Charcoal References

              Charcoal is also a versatile medium. While you can create extremely realistic, sensitive drawings with it, there is something about picking up that dusty stump of charcoal that frees us to go big, expressive and gestural.

Charcoal of All Kinds: Charcoal comes in several different forms.

• The compressed stick, which can can be hard, produces a grayer shade, or soft and very deep black.
• A softer charcoal is easier to smudge: it’s the one that will get all over your hands, your paper, and probably your clothing and face too!
• Pressed charcoal also comes as a pencil. This is useful for detailed drawings because it can be sharpened to a fine point. It is also much less messy!
• Willow or vine charcoal comes actually as a willow stick: it is long, cylindrical and wiggly. Willow charcoal is also very soft and produces a velvety, dove grey. It has a great texture to draw with, but is also very smudgy.

Charcoal Drawing Techniques:

• Charcoal can be used in the same way you use a pencil to draw and shade anything, but it’s best suited to to more expressive types of shading like hatching.
• Charcoal can also be used to do the preliminary drawings of a painting on canvas.
  • Once you’ve blocked in your shapes and values, spray with a workable fixative and start painting. Turning your charcoal stick on its side and filling in major areas of a subject is a great way to train your brain to see shapes rather than contours.
• One of my favorite thing to do with charcoal, however, is gesture drawings. It’s the perfect tool for executing the large, sweeping strokes needed to capture a gesture.
  •  Use a nice chunk and a big pad of cartridge paper to get the most out of your drawings.

This picture interesting because the lady is upside down.  I love the shadow below her chin and her curly hair. it looks so real.

I love the technique of this picture. it makes that girl look mysterious. For me, if i look at the mysterious picture, i will look that picture for long time and make me want to know who is she, why, what, etc... and not every result can be 'eye catching'

I for four techniques of charcoal drawing, first is just a line by charcoal but can present pattern ; Second one is like strokes from left to right from black to white. It present that charcoal can make highlight and shadow but depends on our hand ; Next is like ++++ or ####,  it interesting because not many people use this technique.The last technique looks interesting too, it makes pattern and i think its good for background. i want to try it soon!

I love the shadow and highlight in this picture, even just a fabric, but it looks so real and soft.

The last is so interesting, it looks 3D, the man like in the hole and looking outside the paper. I will make it soon!


Have a nice day,
JAJ

Man behind my Artwork

                I want to share about My third Black and white drawing. The title is 'man behind my artwork', when i just started charcoal lesson, i have search some charcoal drawing and one of them is this man. But after i made 2 charcoal drawings, i remember about this man, and i decided to make it. Lets start, my step : 

I started from the shadow of paper, because that is the easier part :D But little bit confuse about his fingers :S

His mouth is the hardest part in his face, but i love his eye <3

Almost done! and i still want to make the fingers looks real. lets try :q

This is the result :) not bad, hahah, but i think this man looks sad-er than my reference :B
I love this result because it like a man behind my paper and want to go out. 

HoOLA, Me and My Man :DD

i used this Willow charcoal and Maries as my eraser.

After finished my charcoal drawing, you should spray your drawing with this fixative, so your charcoal will not faded or go anywhere :p

Have a nice day!
JAJ

little girl - Charcoal

               One week after i made Katy Perry, i tried to make once again with "true paper". This is my reference : a little girl with her wings, but i just want to draw her without her wings :B

-JAJ-

Katy Perry - Charcoal

                  First assignment of drawing technique is make a black and white painting with charcoal. The process is really fun, but sometimes make nervous when i want to make highlight or shadow :S

i have some option but i chose this picture :

And this is the process :D First i made the grid, so i draw per grid to make the picture look alike.

And this is the result :

To be honest, i don't really like this result, because i think i draw it on wrong paper and make harder :(

God Bless You!

JAJ