Ashphord, digital charcoal on iPad Pro
I worked up this portrait of Ashphord, a model that I referenced from New Masters Academy website. I went back to an old familiar palette and subject matter. I don’t want to be associated from my work as a portraitist although that’s most of what you see here. I see them as merely exercises to keep my hands moving, until I get smacked over the head with a concept I want to work on.
I went back to a familiar palette using Digital charcoal on a textured charcoal paper layer. I did a block in with vines and willlows and used a kneaded erasure brush to do a little reductive work, then added detail with a “General” charcoal pencil and highlighted areas with the same brush blended out.
I finished up with some reds and golds then started in on the hair… which I need to work on more often. I want to indicate hair but then I start in on trying to detail it and end up with something in between. I made a few proportion changes and also added a hint of blue tone in the background and adjusted the transparency so the texture would show through.
