Drill Monkey Graphite portrait

                                                                       Drill Monkey
                                                                          7"x11"
                                                                        Graphite
I have finished my first month studying with Colin Bradley.  I feel pretty good that I finished five of his projects.  With each one I watched his videos and while not completing his exact reference photos I did something like his pose and lighting (or at least tried).  This monkey happens to be his reference photo and is done primarily in graphite with several different tones of pencils.

It is on Stonehenge white paper and is yet another experiment.  When I do graphite I like to add in a bit of color pencil, especially in the eyes and did follow Colin's example of doing the red spot under the chin.

The experiment part of this is that for the background and the leathery-like portions of the face I thought I'd try Brush and Pencil's powder blender.  Usually when you want a really dark graphite background it doesn't blend super well - so I thought, what the heck I'd give it a try.  I used one of the Sofft sponge applicators and it worked super well.  It also gave the leather-like portion son the face a smoother look against the fur areas that butt up to it.

Not sure yet what the next adventure will be but hoping you all have a super weekend.



Comments

Sheila said…
Awesome work, those eyes are amazing. :)
May 6, 2017 at 2:14 AM
hmuxo said…
Nice work Nelvia!
May 6, 2017 at 8:21 AM
Mellowood Gallery said…
Oh well done Nelvia. You are doing such a great job on these 'lessons'.
May 6, 2017 at 10:25 AM
Joan Tavolott said…
This one is so well done!!! You really caught the leathery look to his face!
May 6, 2017 at 8:36 PM
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