Tuesday, September 16, 2008


Dad's jacket and cap


Thick, medium and fine willow charcoal sticks on A2 fine-grain heavyweight paper.


Lots of new stuff here - I've never drawn with charcoal before, never drawn on such a large scale. Never drawn with my paper on an easel upright in front of me (my arms ache!). It's not the most fascinating subject ever, but I learned a lot from doing it. If I did it again I'd move my chair (or the door) so the door was at an angle to me rather than straight on. I think that would have been a better composition. I'd also draw the cap larger - although I think I drew it faithfully to size, but I'd have preferred it to be more prominent in the composition as its jaunty checks are more interesting than the plain brown jacket. Still, charcoal is fun to draw with and making big drawings is fun too. I'm looking forwards to doing more like this.

2 comments:

Yellow said...

It's good to see such bold drawing - not hesitant and 'sketchy'. You have decided where things were and put them there on the paper. Good to see you drawing big too. Drawing on an easil is different, but you'll find , especially if you're working big, that you don't distort stuff, like you would if you were translating a vertical view onto horizontal paper. Yup, your arms will ache. I hope you're dating your work as you go, and signing it too.

Melanie Rimmer said...

Thanks for your insights and advice, Yellow. It really is helpful and appreciated.