Monday Drawing Class - Portrait

"Rea"
12" x 14"
Pastel on colored paper

Today we returned to drawing a person. Rea, a lovely fellow classmate from the Netherlands, agreed to sit for us. Bob first demoed how he would go about painting her in pastel. We've seen him doing this before, but I always refine my knowledge. Bob first blocked in the shapes without taking any measurements. He carefully noted the tilt of her head and bisected the egg-shaped oval of the head with its midpoint. He drew lines perpendicular at a 90 degree angle to the bisecting line where he judged the eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth to be located. Then he began to measure using the dowel stick and refined the drawing. Pretty much Bob was spot on. He blocked in the darks using charcoal. Next he applied skin-tone pastels to the broad planes of the face. Then he began to refine the various planes, dividing light and shadow. He did not want to consume our time so he left his painting incomplete.

Now, it was our turn. I learn through note-taking, so I referred back to my notes and repeated his process. When he checked the drawings, he made one correction to where the leading edge of the nose was positioned and modified the mouth. I actually feel accomplished when Bob has to correct just one or two things! The piece was partially finished when the three-hour class ended. This evening, I completed the piece from memory, a real test of what I know about the planes of the face. Though I had brought my camera, I didn't get a photo before Rea moved. We will not return to this piece in the next class, so I am declaring it done enough to move on.