Forum: Charcoal and Pencil Drawings Techniques with J.D. Hillberry

This is the start of a new 11x14 drawing of actress Jessica Biel. I'm working from left to right in small 2x2 areas at a time. I am using HB, 6B, and 9B graphite. I'm looking for shapes in the hair to draw and closing in on the light strands. I'm using single pencil lines for the focused hairs and...

Something I have been contemplating since I got introduced to some of William Bouguereau's arts, specifically, his work on the nudes. The title might sound weird, but here goes the translation. Gopika - Catttle herdress Vasthra - cloth/es apaharana - stealing So, it means, stealing of the...

Its time to stop being lazy. I have a drawing sitting here that I need to finish. I'm drawing this for a lady under the condition that she hangs it in a popular horse stable where a lot of rich people stable their horses. I'm looking to get exposure with this piece. She supplied me with several...

Hi guys, Its been awhile since I have last posted/drawn. Anyway this is the starting of my latest drawing. It is of a photo I took when i was travelling in the states. The reference photo is also attached. The drawing is a lot more looser than I normally do, but I thought I'd try...

At Kiran's recommendation, I checked out this thing called the Sketchbook project. It's an awesome idea set up a few years ago by the people at Art House Co-op. So I signed up! The theme I chose is 'Figuring You Out'. I think it best suits my style of artwork. I only have a few pages done so far,...

Well here I go with another memory. When dad and I would fish in the Atchafalaya Swamp, frequently we would haul a pirogue, a very small boat resembling a canoe, behind our bigger fishing boat. This would allow us to transfer from the bigger boat into the smaller boat to get into those tight spots...

Dear all artfriend, long time no see!!! Wish you all well!!!! Just finish a new drawing. So sorry that long time didn't here. Please come to my page to visit my drawing and the step by step. http://www.facebook.com/pages/paullungs-art/134045119942531?ref=mf http://paullung.deviantart.com/

New works ahead. This one is going to be entered in the annual River Road show in Baton Rouge, Louisiana this December. Shouldn't take too long to finish.

Hello everyone, I haven't been on ArtPapa for a while now and have missed it. I recently got a commission to do but don't know how much to charge. Any guidelines or suggestions? Specs: Paper: Bristol smooth Size: 14 * 14 Medium: Graphite I am now moving on to the hair which is the bane...

well sorta...this is a buddy of mines dad

I could not find her name nor think of a interesting title. so I prefer the month :) This one is much smaller than the last portrait and it is pretty difficult for me to top that last one in regards to skill. It is not the eyes that drew me to this portrait because there was not much shadow...

Hello my good friends. I have been away, but I haven't stop drawing :) As some of you know, I have a lot of problems with one of my latest drawings - "prenda aniversario". Even with all the advices that You have given me, I had no success with it. I reach a point where I just have to erase...

Back home from a 10 day vacation. Had ample time waiting for flights/connections as well as in-flight journey time and managed to crank out a couple of doodles as well as some sketches for my Self portrait WIP. Here are 2 random ones. The first one was pretty quick one. Just looking around from...

ive been busy doing a few dog portraits lately and fancied a change. so heres the beginnings of an A3 pencil drawing of Will Smith, still very much a work in progress http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp151/conty0/IMG_0495-1.jpg?t=1278339426 ...

This is a commissioned work that im doing....very hard with the detail, I love detail though... But man these textures are kicking my butt haha. Let me know what ya think! I attached the original pic so you can see what the textures look like....how do you guys think I should attempt the...

The Atchafalaya Basin is a very expansive swamp between Lafayette and Baton Rouge, La. It is one of the most beautiful areas of the state, where, many years ago, my dad and I spent many great fishing days together. I'm in the process of completing an oil painting of this scene and thought I'd do a...

Supplies - 2H, HB, 6B, 9B graphite, 11x14 Beckett Enhance Arctic 80# cover weight paper, and a kneaded eraser. This is the beginning, the first pencil marks on paper. The photo reference is of my son Jacob. I am doing this drawing between other projects or drawings so it may be slow progress....

This is the third in the series I am doing on the two grandfathers on both sides of the family. This is my wife's Grandfather on her Dad's side. I am pleased with this so far, but that is not saying much because I haven't gotten that far. As always, i would love to get your feedback. I like...

Black and white charcoal Canson Ingres...flannel grey 18x24 Well I owe Mr. Bouguereau an apology…I will try again in the future… I learned several things…its hard to draw a painting… I would at first using a paper towel…smear the black charcoal and then wipe across the whole drawing…then...

