Live sketching: charcoal and oil pastels

Charcoal is the definition of messy, ain't it? So there I was, sitting in yet another fashion class of mine and praying to the art gods that I really don't mess up my work by using charcoal. What makes charcoal so intimidating is the fact that it takes probably less than a second to smudge and smear on the innocent and elegant white paper! Exaggerating much? Not quite, honestly. Another medium we were working on was oil pastels and frankly it did not alarm me as much as charcoal did. Moreover many others were also quite petrified about directly going in with charcoal and not using pencils to do the base sketch.

With all that being said, I do understand that working with charcoal directly was to in fact make us more confident about our strokes and to help with the flow of the stroke. Repeated practice will only help us achieve more precise strokes thus improving the line quality.

Now, what was the activity all about? So, we had to capture human postures through our sketches and for the same, all of us took turns to model and strike a pose. Live sketching also helps capture the posture and emotion in that moment compared to online references where we could miss out on details and not indulge or be able to observe completely. Also did I mention, the clock is ticking, tik tok tik tok. Yes, we were given only 5 minutes for each sketch so we wouldn't think much of it and just freely sketch it out.

As I mentioned in the beginning, charcoals are scary and so the best way to put away that hesitation is probably setting a time limit and roughly capturing the moment and the emotion experienced in that moment.

Let's take a little peek into my classroom, shall we?

She was our first model and it took me good 2 minutes just to start with the charcoal on the paper but regardless I did it anyways and trust me once you start, you will be much at ease and not worry too much about it being perfect.

So, just find someone to model who can strike different poses and go for it. The main reason behind this exercise is not to have the most perfect and appealing sketches but to capture the emotion in the posture in that moment. There is no need to dwell too much into details at this stage so just find one element which you think stands out in the model and add that to the sketch. For example, in the picture above the model is wearing a belt so I could try to add that to my sketch.

This is how my first sketch turned out, though not perfect, I am content with the fact that I learnt to use the charcoal without hesitation and didn't mind dirtying the paper! The one element I chose to capture was the texture of the crop top the model was donning.

Few other charcoal sketches

Another not so perfect sketch in terms of proportion but I like the way the upper half turned out. The foreshortened legs could have been sketched better. Anyhow, the one element I decided to capture was the wavy hair. With every sketch I grew less conscious about using the charcoal and felt like I was getting better at capturing the posture. So, this is your sign to keep going and sketching as many postures out to get a hang of it.

This is the sketch which gave me the hope that I was improving because I was truly happy with the proportions and felt like I captured the posture pretty well compared to the previous sketches. The element of emphasis was again the model's wavy hair.

I tried to sketch a couple sitting postures which was quite challenging to me. However I personally loved the way the garments were portrayed and even the hair turned out to look good. I noticed that I could work on the legs and try to make them look better.

Once you get the hang of it, work on things which seem challenging to you or try to work on areas which need improvement. In my case, I had to work on the way I sketched the lower body and to try something challenging I sketched sitting postures.

And we have finally reached the part where I introduce to you my favourite sketch among all the ones I have worked on. I think I captured the pose and emotion pretty well in this one and it is proportionate as well. Try building relationships among the different sketches and by that I mean, make the sketches interact with one another thereby adding life to the them.

The arrangement of the sketches makes it look like the two are conversing with each other and this builds the relationship among the two sketches.

A quick picture with all my sketches

I did not expect to like even one of my charcoal sketches but I am certainly glad I found myself improving with every sketch and that is truly what mattered. Trust the process and do not get disheartened if it does not turn out quite right. It is still your sketch and a part of the process. Let yourself loose and have fun with the charcoal, which is also the only way you will stop being terrified of using charcoal.

It is finally time to add some colour to the sketches so drumrolls for the oil pastels please. To level up the sketches and add a little more dynamic and detail we make use of the oil pastels. Nothing complex here yet the sketches will look a little more refined.

Steps to guide you through the process:

Step 1: Using an oil pastel of any preferred colour, just roughly sketch out the silhouette of the model

Step 2: Now, shade the silhouette using the same colour and depending on light source, you can darken few areas.

Step 3: Take a black marker pen or sketch pen and slowly start adding the details like face shape, clothes, feet position etc and try not to lift the marker up as much

Step 4: After finishing the first round of detailing, observe and see what more can be added like hair, facial features or even the folds of the garment. This elevates the sketch.

There we go and we are done!!

Initially one might find it hard to frame the silhouette and add in the details but with practice it definitely gets better. Even my initial sketches were not accurate, it did not in fact capture the model properly but I definitely saw an improvement from my charcoal sketches. Appreciate your sketches even if it isn't that great, we all are learning and we have all the time to better ourselves.

This is another example of how the poses are to be captured. Drawing the base silhouette with the oil pastels and filling it in helps us to better sketch the posture. It adds that extra dynamic and makes it polished.

Oil pastel sketches

I like how I captured the proportions in this sketch but I could have most certainly portrayed the garments in a better way. The garments have no depth and seem very rigid as well. Starting out can be a problem to all of us but trust me once you get started it will be very fun.

In this sketch the legs could have definitely been a little more elongated but apart from that I feel the folds of the garment make it look interesting and the loose and flowy top has been captured by the folds.

These are the sketches I'm the happiest about. I feel like it captured the emotion and detail of the model in that moment well and I was quite surprised to see how I can see improvements in the area I previously mentioned I needed to work on.

What a fun set of activities! From being alarmed by the charcoal to slowly growing to get hooked to it, I must admit that I enjoyed live sketching a lot, Also I was surprised by how adding the oil pastel silhouette just elevated the sketches. I was also particularly happy by the fact I did not beat myself up too much for not having the perfect sketches and making it messy. I was able to let loose and work freely which was the ultimate objective of this exercise.

Take a step back and give yourself a pat on the back because we made it to the end! yay! I hope in this process everyone has unveiled the fact that not everything needs to be perfect and like always, practice makes perfect. Keep sketching a lot and don't forget to be kind to yourself and appreciate your work ya? Afterall, looks like charcoal did not turn out to be the villain. I will let you keep guessing what the next post will be about, until then

Diksha

(a.k.a the fashion student you live vicariously through :))