'Abdu'l-Baha profile
 

Here's my latest - a different approach for me this time around. I was a bit looser in laying down the charcoal and used a softer charcoal stick (mostly for the background) as well as charcoal pencils. It took me less than half the time to complete as my other ones - and I like this one more. So I'm quite pleased with it. I'm ready to experiment more.

I used a handmade paper from Twinrocker - what a great company. Beautiful papers! I learned about them here on the Forum - thank you, Sharon!!! - I got the sample book and can't wait to try out some others.

14" X 20" charcoal w/ white pastel highlights, on Twinrocker cotton "Cripple Creek"

Beautiful!
I especially like the feel of the textures in the different areas of the portrait. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :D

What an incredible drawing!

Why do you think it took you less than half the time to do than your other work?

David,

This is a lovely piece, beautifully managed values.

Oh David, you've done it again. How beautiful!

Jean

David,

What a rich combination of fluid velvet blacks and lovely white passages.

I have that very paper. I bought the last sheets they had of the 36" x 48".

Their papers, inspire somehow, with their handmade but refined surfaces a bit more boldness. I don't know how to describe drawing on it but it is somehow like luxuriating at a very classy spa.

Chris, you would LOVE their Cornflower Blue paper. It reminds me of a wonderful Prud'hon inspired drawing you posted. If ever a paper had your name written on it it is that paper.

David, this is stunning. Incredibly beautiful depiction of the various textures in this portrait! Can you elaborate on your charcoal selections? Willow, compressed, brand name, etc.?

My last three projects have been in charcoal and I can't get anything this dark, I'm so jealous. I was about to move to Nupastel and then I saw this work.

Meanwhile, I've been sitting in indecision with my Twinrocker sample book. I'd better get my order in before Chris and Sharon, those hussies, grab all the good stuff.

David this is powerful, beautiful, and elegant. I love the broad dynamic range of your gray values. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Garth

Thank you all for your warm and generous remarks. It means a lot.

Michelle, it was an interesting experience working on this piece. About 4 or 5 hours into it I noticed that I had, without thinking, placed the drawing on my easel and was drawing it that way. I've never done that before, and at that moment, it surprised me. But it seemed right. Before, I'd always have the drawing on a board in my lap or on a table. This felt more like I was doing a painting. I noticed that working this way encouraged me to step back often - constantly - to see what I was doing. I also realized that in many of my previous drawings I was being a bit fanatical in trying to render everything I saw. And I'd have my nose buried in it for hours. With this drawing I relented a bit and began to let the medium have a "say" as to what would be best for a particular passage. Giving up some control. It seems like a good thing - especially for a control freak like me. I'm more aware now that every medium has particular virtues that are just waiting to be exploited - things that only that medium can do. I know that my task as an artist is to "open up" more to what the materials "want" to do. To me, it's the difference between talking and listening.

Linda, the charcoal I used was a stick, compressed that comes in this Cretacolor set that I hand out to my adult students. It's a bit hard and after quite a bit of rubbing (to get the black black) the paper was getting a bit distressed. I think I'll try a softer stick next time. Most, but not all, of the face was done with various General's Charcoal pencils. And I gave myself permission to smudge, something I hadn't done before. I may defect and become a true smudger...

Yes, Sharon these handmade papers do have beautiful surfaces, and it is "somehow like luxuriating at a very classy spa." - although I think of them more as: sitting in a bathtub, in chest-high hot water filled with Mr. Bubble and surrounded by my rubber ducky and plastic submarine. But that's just me... ;)

Wow,

My first reaction was actually a different spelling of "a barrier controlling flow of water" but thought it inappropriate. This is excellent, you've inspired me to do a charcoal piece. I have some colored paper recently ordered but is still sitting in the box in my attic.(it's freezing up there!)

Sharon turned them on to me also, just need some money together to place an order. sigh.

So glad to see you're posting, I'll be more glad to see you posting often. Thanks for sharing.

