Charcoal and Graphite Thumbnail Landscape

You may wonder what is a thumbnail drawing.  A thumbnail drawing is a small scale drawing that is done very quickly to place down the general features of a subject.
I like to use thumbnail drawings to have a idea as how it may look as a whole on a small scale.

Thumbnail drawings are very resourceful in the fact that you can refer back to the ideas you intended to capture or focus on.  Also thumbnail drawings help you save on the cost of materials you use because that are small.  By doing a thumbnail drawing you will have basically your blueprint for what your goal of your painting or drawing will look like.

Materials Needed

4B Charcoal Pencil

Blending Stump

Knead Eraser

Willow (Vine) Charcoal Stick

Gray and White soft pastel chalk

H, 2B Graphite Pencils

Ruler

Use a ruler to crop off your thumbnail 3"x4" inches.  

Next draw out your 6 range value scale with a ruler and an H graphite pencil.  

Then divide it into 6 squares. You will fill out each value scale using your 4B charcoal pencil, willow charcoal stick, gray soft pastel chalk, and white soft pastel chalk using your blending stump.  The darkest values with charcoal pencil 4B.  

The next value going from left to right you will use a willow charcoal stick then blend into paper with blending stump.  

Next use the same willow charcoal stick but this time use less pressure with just a few hatch mark and blend marks in to paper using you paper stump blender.

Next use your gray soft pastel and blend it into paper with stump.

Next use gray soft pastel and white soft pastel chalk.  Shade it using a hatch method into the paper and blend using blending stump. Also if necessary if range looks too dark from previous range, use your knead eraser to lighten the value up.

The last value scale use just a little press and a few marks using your gray pastel.  Complete the light range of value using the white charcoal applying heavy pressure and DON'T blend.

Finally, use your gray soft pastel chalk using the side of it to push into the paper to give it a gray tone.

Use your 2B graphite pencil and produce your line drawing of you landscape.

Complete your thumbnail drawing referring to your 6 range value scale at the bottom of your thumbnail. Block in the negative shapes of your darkest values first from the foreground.  Progress to get lighter values as you proceed to the background.

I hope this blog on why I use and produce my thumbnail drawings have helped you.

Thank you all for taking the time to view my blog. 

Still Life Painting in Acylic

 Apple and Pitcher Still Life Painting

  

One Sunday afternoon this past summer I set up this still life of a apple and pitcher.  I had the purpose in mind to start do a painting of a still life.  I had been doing a few drawing of still lifes but this time I wanted to paint one instead.  When I set up most of my still lifes I use a dark back ground. I love the use of values and tones with the use of reflected light on the subjects.

Step 1 The Underpainting 

For the first step I began with a underpainting in a water down acrylic brown with a filbert brush.

I normally began with a drawing but in the case I chose not to. When I start my realistic paintings I use a filbert brush.  I just lay in the dark tones and block in the lighter values with a more watered down brown color.

Step 2 Adding Color 

Next I added color to the subject in the picture, this happened after I mixed the desired colors that were needed.  When I darken my colors I use blue or brown and sometimes I use black.  In this case, I took acylic red and darkened the tone with some blue.  When it came time for me to lighten the color I just used white.

Adding Color Continues

I repeated the same process with the blue sheet in the fact that I lighten with white and darkened it with black or brown.  I was still using the filbert brush during this stage of the painting.  However when it was time for me to paint the edges I used a flat brush and a liner brush to create a straight edge.

Finished Work

Charcoal Drawing Process of Face Upclose

Charcoal Drawing of Hair and Wrinkled Skin

This drawing in charcoal was done to work on my portrait drawing skill in this media.  My goal was to learn how to create the illusion of wrinkles on paper.  As I worked on this drawing which was done in April of 2013 I developed my skill to work in charcoal better. As a result of this drawing, I gained an understanding of shading in charcoal. This drawing is 12 x 14 inches.  

This became the final stage in the drawing where I added hair and highlights around the iris of the eye. Now you notice the grey of the hair in his mustashe and eye brows.  The pupil and iris is now completed. 

At this stage I had continue to lay down more charcoal in the regions of the face where there was contrast in the earilier stage. Now this more tones in the shadow areas.  At this point there is no hair yet on the form. 

This is the earily stage of the drawing where charcoal was layed down in the regions of the face to develope form. You see the beginning stage of wrinkle lines around the eye brow. Pores was added on the nose.