Copy after Sargent's "Robert Henry Benson"

I think I mentioned I was trying out some new paper with this one. I don't know a lot about charcoal, but I do like the way this paper takes the medium. The only trouble is that it's really difficult to lift the charcoal once it's laid on the paper. Seems like the eraser just pushes the charcoal further into the paper fibers, leaving a smudgey looking gray. So that's not the best if you need to erase much. But that could be the soft willow charcoal I was using too... I don't know.

Funny enough, working on this portrait was reminding me of working with watercolor--starting with the lights and leaving them on the paper, then slowly building up the darks. I did my best to get an accurate copy, but like I said, erasing was a little tricky with this stuff. So it feels a little off. But mostly I'm working on figuring out this charcoal stuff, so I'm fine with it. It's interesting how something can be really spot on as far as measurements go, but look like it's off based on other peripheral parts of the drawing. So I'm starting to learn to look for those things when the measurements don't seem to add up with what I'm seeing. Sometimes it's really difficult to find where the error lies, though.

I really liked the simplicity of this drawing--how it's mostly just the shadowed recesses of the face that capture the likeness. And then how he introduces a lot of variety in the width and quality of his lines in what appears to have been a pretty quick drawing (I've read he usually did these charcoal portraits in 2-3 hour sittings). That Sargent.