Life Drawing; creative process
Life Drawing. Colored charcoal on colored paper (20X20)
Tools and Materials
Newspaper
Drawing pencil
Charcoal (black, sanguine, white)
Colored paper (brown)
Kneaded eraser
Tortillon
Workable Fixatif
Technical aspects of the creative process
1. A live model or photograph can be used for reference. I chose to use a photograph, as for this piece, I wanted to capture the body in motion.
2. As a warm up, I did a few gesture drawings in pencil.
3. I prepared my workspace by laying down newspaper to cover the area I worked on.
4. I began by doing a light, outline sketch of the parameters of the body using a drawing pencil on the colored paper.
5. Using the sanguine charcoal, I filled in the top portion of the brown paper and let it fade out gradually by blending with my fingers about half way down.
6. I used the black charcoal to lightly outline the body and to create the dark hair and shadows. Long, thin, curved strokes of the charcoal created the hair. I used a hatching technique for the shadows and highlights on the body.
7. I used sanguine for the lower highlights, and white for the more direct highlights to accentuate the tone of the body.
8. I used the kneaded eraser to sharpen some of the detail where necessary. This is most evident in the sharp contrast of the model’s ear to her hair. I subtly added some white hatching to the outer rim of the ear to further enhance it.
9. I took care to give the most detail to the parts of the body in the foreground. I used a tortillon to blend the background parts slightly to show depth in the image.
10. I used a tortillon along with my fingers to blend the ground shadow.
Critical thinking related to the creative process
As stated previously, my goal for this piece was to capture the body in motion. I used diagonal lines for the extremities and hair to convey a feeling of movement. The twisted, nude figure with hair flung in mid air appears to be in the midst of some tribal dance rather than a
Tools and Materials
Newspaper
Drawing pencil
Charcoal (black, sanguine, white)
Colored paper (brown)
Kneaded eraser
Tortillon
Workable Fixatif
Technical aspects of the creative process
1. A live model or photograph can be used for reference. I chose to use a photograph, as for this piece, I wanted to capture the body in motion.
2. As a warm up, I did a few gesture drawings in pencil.
3. I prepared my workspace by laying down newspaper to cover the area I worked on.
4. I began by doing a light, outline sketch of the parameters of the body using a drawing pencil on the colored paper.
5. Using the sanguine charcoal, I filled in the top portion of the brown paper and let it fade out gradually by blending with my fingers about half way down.
6. I used the black charcoal to lightly outline the body and to create the dark hair and shadows. Long, thin, curved strokes of the charcoal created the hair. I used a hatching technique for the shadows and highlights on the body.
7. I used sanguine for the lower highlights, and white for the more direct highlights to accentuate the tone of the body.
8. I used the kneaded eraser to sharpen some of the detail where necessary. This is most evident in the sharp contrast of the model’s ear to her hair. I subtly added some white hatching to the outer rim of the ear to further enhance it.
9. I took care to give the most detail to the parts of the body in the foreground. I used a tortillon to blend the background parts slightly to show depth in the image.
10. I used a tortillon along with my fingers to blend the ground shadow.
Critical thinking related to the creative process
As stated previously, my goal for this piece was to capture the body in motion. I used diagonal lines for the extremities and hair to convey a feeling of movement. The twisted, nude figure with hair flung in mid air appears to be in the midst of some tribal dance rather than a