Patrick
 

Not quite done yet, but inspired by Prud'hon and Durer I just had to try charcoal again. No white yet, I'll see when I'm closer to finished. Thanks Steven and Marvin!

Jean

So far, I think it's a good piece.

One thing that I would suggest for this is to make the background dark. For the subject, pose, and setting, a light background would cause this piece to fail.

Please post an update when this is finished.

Hi Jeremiah
 

Thank you for your positive response. I forgot to mention size (14" x 17") and paper (Bristol). And Patrick is my 25 year old son. Had to twist his arm again, and tried not to make him look stoned this time. His shirt is quite dark, so I'll probably make the background a medium to dark. When all that is complete I'll decide on white or not.

Jean

Patrick
 

Well, here's Patrick updated. After adding the dark shirt, I think I may to intensify all the shadows, especially in the hand. No white on this one, but I have a new victim with lots of white hair that will work well.

Jean

Detail
 

Close up of face.

Well, he's done
 

Photographed in the right light this time. This was fun, I'll do it again.

Jean

Again
 

Real close. Patrick has incredible eyebrows, and a deep cleft in his chin. I wanted to make sure I got these in.

Jean, I missed this in December as I was very busy.

I asked my wife who is not an artist to compare the first post with the last, and see which one she preferred. She said, the first. That was my thought as well. The first drew your eye into the nice feel of the flesh. The last steals your attention to the bottom of the drawing to the uninteresting shirt which dominates the drawing and weighs it down.

The portrait is very nice, however, but I would not have drawn so much of the shirt. Sometimes we should stop sooner. That is the hardest part of drawing -- knowing when to stop.

Patrick
 

Hi Lon, I haven't even thought about this one for a long time. Now that I look back at how it progressed I think you're right about the first post. I should have quit when I was ahead. I think that was my first charcoal, hopefully I will get better at stopping at the best point as I do more and more. By the time I hit a couple thousand drawings I should learn something. Practice, practice, practice. Thank you for looking, Lon. Since he's my son, he'll be my reluctant model many times!

Jean

Second the motion
 

Jean,

I wish I had jumped in on this one when I saw it. I really liked it and meant to comment.
As I didn't see anything to kvetch about I went on to another site.

Look at Ingres, he put a lot of attention on the head and designed the rest linearly. So did a lot of the great Masters, they let their drawings breathe. I wish I had posted a stop sign on that one, said great, no go onto the next. I'm sorry.

Sincerely,

Patrick
 

Hi Sharon, Your apology is noted but certainly not necessary. This pose is classic Patrick and can be done again. Plus I really think Pat likes posing. He puts up a fuss but will hold a pose as long as I need. And is always checking out what I'm doing. :)

Also this is a process of learning, I've learned something valuable and that makes the drawing a success.

Jean