Do you see it...

Acrylic, Ink, Conte and Charcoal Pencil on 300g/m Rough Watercolour Paper / Size: 8.6 x 8.4 Inches

I wanted to experiment with some interesting accidental washes and colours as a background to this piece. Knowing that this was going to be quite a spontaneous piece, I had to be sure I was working on a surface that could take at least a little rubbing for any alterations I needed to do as I went along. One good thing about practicing on newsprint is that there is virtually no room to mess around with a drawing without some trace of the alteration or damage to the surface. This has been good training in making sure I'm mindful of each mark I make. You can imagine when I do work on a surface that can take a little rough housing, it takes a huge chunk of pressure off, but the training still stays...

I have some nice thick 300g/m watercolour paper for this and gave it a wash of acrylic ultramarine blue then raw umber, letting the washes run down to make interesting dripping marks for the background.

Using a Sepia Light Conte Pencil, the figure was drawn, making sure the 'quality of line' was good as this drawing would be seen in the completed piece. The acrylic primed rough watercolour paper was a great surface to work on. Once I was satisfied with the drawing, the shadows were given a wash of Chinese Black Ink ( there is just a unique luminous quality to chinese ink and I love using it whenever possible ).
To help get my bearings I now went in with the lightest light I planned for the piece.
A splash of white acrylic (with a touch of raw umber) carved out the structure of the man's head and shoulder. Though I had a rough idea where I wanted the white to go, I was always aware of how the composition was developing as I was applying it and adjusting accordingly. For example, I had planned to paint down over the man's left shoulder more, but then the drip happened and looked so good I had to leave it. Acrylic dries fast so decisions had to be made quickly.
With the lights and darks established I went in with a little more detailing for the figure with white chalk, charcoal and the sepia light pencil. I had to be careful not to do too much or risk losing the mood of the piece..