects, but it's also so easy to mess up, and speaking of messy.... But I decided when I signed up for the class that I would give each lesson at least one good-faith try.

I dislike when all the students use the same reference photo and you're staring at a variation on a theme for every single post. But I did like the vintage photo with the cool hairstyle chosen by the teacher. This second lesson, too, was supposed to be based on "story," but the teacher came right out and said at the beginning of the segment that she doesn't like to read (why would they pick her for this segment!), so she took her model from a photography coffee table book she likes. So I thought about "vintage" authors I like, and a few came to mind. First I searched for pix of Rumer Godden, but there weren't any in which I liked her hair. So then I tried Daphne du Maurier, and hit the jackpot.

The basic technique was to draw the entire picture in charcoal (not vine, but a charcoal pencil), then put transparent colored inks over the top, going for some runny effects, then salt it to get some texture, then go back in with a white conté crayon to pick up highlights that got lost with all the technique, and possibly also reinforce some darks with India ink. I skipped the salt, because I have never particularly cared for the effect and didn't feel like dealing with the mess, but I faithfully carried out the rest. So...here's Daphne! I like the feeling of submersion in water that the runny turquoise ink gives, because of the Cornish origins of her stories.

I note here that although I finally received a partial shipment from Dick Blick today that let me do this, the Fluid hotpress paper is on backorder, and using that would definitely have given this drawing a tighter, more precise look. (Coldpress is textured, while hotpress is smooth.) The texture messed with my ability to get a few of the exact details I wanted. But...I'm always complaining about not being looser!

In retrospect, I wish I hadn't gone back in "hard" with those stripes or with the pupils of her eyes, they're distracting from the softness of the rest of the picture. Art and learn!

Peel & Sketch charcoal pencil, turquoise and burnt umber Daler Rowney inks, India ink, white conté crayon, on 140-lb. Fluid coldpress watercolor paper, 8x12 inches.