Charcoal and Ink

This project we had to draw from a photograph, by starting with putting a grid on the photo and then a proportionate grid on paper. This allows me to work square by square getting each shape that fits where it should. The first drawing I did was the horse, I started with the top left-hand grid and worked my way down to the bottom. I began to work only in charcoal getting the basic shapes outlined and filled in. After I had the charcoal completed I began to add highlights with ink, I wasn't really sure where to add the ink so I only added a little. Overall I was happy with the outcome of this project, it looked proportionate to the original and it was my first time working with both ink and charcoal. If I were to recreate this project or add onto it I would start by not drawing it on cardboard, (I used a cardboard folder as a back support and help with moving). When using the cardboard on the back it left the lines on the drawing because the cardboard was not completely flat. If I were to edit or recreate this project I wouldn't have it on a cardboard back because it would help smooth out the entire things and make everything come together just a little bit more.

For the second charcoal and ink drawing I did I decided to do a landscape. I chose a drawing of the coastline, for this project I started by laying charcoal all over the paper to get a darker base than the paper because the image was on the darker side. Once I had that complete I moved on to drawing the rocks, I started by getting the rough outline first then going back in with white charcoal to bring out the highlights. I then moved on to the trees where I only put a faint charcoal outline on because I wanted to do those in ink. Once I had the foreground complete I moved on to the sky and water. Once the charcoal was complete ink was added to fine-tune some of the points and complete the trees. This project is my least favorite out of the three that I completed. I felt as though it looked too far off the original photo and didn't have the highlights to make it look accurate. if I was to change anything about this project I would probably restart. because as the project progressed I moved away from the grid and just started drawing what I thought was there rather than what was.

For the last image I wanted to draw another animal, so I chose to draw a beagle. Realizing the difference when I used the grid and when I didn't I stick to the grid as accurate as I could. I started in the top left corner with white charcoal and worked down to the bottom. Once I had the image all draw in charcoal, I went in with white ink to pop the highlights, I used the white ink to help with the shine in the eyes, reflection on the fur, and the fur that also mixed with darker hairs. After finishing with white charcoal I began to add more detail to the fur, and pieces of grass. One thing that I don't like about this project is the fact that the boxes can be seen in the background where its white, this is because I forgot to erase them before adding the charcoal, if I were to do this project over again I would draw the lines lighter and erase the grid lines before adding charcoal. But overall this project is my favorite out of the three and I do like the way it turned out.