3rd entry for Oct 12, 2014

I stayed for the afternoon's long pose, and worked on two studies. The top one was about 90 minutes, and the lower one is about 50 minutes. Both are done with water-soluble graphite and Artgraf washes. Both are 18 x 24" sheets of paper, Strathmore watercolour paper above and Canson Bristol below.

In the top one I layered in big shadow washes, and once the paper was dry I returned to add in more dry pencil detail. On the lower one I was building up more detail with a brush and light washes, working to darks. They underscore the differences in effect between more frontal lighting versus back lighting. The side of the room offered more deep space, while the more front-on viewpoint is a shallower space owing to backdrop elements. I left out the other sketchers and some other background details, to keep the space less busy behind her in the top one. Val's head is a bit too small, and her extended leg long in the lower one, but  don't entirely mind the exaggeration here - it seems to suit her build.