Girl in Headscarf
Both of these charcoal portraits were drawn from life, at a weekly portrait class that I attend in the Crescent Arts Centre … I then work on them some more when I am home, working from reference photos until I am happy with the final piece
I always feel with portraiture that nothing compares to actually having the model in front of you, it gives you a feel for the person, sets a mood, and in general I believe it gives the portrait much more than just a likeness.
Observing a face in real life reveals so much more about the person, you see how the face moves, their aura, personality. If you rely too heavily on photographs, I feel you lose all of the above and you start to see far too much information and it becomes a copying exercise with the end result being a portrait that has lost a degree of intimacy and soul.
I love to work in charcoal as it is a relatively quick medium, especially when under time constraints - you only need to think of value, and not colour temperature as well. I also love the softness a charcoal portrait gives which sometimes is more difficult to achieve with paint.
Initially I do a loose sketch in a soft charcoal, working into large areas of values without trying to "see" too much
Gradually I work to the lightest light, which will be a white chalk, and darkest dark which could be a conte pencil. The beauty of charcoal is the ease of being able to constantly move bits around, using a putty rubber or blending stick, if they need correcting. I also try and have a focal point which is usually the eyes, even if the gaze is down and the eyes are closed! Clothing etc get looser and need less detail so as not to distract from the focal point
I absolutely love portraiture and feel that comes from a love and fascination of people! I would encourage everyone to draw as much as possible and observe observe observe!