Rami says, “Hey.”

Which is to say that after the eyes, nose, and mouth, I struggled to reduce the techniques I wanted to use to something the kids could handle.

This is why I used to draw super models with lots of makeup. Their skin was flawless, requiring simple gradations. Easy to teach.

But who doesn’t enjoy soul-crushing difficulty now and then? :o

Working the lower areas first, minding the highlighted area along the crown of his noggin. His hair is unruly, making for a wonderful challenge at this small size. I appreciate larger drawings all the more each time I make one of these little ones.

I am using a Kimberly 9XXB for the black of the background, for color variation and ever deeper value. The background will be problematic, as these modified charcoal pencils blend poorly, at best, while the background is altogether smooth, compared to Rami’s face and hair.

What to do….

dang! great great job and realism!

(and the just eyes and ears done one is greatly creepy lolol!)

Why, thank you!

We are still going strong, and hoping to finish this week. I’ve got the kids meeting five days a week, now, which they will continue until they’ve finished their next drawing: a larger, independent drawing, as opposed to this group project.

Short week. Horrendous attendance. I will “finish” this today, and do the necessary touch-up on my own time. A couple of kids will also “finish.” I will then make a copy of every student’s work, and use those copies to walk each student through necessary improvements, while the others are working on their next project.

It burns me up that I’ve been unable to share my students’ work with anyone outside my little town. I believe what we are doing represents a paradigm shift in art education, and should be shared with a wide audience.

Speaking of which, I had long chose pictures that would be relatively easy for kids to draw: smooth skin and well-ordered hair. Of late, I’ve been choosing models based more on social significance: a firebrand politician, an environmental activist, the first female lead in the world’s largest motion picture franchise, and a man of middle-eastern decent who is helping Hollywood break with tradition and bigotry.

This change has made for the most demanding work my students have ever faced. I, myself, have been confounded at times as to how to best explain techniques needed for skin and hair—particularly hair. I can draw hair like this without a problem, but telling someone else how to do it, particularly a very young someone else, is the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do as a teacher, despite my experience. I had always avoided pictures like this, because I knew the hair or skin would be quite difficult for kids. I have so much more to learn, but I am getting there.

Drawing a bunch a hair that is all going in the same general direction is a breeze. I can teach it in a couple minutes. But when the hair is going every which direction, it becomes something difficult for most people to process. It would be like trying to draw a pile of straw or plate of spaghetti noodles realistically. Most people are overwhelmed by the level of random lines, curves, forms, and values.

Many years ago, I learned to grab a piece of scrap paper and bang away at random techniques, random movements of the pencil, until I hit on something that does a reasonable simulation of whatever I had to represent. Reflecting on that experience, I thought that these “random” patches of hair Rami has in this photograph were best reflected by equally random dark shadows, created with a slight “scribble” movement, of random shapes and sizes, and placed very near one another. The spaces between were then toned and broken up by very small, darker strokes or “bits,” as I called them. It was very important that the students learned not not leave any significant amount of space (anything more than a sixteenth of an inch or so) with an even tone, else the illusion of hair is shattered. This is a tough lesson to teach kids.

Tougher still to teach is addressing those parts where tiny sections of hair intersect others at random angles. The patience required from my students to get through these areas successfully is fairly biblical. Few have it, and result to more crude and instinctive techniques.

Anyway, gotta jet. Hope to “finish” today,and then do all the stuff I don’t have time to mess with while teaching.