1/27/11

The Black Kimono

I'm faithfully drawing - at least 2 hours a day,  and I love it. I realised that charcoal is a 'painting' and not a 'drawing' medium - so I thought I'd better get stuck in with it.

Above is my 4th charcoal drawing. I'm pleased with it - very pleased - is this practice paying off? It took me around 7 hours (I must be crazy - it was, in fact,  too ambitious for me - but was an image I just had to do - know the feeling?). The crucial stage is the initial 'block-in' - measuring /proportions. To get a finish, you just have to go into a sort of mindless trance (the 'zone' - maybe I overdid the finish- blending charcoal means the image starts to become very (too?) photographic. Actually the whole thing was a series of errors (I started with graphite i.e. pencil!) - so it's lucky I'm pleased with it - when you really want to make it work - that helps.

And of course, now it's done I know I should have done it bigger (it's 40 x 28 cm), could do better, etc. Still that glow of achievement is the fugitive reward....

Reference image from Character Designs.com

2 comments:

  1. I love it! a woman taking off all the weight displayed by the society over her shoulder...taking the first step on the road to freedom.At least that's what it meant to me.best wishes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for visiting - and for leaving a comment! Do you draw? Interesting interpretation! - like it!.

    ReplyDelete