Gravitas

I'm fascinated with faces, as you probably know. If you've followed my blog you've seen some of my sketches from life in pencil, and some of my pen drawings. I've also done a few drawings from photographs with Conte' pencil. The mark on the page feels completely different than lead or ink. It is heavier. It has, (clearing the throat), gravitas. When I pick up a conte' pencil, the drawing feels like it should be serious. With the conte' pencil, I mostly ignore the line, and concentrate instead on value. This is an example.



Hmmm, he looks disgusted, doesn't he? Critics, everywhere..

P.S.-I will gladly supplement this post by crediting the photograph that this drawing is derived from but I have lost track, and do not know the name of the photographer. It's a great photo though. I drew only part of the face and liked the way it almost seemed to emerge from the page, so after debating myself (I won, incidentally), I left it incomplete.