Simple Charcoal

[Alexandra Tyng]

Marina,

Sorry I didn't see this lovely drawing! Simplicity is refreshing for an artist. Her face and hair are so sensitively drawn. Something i've alway liked and admired about your work, aside from your approach to allegory and meaning, is the way you balance the impression of meticulous attention to detail with a very visible mark, or stroke, that reveals the way your painting or drawing was made. In other words, it feels finished without being too polished.

I like the changes and the darker background which gives the drawing depth and atmosphere.

[Linda Brandon]

Marina, I just spotted this also - this is haunting and so sensitively executed. (You are "trailing off" the bottom of the drawing the way that I also like to draw head and shoulders portraits. I like the combination of mass and line, the sense of movement and caligraphy that it gives to form - I suppose this is a matter of taste, which means that I very much like yours.)

[Jean Kelly]

Simply beautiful Marina. You also have mastery of the "beautiful line".

Jean

[Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco]

Marina, this is clearly you ! I am not sure if it is a commission but definetely you made the subject yours. Your technique is just so perfect that it hides itself behind these intense eyes.
Ilaria

[Marina Dieul]

Alex,
thank you. I think I was more meticulous few years ago, I could have become a photo-realist... But it would certainly have been too boring for me. Now, I focus more on the entire picture, on the balance of value massing, before entering in the details. I like more and more playing with the materiality of the medium . There is no secret recipe: practice, practice , practice...

Linda and Jean,
thanks a lot. In this drawing I decided that the line would be present. My natural tendency is to work by mass, but I admire lines in other's works so I pushed myself a bit to combine the 2...(and it's sometimes very hard to resist to nature!)

Ilaria,
I'm glad you like it. There was only 2 things that I was sure about since the beginning : I wanted a white background ( which is a failure) and I wanted those eyes like 2 black marbles.
No it's not a commission ( a sample for an auction ) and yes the subject is mine.

[David Draime]

Marina,

This is really fabulous. That face is so very beautiful and engaging. And thank you for posting the earlier versions - it's so instructive for us to see your process leading to this successful completion.

David