17 and a quarter hours in. Oops, that's not a smudge in the lower right corner, just a shadow. I keep forgetting I'll have to finish the other half of the pellegrina.
My back is telling me that posture is an issue too, though I can't say it wasn't the same at home sometimes. Depends on the chair I'm in and the height of the work surface. Right now I'm drawing on one end of a standing food tray (my source is onscreen at the other end of the tray) and I'm sitting in a rocking chair. That makes it harder to work for several hours straight through as I've done before. Sounds like excuse-making but it's true. If I've enough money soon I want to send for my art table as mentioned before but also the chair that goes with it. If I'm still at Jesseca's that will mean the room will be crowded and a little hard to navigate. I should wait until I've moved into a new place. DSS hasn't approved me yet and I'm still having tom pass some hurdles. If they do approve me it'll still be a month and a half - wait, did I already post all this?? I hope Jesseca and Brian can put up with me if it's that long. There's the other place, which sounds mostly ideal, but we've not checked them out yet and there will surely be a waiting list. I hope there's wifi, I need the access.
I've roughly shaded in the lower jaw, which I think is a bit too wide. No fixing that now. I go in light and build the intensity of the shading. Once I'm sure the shapes are right I go in again and carefully darken things little by little and smooth out rough scribble lines. Those mostly disappear as I add lead around them. After that it's on to his forehead and left temple. It's almost 2 in the afternoon and an overcast day. If the light holds I can finish his head today barring corrections. Little over a week since I began, isn't it? I think? With one day of no work on it at all, and only a few hours each day. Make this a habit, be able to stay in/find the zone each day, get consistent lighting...I can cut the time it takes to under a week, or better. Can't say that about any medium I'm less familiar and comfortable with, but drawing I know.
He's recognizable, anyway, and his abundant good cheer and warmth come through. I like many if the textures, some of the details like the ears and the wisps of hair.
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Three o'clock, last bit my hand was being much more sketchy than I should continue with. Still, close, might get there yet tonight. Do you see what I'm doing below with the forehead, the faint sketching? Because I have to explore the shapes to find their definitions, because the shading shifts subtly, I don't have a clearly defined field and tone. So instead of just filling in, I'm building it up from light markings. Increase the darkness as needed, then smooth things out later. Once I'm sure the shapes and shifts are right, see how it looks in context and decide if it's dark enough. If it isn't it may be necessary to switch to a softer lead.
Don't use your harder leads for anything dark. Don't press too hard on the paper, if you can see the pencil making an impression on the paper you're stressing the page too much. At worst you're going to tear up the surface. You might also cause the surface to buckle like waves. I've made both of those errors before.
18:30 in. Feeling the first twinge of a possible headache. Haven't been having that problem, a good sign.
Is anyone reading this? I hope someone is finding it useful! I wonder what it would be like to teach a class in drawing. I might enjoy that.
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