I had the extreme pleasure of working on a figure for 60 hours, the longest time I have ever had in front of a model. Though this falls far short of the 100 hours full time students at ARA are afforded, I feel that, with the assistance of my fabulous instructor, Emmy DeMusis, I was able to accomplish much. I was extremely excited about the likeness I achieved, but I wish I had more time to render the figure. I focused on form, value, and the transitions of Ally's head. I actually spent more time on the drawing than the 60 hours with the model, because I filled in holes, and smoothed out values during downtime. I used a 2B, HB (last 40 minutes of the pose) on Fabriano Artistic, Hot Pressed, 140. I tried a brush for pushing in a light value, but wasn't comfortable with it. Furthermore, Ally was an amazing model!! She has a great head, and pleasant demeanor which made for an all around amazing experience.
Basic Steps:
1. Construct (39 hours)
2. Transfer and establish a base tone for darks
3. Key the drawing by establishing the darkest dark
4. Work on form shapes and values
5. Transitions
