Here is a portrait I drew from a picture in a magazine of an old man who was a rural doctor and was famous for making house calls at any time and no matter how far away. My Goal in this picture was to capture a noble face of a man who lived his life in service to others.
I drew this on a practice sheet from a Strathmore pad about 9x11 inches. It was drawn in charcoal while sitting in a coffee shop at the mall. I finished it while waiting to pick up my daughter from a church meeting. I keep all my drawing supplies in a messenger bag (but my wife calls it my man bag), it is easy to grab it and take my drawing supplies whenever I need to go. I was pleased with the texture of the background; I used a soft dark charcoal pencil on one side and a hard lighter charcoal pencil on the other. After laying down the charcoal I used a soft brush to blend the powdery charcoal, it gave a textured background that contrast with the other elements of the picture, and I finished the background with a light rub with the vinyl eraser to lighten the tone up a bit. I am a little unhappy with the final picture, but the photo I was working from lacked any dramatic shadows to develop the character of the portrait. None-the-less it is a fine effort for the short time I spent on it.
Please see the tab for pricing options to commission your own portrait in charcoal.