The only old photo we can find of my wife's mum is tiny. REALLY tiny - IRL it's only 1/4" from chin to top of head. I scanned it on maximum resolution. The one of her dad is better. Luckily, they are both under similar lighting. These two separate photos need to be combined into a double portrait...

Hello All, I have been reading posts and was inspired to create a portrait of one of my favorite singers. Anita Baker. I have included a photo and my current progress. I want to improve my work and would like constructive criticisim. I am not sure if I should go charcoal pastel or just colored...

I just started a new drawing and I wanted to post a link to my blog post. I hope you'll check it out. It's in progress and it's photo-based. For people who are wondering how to draw without a grid, this may be helpful. Anyway, check it out, comments are welcome too. ...

The Atchafalaya Swamp is a "Sportman's Paradise" for hunters and fishermen (hence, the Louisiana state motto). My dad and I frequently brought in a "boatload" of fish after a long day out in the basin. A very plentiful type of fish caught there is the "Sac-a-Lait", commonly known as a "Crappie" any...

As a little Easter fun project I've made some caricatures of the Aesthetics , a Californian rock band. I've made them very tame, because I want to stay friends with them, after all I'm intending to use their songs for several more videos. Actually they liked it, what a luck! :70000000: Materials...

Hi All, I've started another drawing, this image caught my attention with the different textures. So far there is about 15hours, using pencils 4B, 2B, HB, H and 3H. This is still early days, initially I went through a 'lull' while doing the braid work - the photo I'm working from didn't have...

Hello again. I don't know if you believe it, but I am gonna do a drawing with water! hi hi At first I found a great picture of an athlete in the rain, but it is a lot more complicated than this. This picture was a litle altered in photoshop to give it a lot more contrast. So, who have...

This is a commission for my brother. One of his employees is retiring, and this is where he intends to spend most of his retirement. The details are as follows: - Strathmore 400 Series, 80#, 14x17 - charcoal - tissue, paper stump, kneaded eraser and clean, dry fingers - appr. 3 hours Thanks...

This is a new project I started. The scans show a detail of the hair which is more finished and a start of the face which is laid out lightly so far. The scan that shows more of the face is closer to the actual size of the drawing as I see it. The detail scan of the hair is much larger than the...

Dear friends, I ask for your understanding for being so egotistic and self-centered these days. I am still trying to get an understanding of what is going on right now in my life. While my phlife II was an 'outside-in' view of me, this project is now the reverse, 'inside-out'. Why the title?...

Hi, here is my new work (again an Indian). I use: Faber Castell pencils Picasso paper size: A4

Today was my first portrait drawing class from live model. It was an interesting experience and a class worth each cent, in my opinion. Some of the things I learned were things like, 1. loosening myself and work using my shoulder to get the overall shapes , rather than anchor my wrist on the...

A friend of mine asked me to draw her little girl for a Father's Day gift, so I managed to dust off all my drawing stuff and give it a go. The first one was a pretty rough reference photo, very small and it frustrated me a lot that I wasn't able to do it. I felt pretty rusty! I got her to take...

Hi everyone, I hope you all are doing good. I know it's been a while. I've been so busy. Here's my latest drawing. This is a work that I did for Cliff Avril of the Detroit Lions. He called me a few weeks back after finding my website. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out although I had a hard...

1829-1915. aka great-great grand-daddy. :-)

This was done with woodless graphite which I have adopted as my medium of choice for it's blendability. All comments and critiques are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi! I decided to show two quick drawings more. At least they are different from what most people do. 12x16" charcoal. C&C please. OK, no snow in the second one. Henrik

Woodless graphite on printer paper

Hi people, I have been busy with other things. Drawing has not been forgotten and tomorrow I will go up north to the woods and lakes to draw. Below is a quick charcoal made recently on regular drawing paper 12x16". This is different from what I usually do. i wanted to stress more the...

I am doing a portrait for a very good friend of mine. I saw this kid hours after he entered into this world, it was such a beautiful sight to see a new born baby. I promised her that I would make a portrait of him someday. I started working on this a couple of days back and I am enjoying every...

Something am pondering on submitting to San Diego county fair's juried show this year, so I would appreciate if folks do not provide any critiques. I am not sure how it will turn out, so, whether I submit or not is dependent on how happy am with the outcome, but I'll try. I don't know what to...