Zorn Study in Charcoal and Panpastel
DARK VALUES MADE EASY
Imagine the hassle of trying to draw all this in pencil. Perhaps you'd start with a 2H, slowly building up hatched line after hatched line, before trying a 2B, and then something further. Potentially hours of mind numbing boredom (unless you enjoy this sort of thing of course), and then for all your efforts you will be left with a shiny graphite sheen.
I didn't time myself, but I would say the entire jacket was done in about six minutes. I added one further layer using the vine charcoal, blended quickly with a tissue, and then proceeded with a layer from the panpastel and sponge tool. This created a very dark tone but left the opportunity to add one last layer to mark shadows in the jacket by matching the darkness of the hair.
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FINISHING
The only parts of the original paper showing are on the shirt, a spotlight on the forehead and a couple of shiny parts on the nose where the cartilage pushes close to the skin. There's a few minor adjustments to values and edges, but there's a real danger of overworking areas, so I try not to tamper too much. No doubt if I look at it with fresh eyes tomorrow there will be half a dozen changes I'd like to make but for now I'm signing off on it.
If you've made it to the end, I am a little verbose. Thanks for sticking through until the end, and I hope it's proved useful to somebody out there.
 Blown up crop of the face
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The study is available for purchase on the website HERE.
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