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Knowing when to emulate the photo and when not
Hi Patricia -
This piece is approximately 12 x 14, done almost entirely in pencils. The face is done mainly in 2-4B pencils.
The background was done with 8B pencil, but still looked too blotchy when I finished with it, so I took some hard charcoal - the stick kind, sort of like conte but a bit softer, and really went over it hard, then wiped away the excess. It filled in the grain. The downside of using dark pencils is that it gets things very shiny, so the background has a sheen I don't particularly like. I'm toying with either using fixative to help even things out, a nonreflective glass when I frame it, or both.
The paper is Stonehenge Cream. It's tough, which I needed, with a nice tooth. I don't have the (organizational skills? patience? I'm not sure) to do a beautifully worked up pencil technique like Jimmy Arroyo. I rub the pencil in at times as well as draw with the pencil tip, use kneaded eraser to get highlights, etc. - treat it more like a charcoal drawing.
Your comment about the neck is well taken. I tend to want to take the photo too literally, and am trying to wean myself away from that (when it is warranted). I'll post later with additional changes.
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