friday's sketch

Bad weather and a bad leg make for a great combination when all you really want to do is wrap yourself up in a blanket, pour some tea, play some good music, and draw. I had this little vial of shiny black powder that I bought at the medina a while ago, which the herbalist swore was kohl for the eyes, but I have my doubts. I thought I could use it for drawing, and while it gave me some nice warm greys, it left behind rough glittery particles that would not go away no matter what I did. In came the 8B graphite stick to punch up the value and save the day!

a midnight-ish self-portrait

I started drawing this sometime last night before midnight and finished the majority of the drawing around two in the morning. The orange background took a good part of today, as the book is pretty large (the portrait is a wee bit less than life-size)— a great way to spend a rainy Monday! It has been a wonderful thing rediscovering Caran D'Ache's Neocolor I wax pastels, something I loved playing with in college and had forgotten about until recently rummaging through Pedro's cache of art materials in Lisbon.

saturday