2nd entry for Feb 24, 2012

These are two 20-minute studies above, done on 22 x 30" sheets of 90 lb Maidstone paper.
The lower one was a final 15-minute pose, and is on a 20 x 26"sheet of the same paper. All were done with a mix of U-Art and Nobel hard compressed charcoals.

It's tricky, because for this paper, the Nobel is a bit too hard, and the other a bit too soft. but between them lies the best texture I've found for myself. The lower two were mostly drawn with the harder charcoal, which affords a smoother texture, and then the darkest values intensified with the softer material. Switching to and fro slows things down, though, and necessitates drawing fast just to keep up.

That does add an element of urgency to the process, which can translate into lively marks. Most of the drawing resources I have stop at 20 minutes, but I'm finding a little more gives some desired wiggle room. There are very long poses, and somehow it is hard to keep the drawing to a 25-minute or 30-minute timeframe within that. Maybe I need my own timer for those...

C-  has an impressive mass of curly `bed-head' hair, and an interesting face to draw. I find that his hair can be so attention-getting and time-consuming that this session I opted to have much of it out of the frame, to put the focus more on his head and body. I was also consciously opting for more cropped figures, to bring him a little closer to the viewer and have him fill more of the picture field.