Claudemir Bonfim - Thanks!
Sharon Knettell - I couldn't agree more. I was looking in this book of sargent charcoal portraits and it said that over this particular period of time (can't remember how long) he completed somewhere around 20 portrait paintings. But it also said that during that time he completed over 500 of those charcoal drawings. Amazing. And it said he did most of them in 2 hours. So that inspired me to try doing it.
Alexandra Tyng - Thanks so much for your kind words. Maybe I will work with that paper texture again at another point. The scratchiness is refreshing in a way. It's just annoying to work on during the process hehe.
Steven Sweeney - Thanks for posting that information! That's awesome. I do get the feeling that the smooth side holds more charcoal. I felt like I couldn't put enough down on the toothy side. It definitely seems counterintuitive but I think that Daniel Greene is right. You are absolutely right that it's a matter of effect though. That's a really good point. The side of the paper only accomplishes different things. It's like post modern drawing...there's no right or wrong!
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Well I have been experimenting a lot lately. I am trying to be courageous with brush strokes and paint application. I'm always trying to hone my drawing skills (who isn't right?). But at any rate this is another quick self portrait that I did. This was about 3-3.5 hours. I really tried to move fast on this and I focused mainly on brushwork.
Is there any resources that anyone can point to on how to approach skin tones. I went to the museum on tuesday and spent hours staring at a ton of paintings trying to figure out what makes successful skin tones and what doesn't. So difficult. But anyway's here's the painting: