Noah

Charcoal, one hour. Watercolor with white gouache, two-and-a-half hours. The charcoal portrait's not too shabby considering the time frame. If I had another set I'd drive more darks in.

I'm very happy with the colors on the watercolor portrait but the eyes are starting to look a bit wonky. Lesson learned: never strive for accuracy when the model's dozing off.

Joseph

Tens and fifteens.

Sasha

Two-and-a-half hours. Combination of different charcoal tools - Primo pencils, compressed charcoal, vine charcoal, charcoal powder, etc. This drawing still needs a bit of work, so I'll finesse it over the weekend.

Sasha was the first model I ever drew at Watts Atelier. My initial drawing of her ended up being something like this. Good god.

Looking back, my growth since then, in just two short months, has been tremendous. I consider it a testament to the school's strong fundamentals program and welcoming atmosphere. I'm looking forward to spending years training with them.

Jeremy

Three hours. This and the following portrait were done at a three-day workshop Jeff Watts held on alternative portrait drawing techniques. We used a combination of charcoal powder moistened with water and laid on with a brush along with graphite pencil. It's a close approximation to actually painting - and a perfect blend of techniques I've been trying out in my recent watercolor and charcoal studies.

Toni

Two-and-a-half hours. I had planned on painting in my watercolor sketchbook today, but halfway to the workshop I realized I forgot it at home. I really shouldn't be in a rush to head out the door all the time.

Jasmine

Charcoal, two hours. Watercolor with white gouache, three hours. Today was the last day of my head drawing class with Meadow Gist. It may not seem apparent at first glance but I learned so much from her class; my confidence in drawing accurate heads has grown tremendously in such a short time. I think it's because she stresses simplicity and the fundamentals above all else. I am really grateful to have been able to study under her.

Robert

Three hours.

Alma

Four hours. I watched the new Zhaoming Wu Drawing the Head in Charcoal DVD last night, and it inspired me to go back to the painterly style of drawing I learned from LAAFA. We had a gorgeous model tonight. She could easily pass as the younger sister of Penelope Cruz. Of course, attractive models are a double-edged sword. Gazing at a radiant beauty for hours can be a dream but trying to capture them on paper can sometimes be a nightmare. To tell you the truth, I almost gave up on this piece after the second set, because things just weren't turning out right. I realized I was so stressed out about nailing her beauty that it was negatively affecting my mood, and therefore my line work. It got so bad that I actually started another piece on newsprint, only to come to an understanding that I would probably go through the same ordeal the second time around, and that I might as well soldier on and try to salvage the first, instead of ending up with two half-assed pieces at the end of the night. Now that I see the final result, I'm glad I stuck with it. I can still see areas that I can improve upon, but they're pretty minor. Overall I'm really happy with how it turned out, considering the shaky beginning.

Trace

Five to fifteen minutes. Trace has an uncanny Lenny Kravitz vibe to his persona. Great poses tonight.

Head Studies

One hour each. Ingrid Bergman and Gary Cooper. Still concentrating on the underlying structure of the head. I've got eighteen more of these to finish for this week's homework; hopefully I can squeeze in some time to do more before the next session.