Head Drawing

So this past semester I took head drawing, let me explain how the class went...every class was 3 hours each, 2 times a week (mine was from 6-9pm). For the first half of the class, the teacher would do demonstrations of how to get proportions right and different ways to use charcoal; and then the last half of class we all had time to sit there and try to draw the model to the best ability we could with the remaining time. We were required to turn in our best drawings throughout the semester and then would have class critiques. Teachers for these kind of courses grade differently and kinda just give you an overall grade of what they think you deserve. The teacher said he usually gives 3-5 A's and then the rest are down from there and to my surprise I got an A! :) Many students take this course more than once because you can never fully master the structure of the head within getting your college degree (or in that matter, your entire life!) so I plan to take this again and hopefully head drawing using oil paints as well. I loved this class and each portrait was a new challenge that intimidated, yet taught me. Here are some photos of sketches/renderings, some of the photos didn't rotate correctly but you get the idea. :)

using both black and white charcoal

white charcoal only: focusing on where light is hitting

practice on the eye: most complex feature to draw accurately

lift out process with charcoal using kneaded eraser

fill in all shadows with black: leaving all detail out

for the beginning of the semester we only used pencil

we learned how to grid the face if you wanted to have perfect proportions and take more time...not my fav.

we first started the class looking at the structure of the face using only basic shapes