Myriam’s 100 Days; portrait, heads

[Myriam]

Hello everyone from Spain!
In the 50th day of my total confinement because of the pandemic, I am going to try this challenge. I will draw a human head every day for 100 days.
Any opinion, critique, even if it’s cruel 😈,  will be very welcome.  I need to learn and I have had zero feedback until now. I’ve learnt by myself and I would appreciate so much any comments! 🙏🏼
I start with this kid from a Sebastião Salgado picture.
First I used a graphite pencil but then I tried to get more blacks with a carbon pencil and then with a polychrome black. My biggest problem is I can’t never decide which pencil to use.
Be safe!
Be happy  ✍🏻
And thank you.

Myriam

[David Carter]

Great! Lovely tones.  Really looking forward to seeing more of your work.  I have the same eraser as you! I’ve also got a small version of the same kind of thing (maybe by a different company).

[Myriam]

Thank you, David.

[Myriam]

#2
I tried drawing over black paper for the first time. It’s fun because everything is the opposite as usual. You don’t need to do the shadows, for example.

It’s Dersu Uzala. I recommend the film if you haven’t watched it yet.

 

[Myriam]

#3

Hello everyone!

This from a NMA lesson (“Advanced Head Drawing / Part 3: The Effects of Aging with Steve Huston”).

I used a Conté à Paris pencil (Sanguine).

[Myriam]

#4

I am going to change my avatar now, so this is my head for tomorrow Friday. (It looks like I had lip injections.)

• This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Myriam.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Myriam. Reason: There was a duplicate of my second drawing. So as I didn’t know how to delete the diplicate, I am writing a new message here. Hope it’s ok

[Myriam]

Sorry, I meant for tomorrow Saturday!

[Myriam]

#5
Hello? Is there anyone? 🙂
Here is one of the wisest men on Earth, the Dalai Lama. Today is a very important day for the Tibetans, as it’s been 25 years since Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, Tibet’s Panchen Lama, was abducted by Chinese authorities. It was in 1995 when he was just six years old and has not been seen again.
I have drawn today the Dalai Lama from a TIME cover using three graphite pencils.

 

 

 

[Myriam]

I have just uploaded #6 drawing but it’s not here. I guess it will appear in the future… Or should I upload it again? This happened also with the second drawing and it was uploaded twice. So I will wait…

[Myriam]

#6
Good afternoon! I have drawn the Dalai Lama again. Every little wrinkle makes me think of the gestures of his kindness. The blue pencil can’t be erased so it was a challenge. I kind of like the drawing I see on the paper, but not so much the photo of the drawing. Maybe I’m doing something wrong…

 

[Joshua Jacobo]

Myriam, sometimes our spam filters get touchy if you include more than on image in a post. I fixed it for you!

Great challenge. My advice would be for you to find the light and shadow sides of your portrait and distinguish the two clearly. I don’t mean that you need to have a lot of contrast, just clearer grouping of the light vs the shadow sides. Keep it up!

[Myriam]

Thank you, Joshua! So happy to see your message. I won’t submit two photos together in the future. I’ve read you have to click on the picture to see the highest resolution. Sorry.
I don’t understand what it means to group the shadows though. Maybe I should have avoided the paper white base that make him seem a ghost, giving the skin some tone (??). But there are almost any shadows in the photo and the drawing is too white.  Is that what you mean?

[Myriam]

#7
I’ve drawn a younger Dalai Lama today. I am not obsessed with him, just thought it was interesting to see the evolution of his face. I used graphite pencils, and tried really hard pressing the pencil to get the darkest darks but I couldn’t.
The picture I drew this from has a good illumination and clear shadows, which made things a bit easier.

[T. Kuusama]

What’s the hardness of your pencils? If you want to get the blackest black, charcoal would be the best; otherwise use 8B or 9B.

Here the top row is done entirely with HB, the bottom left with 8B to 3H, bottom right 4B to 3H. See the difference?

[Myriam]

Thank you, T. Kuusama. I used H, B and 9B! But I didn’t get the black I was looking for. Maybe I do it wrong or maybe it’s the paper… I don’t know.

 

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