Day 36: Feeling low

"Happy is the heart that still feels pain, darkness drains and light will come again."

-Ingrid Michaelson, "Everybody"

This week's theme is down low. As you can see, my obsession with charcoal continues. Although, if I decide to draw something that includes a lot of small details, I'll definitely have to use graphite for that. For example, yesterday's drawing ("Tightrope") definitely had too many small details (the face) to turn out well with charcoal. But I think charcoal was the right choice for today's drawing.

Day 35: Tightrope

"A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life."

-William Arthur Ward

Day 34: Looking Up

"Cause when I look to the sky something tells me you're here with me and you make everything alright."

-Train, "When I Look to the Sky"

Day 33: Pretentiosity

"A proud man is always looking down on people and things; and, of course, as long as you're looking down, you can't see something that's above you."

-C.S. Lewis

I used charcoal again with this drawing. I realized the other day that lately I've been drawing only women. I think it's probably because it's easier for me since I'm more familiar with the features, angles, shadows, etc of a woman's face than a man's. So I decided to do something different today and draw a man; it was actually pretty difficult. To add to that, I also found it difficult to draw from an angle of looking up at the face slightly rather than looking directly at the face, so the proportions of the face were different than I was used to. But I'm pretty happy with the way this came out regardless.

Day 32: City View

"All cities are mad: but the madness is gallant. All cities are beautiful: but the beauty is grim."

-Christopher Morley

I'm in love with charcoal. It's my new favorite substance. More than chocolate even. In fact, I even accidentally let my hot chocolate get cold because I got so wrapped up in this drawing. And anyone who knows how much I love hot chocolaty drinks knows that's saying a lot. It feels so much more alive and malleable, you can shape it into whatever lines or movements you want to on the paper. Something else that I'm happy about is that I'm relying far less on the pictures that I use when I draw. Today, I used a picture of someone's profile because I struggle (a lot) with getting proportions right without looking directly at something, but I changed some things (such as the facial expression) and I didn't use anything for the background (ooooohh a bunch of boxes...I know, it's sooo impressive). One thing I did not change was the hair style, because I absolutely love this model's hair (I just changed the color; this model was bleach blond). I go home tomorrow for three weeks-ish for Christmas break, and I think over break I'll probably try experimenting with watercolors just to see what happens. 

And, as an added bonus, here's a big doodle I drew on a whiteboard while I was studying for orgo last night:

I'm so glad finals are OVER!

Day 31: Falling

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising ever time we fall."

-Confucius

I did this one in charcoal again today. Charcoal is fun! It's also kind of scary to work with because you can't erase it like you can when you use pencil. So inevitably, there are some things I would change about it, but I can't, so I'll just have to deal with it, I guess.

Day 30: Climb

"I've learned that everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while climbing it."

-Andy Rooney

I drew this using charcoal (for the first time).
Also, I forgot to say yesterday that this week's theme is "high above".