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This is the 3rd of 3 parts and it goes through the tools and concepts I am using in the final stage of this project. My paper here is Stonehenge I am drawing mostly with  graphite- and just a little bit of charcoal.

Audio Start Times- 00:01, 01:10:07:10, 02:10:48:23, 03:07:52:01

If you have any questions, just leave them in the comments!

Files

Olivia, Extended Cut, Part 3

This is "Olivia, Extended Cut, Part 3" by stephen bauman on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

Comments

Anonymous

Hello Stephen (and any students who have had a a similar experience),This is not so much a question as an almost-philosophical reflection on portrait drawing. Unlike still life,  landscape, or other kinds of drawing, I feel portraits are far more personal, of course really dependent on seeing and getting the likeness of the person in the image. But, although likeness does of course dependon getting proper proportions and values etc correct, I feel that I can only TRULYsee the likeness of my drawing (or painting) if I have some knowledge of that person beforehand.Meaning, if I draw a family member or a friend (or perhaps a famous actor that I know well),I have interacted so much with that person in my life up until now, that I can know INSTANTLY whether I'vegot the likeness or not. However, if I draw a model that I've never met or known, though the referenceor the person may be incredibly visually appealing, I am never sure if I've gotten their likeness, becauseI've never had time to get to know them (I would even account watching 10 movies of a favorite actoras "getting to know"). So, I am never sure if I've "gotten" the drawing of my unfamiliar model or not.  I encounter this a lot! (this by no means diminishes my enjoyment of portraits, however)Perhaps for Stephen, you have had countless meetings with the models that you've drawn  (or even photographed) over time, so it is less an issue. But what if it's a first time meeting, where you are asked to draw the person?This must surely happen at the atelier all the time (I wouldn't know however).I must concede that 99% of my own portraits have been from photos, so perhaps the act of drawing directly from life,in that beautiful lighting set-up and in the immediacy of the situation, will yield a different (and I am sure great) effect. But just wanted any of your thoughts on how you deal with this, or, if you've ever even considered this notion? Kind of hard to put into words, and I know that, as one who has only drawn for 18 months, I lack experience.But just wanted to share my experience up to this point.  Daniel

stephenbaumanartwork

Interesting question, Daniel. After many years of drawing I can say that likeness and other such considerations can be somewhat nebulous. I find I am able to be more productive working on actionable things like proportion, structure and process. Not to say that likeness is not a consideration but rather it is the outcome of handling other aspects of the drawing well.

Anonymous

Dear Stephen, Thank you for sharing your great drawing process. I have a few questions. 1) How do you determine how dark to go in the face? In video 2 I was waiting for you to fill in the shadow part of her hair to the darkest value to compare her darkest facial parts to the shadow part. But you only did so until the end of video 3. So what is your reference for the value of the dark parts of the face? Or is your reference a certain hard- or softness of graphite? 2) I was also wondering about the reflection area on the jaw in the shadow. It was kept reasonably light until the very end (actually I was waiting until you would fill that in, and you didn't until late in the drawing. 3) Could you please upload a zoomed-in picture of the finished drawing or part of it? I am very curious about the level of the finesse of your finish. Particularly in the areas of the light. Thanks, looking forward to your next video.

stephenbaumanartwork

1. I go on feeling. The limit for how dark I will go stops before the graphite can get really shiny. 2. I try to save my darkest accents for the end of the drawing. 3. I will upload one at some point- lots going on in the studio at the moment :)