Portrait drawing: Looking for models

It is not always as difficult as it seems.

poportrait drawing Ava gardnerAs a child I drew many portraits from magazines. We could not afford a variety of periodicals, so my selection of images was limited. HoweverI made dozens of small sketches and I’ve learned a lot doing so. Now times have changed. If you want to study portrait drawing and models or magazines aren´t available, then do this: Search in Google for “faces”. The section images gives you a choice of thousands of faces. People with fair skin, dark skin, young, old, happy, angry etc. Never it was so easy to practise your drawing skills. So, no excuses anymore!  Sit down behind the screen (put on your favorite music) and start drawing. Have fun!

drawing portraits from the screen
Cozy behind the screen

See also this post.

Portrait drawing in charcoal

Changing my habit: portrait drawing in charcoal.

As I mentioned earlier we get together every week to work from life. We ask people in the neighborhood to model. There will come a day when we shall have “done” half the village. This time I decided to work in charcoal and not in oils. I haven´t done this for ages and once again I’m surprised how much I enjoy this. (1,5 hour session)

charcoal drawing
Drawing a portrait from live model in charcoal. (Click to enlarge)

I used Winsor & Newton Artist’s charcoal, thin and medium, Fabriano drawing paper 120g / m2 – 24 x 32 cm, Faber-Castell Art Eraser (kneaded rubber eraser) and some  brushes for blending.