Mixed Media Portrait of Young Man

I drew this to pass the time and to practice a different technique. I started with pencil for a basic layout of the face. Then I used a black conte' wax pencil to go over parts of it. After that I used watercolor pencils to lay in the values and in different areas. I washed over the watercolor pencil with a small number 2 brush using clear water to spread the watercolor pencil. I finished with a little panes grey watercolor to deepen a few areas for contrast.

Mixed Media Portrait.  

______________________________________________

Please see the tab for pricing options to commission your own portrait in charcoal.

Quick Sketch of Young Model in Conte' Pencil

This is a portrait I did of a young woman. I drew this with wax pencils. I used only black, sepia, and chocolate colors for my pallet. It was a practice in monochrome. This kind of project is good to keep in mind the issues of value and tone without getting lost in a lot of colors. Many people have a tendency to use colors instead of having the correct value, and I find that practice in monochrome helps keep my art balanced.

Wax pencil portrait of Young Woman.

At first I was just going to do a quick ten or fifteen minute practice sketch but got so involved with the medium that I kept at it for about an hour. I used a blending stub for the face to give it a smooth soft look but left the pencil strokes define the hair.

Please see the tab for pricing options to commission your own portrait in charcoal.

Sepia Portrait of Young Woman

Sepia Wax Pencil Portrait of Young Woman

I drew this from a picture of a young lady. It is drawn with three Derwent wax pencils: terracotta, chocolate and ivory black. I used a blending stub on the skin to give it a smoothness but left the hair rough for contrast.

There were a few problems in drawing this that I should have caught early on in the beginning stage of the drawing.

I always have trouble getting sharpness with these crayon like pencils since they do not hold a point very well. I know I could keep sharpening the tips but I just was doing a practice drawing.


Here is a link to a book that may help in your drawing:Portrait Drawing By Blake, Wendon (Google Affiliate Ad)
Please see the tab for pricing options to commission your own portrait in charcoal.

Sketch of an Old Man.

I did this picture in wax pencil. I wanted to capture the playfulness in his expression. He was a grandfather that was famous in his rural community. He loved his hat.  I wanted to show up his white beard so I toned down the paper by rubbing pencil all over and smearing it in with a stub. It was a quick sketch and looks better than the camera made it out.

 Use the buttons below to share this with your social networks.

Sketch of an Old Man.

Wax pencil sketch of the Professor.

The Professor, a wax pencil drawing

This is a drawing I did in my sketchbook this week. I didn't take as much time as I normally do but it turned out nicely. I used only conti wax pencils to draw it.  I was surprised that they blended so nicely this time, but I wasn't asking a lot of them I only wanted to have a smooth even under drawing to do the top sketch over it. He had bright smiling eyes and a lot of neat smile lines around the face. I think I gave him a little grace and restored his hair to an earlier time. I kept the drawing to just the face and did nothing for the background and little of the attire so one will continue to focus on the lively intellectual spirit of the man. It was a delightful picture to draw.

Drawing of Two Boys and a Butterfly

I did this sketch with three pencils; a Terracotta, a chocolate color, and a black. This picture took about 6 hours on and off. It really is more of a doodle than a portrait. I was very interested in having the dark background bring the white shirts forward. I was happy with the shadows and highlights.  The particular pencils I was using do not lend themselves to fine detail except with a lot of frequent sharpening of the tips, and then they wear down quickly. Because of the problems with the pencils, I was not as pleased with the portraiture part of the picture as usual. It was a good practice drawing. I enjoy working in the limited colors and feel more able to appreciate all the things the wide spectrum of colors can do.  

Please see the tab for pricing options to commission your own portrait in charcoal.

Portrait of a Model with Bracelets

Young Woman with Bracelets.

I drew this in wax pencil using black chocolate and sepia also I did a little work with a red watercolor pencil to give her some warmth.  It was a nice change from doing charcoal. I found her picture in an advertisement for a fashion store that came in the mail. I like sketching from advertisements because you don't have to pay a model and you don't have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out a pose and composition since the photographer has already done that. This took about 5 hours. I did a little here  and there while waiting for kids or for the coffee to drip through. If you learn to work in those little minutes you can get more done than you know. I drew this in a wire ring bound sketch  book. I like them because they lay back flat and they don't come apart like the gummed edge sketchbooks. 

Below are some links to some books that help you learn to draw:

Please see the tab for pricing options to commission your own portrait in charcoal.