I had planned to spend only a half hour on the Harry Potter Drawing this morning but I was so engrossed that I finished it.
Most of what needed to be done with the drawing was his neck, shirt and coat. Or “jumper” as they say in the UK.
For his coat there is a mixture of three different charcoals and different methods for applying them. In order to cover a lot of area with a dark value I used vine charcoal to cover his whole bottom half then smoothed it all around with a brush. It was quite messy. The produced a very different texture than the head which worked well to contrast against his head.
But, just adding some vine charcoal and moving it all over the place with a brush would leave his coat and shirt looking vaporous, lacking solidity, similar to a could. So I worked back into his coat and shirt with an eraser and charcoal pencil, keeping my strokes energetic.
This is becoming a habit that I look forward to every day.
I feel I need to repeat myself here. The important part of gestures is the impulse or motive. The initial feeling within the first second of seeing the figure. This spark of inspiration is what should be communicated in as broad and simple terms as possible.
Here is a great post all about gesture drawing. I agree with most of it.
My neighbor, a couple doors down, is one of the nicest people I’ve met. After speaking with him several times and getting an account of his history I’ve become even more patient and understanding with people that have challenges with weight.
I happened to see him out of my kitchen window yesterday walking to his apartment holding a small animal carrier and I wanted to capture his shape and possibly his gait plus the in-congruence with the animal carrier.
I wonder what was in the carrier…
Deep into drawing today, feeling happy and creative, plus I got the Harry Potter drawing finished
Such a good morning, this one is hard. Every time I finish a drawing I see things that I could adjust or “fix”. I’m learning to let it go. Connection over perfection.
Know all the techniques that I have learned. Use them when the time is right, there is not bad or good techniques. All of them can be used to communicate in their own way.
