Penciled in...

Letter ART by Charlie Irons
pencil and charcoal on paper

So, in my art class, we've been working with charcoal and graphite pencils to create line, volume, and values. It's been so long since I've used this particular medium...

Some, twenty years, now, to be honest...

... that I've had an interesting time getting the hang of it, again. However, I think I'm finally getting the hang of it, again; evidenced at the left.

These are actual objects that were set up to draw in class, this week; large letters and balls light by spots to create tone value and highlight perspective. We then did a pass to give a neutral gray over the page, and used layering and erasing.

Some of my sclaes are off, but my teacher was impressed when I was finished. Me? I was rather pleasantly surprised this didn't go down like a flaming bag of poo...

Justin Bailey by Charlie Irons
art pencils on paper

Has all this playing around with pencils affected me, any? Well, take a look to the right, here, and tell me. Usually, when I draw my comics - or almost anything, these days, to be honest, I throw down with a loose blue pencil, first. Then I go back and fill in with ink. But, this afternoon, I thought I'd give Justin Bailey, from Neverland Transit Authroity's Galactic Gun a go in pencil; something I haven't done in damn near three years.

Sure, it's rough. But then, as I finished it, that I kind of miss the old rough look. Not that I'm gonna kick down to this look on any regular basis. Just that it's neat to see, every now and then.

Who knows; maybe it'll show up in a sotry, somewhere...?