Charcoal Portrait

Charcoal is a beautiful drawing medium, well suited to portraiture. It has a wide tonal range and can be creatively manipulated to stunning effect.

The delicacy of charcoal is its strength but can also make it a little tricky to use, if you're not shown how to get the best results. The approach you’ll learn on this course will help you handle it confidently and get the most out of it by building it up in controlled layers.

This method can also be used to great effect for still life, landscape or life drawing. It is also very effective when used with paint especially for alla prima work.

You’ll produce a charcoal portrait study by working gently into the drawing in an open flexible manner allowing you to get things right at your own speed over the course of the drawing.

Each stage will be demonstrated by Rob in the first part of the lesson showing you exactly what is needed at each stage. In the second part of each lesson you’ll work on your own portrait using reference images provided especially for the course.