Process of Reasonings

I have been working on an idea for a short series of drawings for some time.  I first came up with the idea of "Reasonings" a few years ago after witnessing some events unfold and seeing the reactions people had as they searched for a cause.  At the time the concept was probably too fresh in my mind because I couldn't figure out how to express the idea on paper without it going off on some tangent.  Finally I realized the most basic way would probably be the best and so the drawings began.  So far I have the second drawing done and am using it as a sort of template to match my values for the other two that will go on either side of it.  I have a quick breakdown of this drawing below.

So, I began with taking some photos to use as reference shots since it would be rather difficult to draw while my eyes were covered with fabric (haha).  After that, I grabbed a sheet of Canson Mi-Tientes eggshell colored paper, flipped it to the smoother side, and blocked in the basic shapes.  With each line I tried to grab the correct angle of the features and then the size.

Next I began adding value to the face and neck.  In this early stage I really tried to push the softness of the drawing.  I wanted the shadows to just come together in a natural way instead of showing the hand that made them.  I ended up taking some of my other drawings out to compare every now and then.  The values were added layer by layer using an f and b pencil.  I made sure to establish which areas would be the darkest shadows and which would be the lightest highlights.  I also took advantage of the edge of my chin that almost gets lost in the shadow of my neck.  I think that small detail really added a lot to the piece as it progressed along.

Here I began shading in the wrapping over my eyes.  I didn't want to make it too "filled-in" but I wanted there to be enough substance to make it real.  I made it a point to only let the pencil graze the surface of the paper to avoid any indenting or harsh glare that can happen when the light catches graphite the wrong way.  The neck was also brought a bit further to match the level of the face.

Now it was time for the hair so I blocked in some dark patches to give me somewhere to begin.  I kept the hairline very soft like the facial features and tried to give the impression of depth by varying the amount of paper that showed through in certain spots.  At the top of the head I added a few wisps of hair to give it a little style and add detail.  I had to be careful not to go overboard with this step since too much detail would have ruined the softness I had worked so hard to achieve.

The final image as it currently stands.  I did some tweaking here and there to bring everything to the same level of completion.  Overall, I'm really happy with how it turned out.  As I get further along with the other two pieces I may touch up a few things so that they are all seen as interconnected.