I drew an Old Man...

I've never drawn in charcoal before, and I've decided that I hate it; it's messy and you can't rub out and you come out looking like you live in a chimney. But here is the result of my one fling with the horrible stuff. Isn't he sweet? I labelled him just in case you got confused. Lol.

xx

Well, "sweet" is not really the word I would have used, but hey. It's good, (and I actually quite like charcoal, mostly because of the mess. It gives visible proof that you were doing something artistic ^^) but the nose and chin jut out an awful lot. The whole face looks quite misshapen, and his ears are down too low. I like the fact that you gave his face texture and shape while still in profile, which does look really neat. Some of the strokes in his hair go up vertically which looks a bit odd.

So, overall it's good, but when you go closer, it does look a little bit too much like a monkey-man-hybrid thing. In a good way.

Yeah, the ears are too low, I see it now... the nose and chin I took from a profile that Leonardo da Vinci did, though. I think I like drawing imperfect faces; they're more interesting (there is my pathetic excuse for my anatomical mistakes). Lol and I'm not quite sure why I did the vertical hair.

xx

That is VERY good. As you pointed out, there are some obvious proportional issues, but your technique is amazing. Listen to me, I'm in a college life drawing course where we have to draw models with charcoal, or a charcoal-like substance, and even I can't draw that good. Charcoal is defenitely a difficult medium to manage, but if you can master it you can make extraordinary drawings.

As for the propotions, Wooster already pointed most of them out. The nose and chin do look a little out of place, and so is the ear. If you moved the ear a few inches to the left, and made it level with the eyes, then it would be in the right place. Drawing faces can be tough, so it's always a good idea to have some sort of guideline to from. I actually learned how to draw faces from how to draw anime books. Colleges look down on anime style drawings, but the steps taken to map out the face can be applied to anything. Take a look at a how to draw anime book and see how it shows how to draw faces.

But the best reference of all is real life. Stare at one of your friends' faces for a few minutes, then you'll start to see how everything works.

One thing I like about your drawing is the indent you put in the side of the head. You definitely have a solid understanding of how the human skull is shaped. Good job.

This is great!

Unfortunately I can't really offer any constructive criticism as Art isn't really my area of expertise, but I can tell you that I think you're a wonderful artist And for someone who sounds like they were getting very frustrated with the charcoal it really is very good indeed

Did you draw this off the top of your head or were you working from something?

I took elements of it from a drawing Leonardo da Vinci did, but this looks nothing like the original.
xxxx

Raimunda,

You must've done something right because I saw it and immediately thought "I know that from somewhere - Da Vinci did something similar!" (makes it sound like you copied him, eh? )

But seriously, charcoal is incredibly messy to work with and you did a fantastic job! The dark marks above his eye (upper right) and under his cheek are a little distracting. But kudos to you! I can't really think of more to say...

I love this, and I hate charcoal. Looks real nice and all, but sooo messy.. Not the picture, charcoal.

But he is definitely awesome. I love the nose, really.

I like his wrinkly forehead too.. You made it look really real, like if I touched my computer screen it would be all bumpy.

=]

Hiya!

Skin: The creases on his forehead seem a bit deep in my opinion. Almost too deep to be real. The cheekbones also seem to protrude a lot, and his chin sticks out a bit too much for the folds on his neck.

Features: I find the ear is the most-detailed part of this, oddly enough. A bit small for his head, but still believable.

The nose seems a bit sharp, but not unnaturally so. Perhaps add a bit less shading between the cheek and the bridge of his nose? It seems a bit rigid at the moment.

His hair seems a bit all over the place. Make sure all your lines go the same way!

Overall: I found this to be a rather accurate drawing of an old man. The problem lies, really, in how hard charcoal is to work with. I have done so myself and it's my least favourite as well.

Questions on my review? PM me.

~Rosey

well alice this is my favourite one and i like it better than all the others
i like it better than that crying girl with the wonky face
and better than the one with the scarf that's going to take forever
and better than your funny mouth on the notice board
and i wrote you a poem about it and i'm thinking that if it willl let me after i've written this then i will post it for you.
it started off really long and then i made it shorter and shorter and shorter and shorter but i like it better now.
love you xxx

Argh! I'm so jealous of you! Getting anything that looks remotely like art out of charcoal is impossible for me. It smudges and doesn't erase... Gah...

Anyway, people have already pointed it out, but his ears look a bit small. And I can't really use "sweet" to describe him, but he has got an interestingly pensive face. Very nice.

My favorite part is the top and back of his head. I don't know why. They just have such great texture. *thumbs up*

Great work and congrats on taming the charcoal! And one your first try! *is jealous*

~GryphonFledgling

To everyone who hates charcoal: It's actually really fun once you learn how to properly use it. My art teacher taught me how, and I love charcoal. Just don't press at all and make a pencil drawing first and put a piece of tracing paper under your hand so it doesn't smudge when you're drawing, and it turns out great. ...Oh my gosh, did I actually just say all that? What do I know about art? I can hardly draw a stick person! Erm, well, find a good online tutorial before you judge charcoal. You might like it.


But anyways, AWESOME! Yes, he is a very sweet man, that is, he would be if he were real. I think it's the laugh lines and tiredness of the eyes. I'm sorry, I can't think of anything to say that hasn't been said. And old men have weird hair, so the hairs going up are fine. Sorry ofr not having a constructive review!