Congratulations on this beautiful drawing. It has so much life to it. It's by far my favorite of yours.

You'll also find that if you work standing up it's so much easier to take a bow.

That is simply stunning.

David,

Your drawing is simply stunning! (Oops, I realized Kim just wrote that above me. I'm just soo original.) Hmm, I don't know what to say, but your drawing rocks.

Holly

David, this is a masterpiece.

You should be very proud - you've reached a great height. Of course, you realise that we'll expect this out of every single piece from now on...

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Thanks Jimmie! It's always great to get feedback from one as accomplished as yourself. I think we all have our "freezing attics." Mine is ...painting. Someday - soon! - I will venture up "there."

Marvin, your encouragement means a lot to me. Like many here, I'm sure, I have learned more from you than you'll ever know. Your generous spirit is an inspiration.

Thank you so much Kimberly. And Holly, you can quote Kimberly all you want - it's not hard on the ears! :)

Cindy, I think the only thing I am a master at is putting off what I know I must do, and that is: PAINT! But seriously, thank you for your kind words.

-David

David, this is breathtaking! I love the way you've handled the variety of textures... his skin, hair/beard, turban. Just beautiful.

David, VERY NICE! I'm wondering if you could post a pic of the tools used to complete this drawing (excluding hands and fingers ;) but be nice to know where you rubbed and smeared them though). It'd be a tremendous learning step!

Oh I just realized, you are about 30 miles from where I am. Hello Neighbor!

I like it too, David.

Only charcoal has that wide range of expression. You have caught the character of the old mans thin skin and bone structure. Very painterly.

Thanks for showing us.

Allan

Bravo David, just beautiful!

Really excellent rendering David. I can feel every element in this. As others have said, it's very much alive. It's got a wonderful organic presence about it. Looks like you've fouind a groove in your medium that you're going to have fun and satisfaction with for a long time. ;)

~Gear

David, what a lovely drawing. Just beautiful. Congratulations!

David, I've been thinking about this interesting statement since you wrote it and I think you've hit the nail on the head. Changing just one thing when you work often makes a huge difference in the result and the "will of the materials" may play a far larger role than we artists would like to think.

Thank you all for your lovely comments.

Linda, when I look at a Rembrandt, I'm, first of all, dumbstruck at the sheer beauty of the thing, at how alive the subject is - in some of his paintings, the subject seems bathed in a heavenly light. Then upon closer inspection, I see how abstract it all is - how it's just blobs of paint next to other blobs, dabs, or sometimes thin washes where you can see the canvas showing through. But every blob, every dab, every wash, makes perfect, exquisite sense. This is what I'm interested in. The tension between the illusion (that every representational artist is asking the viewer to buy into) and the simple, physical properties of the medium used - the reality. It's as if the painting is saying "I may be a glorious scene, but remember, I'm just a bunch of paint smeared across a piece of linen." By forcing the viewer to confront the reality part of it (and with Rembrandt there is no way around it) somehow, it can heighten the illusion part of it in fantastic, unexpected ways. Between the two, lies the magic. As far as I can tell, Sargent was a master at this; Van Gogh, in many of his later paintings and in a more extreme fashion, achieved this. I'm sure there are others...Bougereaux, Kramskoy? - I love their work, but I haven't seen any in person....

I realize that my previous drawings, though they might have been decent renderings, they're not very expressive - they rely on a very narrow range of what's possible; I've only just begun to explore the expressive possibilities of charcoal - and now pastel - (later, paint!) - as a medium. I'm not knocking having rendering skills - it's essential. It's just that...well, let's put it this way: if someone tells me "wow, that looks just like a photograph!" - I don't take it as a compliment. I mean I know it's not an insult, but it makes me feel like I failed....

Does any of this make sense? :)

David,
I always love your drawings, but this is by far, my favorite of yours. I only wish I could see it in person. I would have my nose right up to it to see your application!!

What a beautiful work David! I just loved it!