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I’ve recently watched some videos of skilled painters who admitted they were terrible draftsmen. Some traced photos (a capital sin inside my teacher's atelier, although it’s a common practice). Others needed to approach the drawing steps like a thorny equation. I was puzzled. Drawing is an essential skill for any artist, the first skill, the foundation for everything else. I recall my first drawing lessons when I was a kid. Rocks and trees first, followed by landscapes, perspective, animals, still life, and finally, the human figure. They always save figure drawings and portraits for the final classes. The whole thing, from pebbles to noses, is organized as a succession of studies, projects that aren't meant to become finished pieces. Instead, they're more like a collection of exercises of any given set of skills one might be working on.

Charcoal is one of the best tools for figure drawing and can be especially helpful in figuring out values and shapes. With its soft texture and ability to create rich, dark tones, charcoal is perfect for capturing the subtle nuances of light and shadow. Additionally, charcoal can help artists to better understand edges, making it easier to create more realistic and lifelike drawings. The process can be enjoyable and relaxing despite the technical aspects of drawing studies. These three studies (made with "digital charcoals") indeed were.

When I finished the third study earlier today, I wanted to share them immediately. I chose to encapsulate them in a neat pack, like our monthly illustration packs (ip), and share not only full definition versions of each study (for the Carmine pack) but also the drawing process itself (for the Cyan pack). This, however, feels more like a study pack (sp). Is this going to become a thing, these study packs? Only time will tell. =^_____^= 

For now, what I must say is that these study packs have nothing to do with the Patreon monthly rewards. They're bonus contents that I'm excited to share with you. 

I’ll send the Carmine and Cyan packs links in a few minutes.

Thank you so much for your love and support!

Cheers!

Q.

p.s.: this is an extra painting, an early access submission. I’ll post it on social media in a few days/weeks.

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Comments

Tazmatwo

I love it!

Shajalyn87

Amazing. Reminds me of my time I doodled a bit with charcoal. Always had fun, shading it with my fingers and making a huge mess. :) Love the one with Epona the most. <3

quaraci

Thanks, Shajalyn87! =^_____^= I think I learned the most with the second study (Leto), whereas the third (Epona) was just pure flow. The first one (I had Iris in mind, but we can't really tell that it's her, so I'll leave it to one's imagination) was more like a proof of concept: I had three dry media brushes that I'd like to use and one shade of gray as my palette. I think limited tools yield interesting results. I'm glad you like them! <3 As for the real-world charcoals, they're just wonderful, no matter how messy it can quickly get. (LOL) I'm particularly fond of sketching with willow charcoals, starting with a blurred image of the main masses and figuring out the details later.