Radiant Figures: Drawing with Drama and Light

Thank you for Joining us. Post any question and comments you have about lesson 4 here.

Hi Justin, Thank you for this workshop. I don't usually do figurative drawing (clothed or otherwise), so this is interesting. You mentioned that white charcoal isn't really charcoal, b/c charcoal isn't white. But in this lesson, I believe you said the conte (spelling?) is white charcoal. How is it different than the white "charcoal" pencil, other than form factor? Thanks, Lisa

@Lisa Great question! A lot of art supplies are named something but not *really* that thing & "white charcoal" (which im pretty sure was fiirst developed by General Pencil) was named that way more because it mostly handles like charcoal - not because it's made of the same stuff. Likewise white conte is essentially a compressed white charcoal stick (again, not actually charcoal - so confusing) and other companies (like Generals) do actually call it that. In its stick form I *do* find it (conte, white compressed charcoal etc) to be just a little more opaque/stronger than the white charcoal pencils. What makes things even more confusing is that if you find white charcoal or compressed white charcoal sticks in various brands you'll find pretty major difference in how they handle/layer/lay down. The one nice thing is that almost all of these can be bought individually, or in sets of 2 or 3, so they are generally not too expensive to try out. Hope that helps & doesnt make it even muddier! :) Justin

Makes sense, thank you Justin!

Hi Justin, I think I am finished my drawing .. I feel I cant work on it any more ..I am fiddling too much with it, so thought that I should leave it. I couldn't seem to take a sharp photo with my phones, I am sorry. So overall I am happy with what I have achieved. Although in the photo everything looks very scratchy. ???? I inadvertently drew my figure too small and therefore it was very challenging to render. I thought about what you had said in your video with regard to the overall composition, I and had an idea of what I would like the final to look like. Although I rushed the the background a bit I did achieve the look I was aiming for. I intentionally placed the tree behind Megans head for contrast. The leaves on the tree were meant to have little highlights, but I didn't really draw or suggest the leaves (just scrumbling ), and so the white looks like flowers , which works ...leave it to the imagination. I tried to balance the values throughout the entire composition, hence my inclusion of the dark water pool on the right of the model. I also did some thoughtful work on the bench ends, not to make it too obvious..not sure that was a good idea. My blending and transitioning needs work. The drawing is not as smooth as I would have liked. I would eventually like to do a portrait that looks like piece that is on the photo on this workshop page. Anyway I would appreciate your thoughts and comments, if possible. Thank you again for doing this workshop, Justin. It was a challenge but an interesting one. (those feet and toes !!) Thank you Megan for being our model:) See you next time:)

@ Lotus, this turned out great! I am so glad you stuck with it, despite the challenge of the full body figure drawing. We knew this would be a tough one for a workshop but its such a lovely way to capture a moment in time - honestly when i find time to work on my "bench series" between illustration and commission work, I often find it my favourite time spent in my studio. Scale is hugely important in any drawing but especially with figure drawing. Honestly if I did this one again, I might have even made her larger on my page so i can imagine it was tough for you with an even smaller figure on yours! well done! Photographing graphite/charcoal drawings is SO tricky. my tip is to get some good 5500k lightbulbs. Even 5000k are ok - just make sure they are evenly spaced and not throwing any shadows & you should find that makes a big difference. If you arent able to, then try photographing on a sunny day outdoors- but - not in direct sunlight! you want to just that light but more reflected so its more even. Remember this: when photographic art, the most important thing is the light! :)

Hi Justin I am happy that you like my final drawing. Thank you for your tips and comments. I do have one 5500k light bulb. I probably need two to set up properly and use my actual camera and tripod. Thank you for doing the workshop. It was a difficult one, however I learned a lot and found out what I could accomplish if I tried. All the best Lotus