Saturday, August 13, 2011

PORTRAIT IN CONTE CRAYON: OLD MASTER'S STYLE

AMY RAIN

AMY RAIN, DETAIL

I don't do portraits very often, but I love working with the conte crayons.  I was lucky enough to get into an exceptional life drawing class not long ago, with a lot of interesting models to work with.  I will be featuring the occasional conte and charcoal portraits over the next week or so.  These particular pieces are not permanent...that is to say that I chose to recycle old paper grocery bags.  I love the color of them, and I love the texture and 'tooth'.  It is also a plus to know that the sketches were not 'forever' pieces, and I could ease my anxiety about messing anything up, yet get loads of experience doing faces.  I especially enjoy looking for the shape through light and shadow.  I think that it makes the drawing more 3 dimensional and more interesting.  I wasn't too concerned about getting a perfect likeness, though that was a plus if it happened!

This first drawing was fun.  The woman had made her own hat, and admitted to loving the 1960's so much that most of her clothing reflected it.  I chose my spot in the room to try a profile, and emphasize line for this particular person.  She had a fascinating shape to her face.  I call her "Amy Rain".

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't believe this is on grocery bags. It's good enough to frame!

Anonymous said...

I love the way u did the eye and hilited the edges. cool!

Rose Altom said...

White chalk works great as a highlight. And I love working on a tinted background. It does half the work for me!

sam said...

Like the light touch with this drawing. You didn't over draw anything. Nice!