Sketching Personality

Charcoal portrait with as few strokes as possible.

Personality

Charcoal on Newsprint Paper

Testing the texture of newsprint paper with charcoal pencil.

Feline Attention

Charcoal Sketch of a Duck

Here is a simple charcoal sketch on mixed media paper.

Floating

Gray Scale Spheres in Watercolor

Rendering the sphere in watercolor is a difficult exercise for beginner students but essential to master. Two methods are exemplified below.

Wet-in-wet to Dry Brush

Wet Zone to Dry Brush

Romantic Landscape

A small painting with gouache.

Quiet Evening at the Pond

Charcoal Sketch with Large Tortillions

Small sketch with charcoal dust and paper blenders on mixed media paper.

Iceland House

Mixed Media Sketch

Frosty Morning

Blue Bird

Sketching with the Vista Art Foundation.

Blue Bird

Charcoal on Newsprint Paper

Basic charcoal, light gouache paint, and newsprint paper.

A Girl

Back to Oil Painting

This is an 14x11 in piece on polyester canvas on Masonite.

Hill by Dixon Lake, Escondido, CA

Sketching Strees with Organic Strokes

Charcoal allows great control over edges, lines, and shades. In my art classes I place great emphasis in the quality and variety of charcoal strokes. The skills acquired in charcoal sketching carry over into watercolor and oil painting in my advanced classes.