I start with a selfie from yesterday after first haircut for 6 months. Thanks Josie!
The night before this was the end to my 60's reverie, I did a few mirror photos in bad light. I like poor quality snaps- just glimpses. The following photo is also blurred-
I converted it to monochrome-
This morning I started a charcoal study. This kind of drawing cant start with drawing edges because there are none. So I started indicating dark areas starting with the collar.
The whole drawing took about half an hour. Drawing without lines is quite liberating. There is no chance of concept drawing- only responding to the flow of tones.
One result of tidying up is that one finds studies from a year or so ago that were abandoned with despair. This one is a study of pots on my patio last year. Far too weak and bland.
I have attacked this with a ballpoint pen with short straight lines. Emphasising the abstract nature of paint strokes. This may give the image a bit of “edge”. There may be more I can do. Nothing to lose.
Really like the edginess you have added to the picture.
Josie's done a great job with your hair!