Recently I tried resurrecting my old love for pencil sketches. The black & white picture of the berries (see entry: Black's Bright Borrowed Faces) was an inspiration to try this particular art that doesn't employ colors and instead chooses to add life to a pencil sketch using deft shades of black and white.
My roommate Seema was the first ready and available model. Making the sketch took approximately half an hour and I spent some additional time adding a little extra to the eyes. What really disappointed me though was that when I took a photograph of the sketch, the uniformity of the digital picture due to the flash and the angle, slightly undermined my efforts at giving her eyes a lit-up look. Also the dimensions were a little awkward considering the picture is on paper and the camera captures a flat image. I tried some editing and it seems to have worked a little. I do wish her eyes wouldn't have appeared slightly angled like that. Nonetheless Seema is exhilerated at seeing her smile materialize on paper.
One of the things I find hardest in charcoal/ pencil sketching is drawing limbs, so I tend to stick to faces and expressions. I decided to start off a little easy since charcoal pencils are hard to handle. They smudge if one's moves are awkward. I drew an outline with a liquid graphite #2 pencil and then used a simple husky pencil (HB#2) which smudges but gives that unfinished charcoal look....I used my fingers quite a bit in trying to frame the face, the smile and Seema's wild curly mop.
I'm quite satisfied with the results and I think I will continue experimenting with B&W sketching some more.
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