I have had two large charcoal drawings hanging in my studio(garage) for months now. Everytime i have to walk past them, my shoulder will rub against them. Removing or smudging the charcoal. Months. So i broke down and bought some fixative. I sprayed one, no problem. But the second one had become too smudged and mistreated. So i decided i would give it a make over, instead of tossing it.
This was fun.
It was a large drawing on "good" rag paper, so it had the potential of something good. But more importantly it had this disposable quality. And that disposiblity gave it the freedom to be anything.
This freedom is important, an artist should not be intimidated or scared of thr medium.
I am pretty enviromentally conscious individual, using recycled material whenever i can. But i try my best not to be scared of ruining a piece of art supply or wasting money. As long as you are learning, seriously focusing on your art, there is no waste.
The 3 images below are a progress sequence, in chronological order.
I ended up trying to make the drawing more of an atmospheric or impressionistic feel. Like a faded photo. With only hints of shape amid the faded shadow.
