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J-Cody In reply to CrystalEnceladus [2016-11-07 22:10:30 +0000 UTC]

The hair is my favorite part to draw. Thank you for your kind words.

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J-Cody In reply to Jooleya [2016-10-13 00:35:56 +0000 UTC]

Thank you, Jooyleya! I've always been intimidated by charcoals because of how messy and uncontrollable they seem. I've been pleased with the results so far. And I love the earring shadow too! It just proves that it is the small things that make the picture. The hair is always my favorite bit. Since I'm left handed, I started this drawing with Emma's hair so I didn't smear charcoal even when using a spare sheet of paper. I'm kind of on the fence about the shadow area on Hook's hair. I'm going to put it down to no opinion because something bothers me, but I don't know what.

I fudged those rings. While drawing them, I kept coming back to what you said on my other piece and just went 'to hell with it, more contrast!'

I'm with you on the skin tone. I like it and I don't like it. Most of my issue is with her face and the grey. I really enjoy using the toned paper but I think I need to use more toned grey when drawing portraits.

Here is what the grey looks like. (Ignore the anatomy and shading...both are bad)

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Jooleya In reply to J-Cody [2016-10-16 08:25:21 +0000 UTC]

Yes, I've not been touching charcoals ever since I was required to do a charcoal drawing in school for the same reason. It was one of those natural charcoal sticks and I got dust, smears and fingerprints all over my art, which did little to endear charcoal to me. 

Now, however, I'm seeing awesome charcoal art and start to wonder whether I should give the medium a second chance. 

Anyway, yes, with some things like the shadow on Hook's hair, personal preference is a big factor. I think it absolutely works, but I also know that feeling of something not seeming quite right. 

The rings definitely work. Contrast makes metal work, as light glints off it like crazy. 

For the skin tone, I think the grey paper definitely makes for a more harmonious overall result, as the brain isn't getting mixed messages about colour vs. no colour. That being said, I do like the tan paper, too. It just also makes my brain feel funny when it switches back and forth between its intuitive expectations and the grey-on-tan reality.  

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J-Cody In reply to Jooleya [2016-10-17 20:40:30 +0000 UTC]

Two words: Charcoal pencils. I'm in love with Derwent charcoal pencil Dark. In fact, they come in light and medium, but I never use them. I also use a white charcoal pencil, a grey and light grey charcoal stick, and a white pastel pencil at times. I am considering getting a full set of pastel pencils since I got into the charcoals, but right now I only have blue and green and I've used them once but with good results.

I don't like mess so I usually blend with a q-tip or I use a set of paint brushes. There are some artists I've watched on youtube that paint with loose charcoal and it is amazing. Skin tones so smooth like butter. I'm sure with your abilities and grit you'd do wondrous things with charcoals if you put your mind to it.

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Jooleya In reply to J-Cody [2016-10-18 18:40:03 +0000 UTC]

Charcoal pencils sound much more pleasant to work with than the loose charcoal. And a full set of pastel pencils sounds like a good idea. It might solve the portraits on tan paper problem, if you can use tan shades for the faces instead of greys and whites. 

Strangely enough, I dislike q-tips for blending. But that's with pencil. They just aren't precise enough and don't take enough pressure. But I can see them working with charcoals, which is more powdery and prone to smudging/blending to begin with. Maybe if I find a nice set of charcoal pencils one day I'll just pick it up and see how they are. Am I right in assuming that for charcoals a certain amount of texture in the paper is preferable over very smooth paper? 

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J-Cody In reply to Jooleya [2016-10-19 18:25:42 +0000 UTC]

For me the qtips work well with charcoals because of how easy it is to spread the medium. After I get a basic layer down, then I add details. Derwent sharpens well with a Generals sharpener...and oddly enough Artist Loft from Michaels isn't half bad either. I don't get much chipping from them and get a finer point. I started off with a cheap set from amazon that had willow sticks, charcoal blocks in hard, med, and soft, and pencils in hard, med, and soft.

As for the paper it depends how you are going to use it. In the art above, it is a rather smooth paper and it is easy to blend giving me dark and light without showing texture form the paper. For me, the smooth but retaining a small amount of tooth is great because I use paintbrushes for the skin and it leaves a nice gradient. I haven't tried it on Bristol board, but I'll give it a go this weekend.

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Mature Content

The background on this is charcoal and the paper is a Strathmore 400 series drawing paper so there is more tooth than the toned tan. You can see the texture of the paper in the charcoals. I'm sure with more effort and time I could achieve a smooth blend, but why make life harder when I can just use a different type of paper?

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J-Cody In reply to Willhorn [2016-10-13 00:27:27 +0000 UTC]

Thank you, Daniel! Hair is my forte apparently. Hands are my bane.

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Willhorn In reply to J-Cody [2016-10-13 03:49:34 +0000 UTC]

Hair is great and hands are not much visible and only the thumb looks as though too tight pressing on the chin of Emma...
but may just me it so seems

Scene in a perspective view looks a generally very well, and metal things like ring and earings look quite realistic, you have a good hand for painting such a kind of things Jess (painting a metal things is a hard and require a long time of practice, I know something for this )

On Their faces can see strong emotions, it giving a more positive impressions on this drawing.
I do not see any mistakes...  is a good piece of traditional art

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J-Cody In reply to Willhorn [2016-10-15 00:07:41 +0000 UTC]

That thumb gave me a ton of problems. I redrew it several times and never got it quite the way I wanted it to look. Too light almost and it blends into her. Maybe that is giving the impression it is pressing too tightly against the chin.

I do like the little smile on her face and what you can see of his...but her right eye (our right) looks a little puffy. Oh well, its a learning experience.

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Willhorn In reply to J-Cody [2016-10-15 01:59:58 +0000 UTC]

Such small errors are not visible, I not even noticed this eye... 
so there is not error in here (You know where it is, but someone else a
normal spectator never knew about that and never will see )
This drawing is truly great and the next will be even better... You'll see!  

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J-Cody In reply to Willhorn [2016-10-19 17:53:26 +0000 UTC]

Currently working on the next one and it is not better but the faces are about 75% smaller compared to this one. Bigger is better for me apparently so I guess that just means I'll have to go buy some larger paper...and more pencils too.  

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J-Cody In reply to ravenlloyd [2016-10-11 20:44:21 +0000 UTC]

Thank you! Its such a pleasure to work with long hair.

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J-Cody In reply to shmuckwolf [2016-10-11 20:44:58 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much, Robert!

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J-Cody In reply to ArtJournal77 [2016-10-11 20:45:15 +0000 UTC]

And super easy to draw! Thank you!

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