I tried doing this with charcoal, and it was a struggle. The lighting in my drawing space makes it look worse, but I couldn’t catch daylight with my work schedule yesterday for a better picture. The charcoal is an added challenge, and I don’t know if my paper is too textured or I’m sharpening wrong, or it’s just a lack of experience, but it was significantly harder! The charcoal feels very woody and rough. I have three different softnesses. The softest is so difficult to sharpen, and I keep breaking it, so I’m timid about it. It doesn’t seem like the pigment is transferring like it should. I know the exercise and layin fall apart because of my experience, but I do feel like the tools are working against me in this case too. My graphite practice is going better. I don’t want to give up on improving with charcoal though. Any tips appreciated!

Level 2, attempt 2! I think I'm getting better at making the blobs feel like they belong to a single, cohesive shape. What really helped with my latest attempt (bottom) was putting all the construction lines on their own layer, then hiding them once I got far enough along. Blending construction lines into the final isn't easy to do digitally and just tended to mess me up. Two things I'm still definitely struggling with are: 1) The size/placement of the masses, especially the muzzle and the cheekbones. Now that I'm looking at the bottom image again, it's obvious that the muzzle is too far to the left. Also, I can't wrap my head around how big the cheekbones should be, and how they should interact with the eye sockets and the side of the face. 2) The brow ridge / eye sockets. Everything about these masses messes me up. I don't know what shape the brow ridge should be, how it should transition into the side of the face, and what shadow shapes it should make with the cheeks and eye sockets. The "mask" of shadow that the bottom face is wearing is all wrong - there's no way the lines should be that straight - but after almost two hours of working on it I decided to throw in the towel and try again with the next drawing. Time to watch Stan's demos then try again!

This is a reattempt after watching demos and critiques. I can see it is better from my first submissions, but I’m still unsure of what I’m doing. I think I just need to keep practicing and reference back to the demos as I go.

Shading blobs, attempt 2! This is kind of a hybrid of levels 1 and 2 - I did a face, plus a weird rabbit-elephant-cat-snail thing. I know we're supposed to be working traditionally for this part of the course, but I did it digital because I want to learn how to use digital tools to replicate traditional techniques. This involves a lot of experimenting with different brushes, which explains the difference in texture between the two drawings. I'm pretty happy with this attempt overall, though it's clear I still have a long way to go. Something about the head I drew is rubbing me the wrong way, and I just can't figure it out. I think maybe the shadows on the left cheekbone are too dark - looking back at Stan's example, there are no shadows at all on that side of the face, just midtones. Other than that, I think there are just a lot of little mistakes that add up to it not quite looking right. More practice needed!

A couple more attempts— I think it’s a good place to stop for feedback from demos/critique before trying again. I can see that it’s not right, but I don’t exactly know what I need to do to improve.

I think I’m getting it, but then I step back! I need to go even slower and make more intentional choices.

I don’t feel confident about this, but it’s fun! I’m loving the shading practice.

Level 2 assignment completed.

Hi :). Focusing on the edges really made me think about the 3D forms. I enjoyed trying to balance the application of theory while using reference pictures for support. Pictures can often make me feel overwhelmed. I see how this kind of simplification would help me prepare before drawing a more complex portrait. I'm learning so much.

The faces were tough. I did the last two after watching the demo and critique and felt like I was understanding it better by then, but not sure about the execution. Would love some feedback on this one.

I think by the 3rd one I was really starting to get it! I'm so grateful to Stan and Steve Huston for teaching me about edges and how much they can enhance a drawing. This is so fun. Thanks!!!

I like to try level 2 when it doesn’t sound too overwhelming. They are always harder than they look. I feel like pushing myself when I can is helping me improve faster.I think if I tried @Melanie Scearce ’s strategy below it would have been easier and had a better result. I think I will next time.

Giving blobby heads a try

Level 2 studies. All from reference.

My Level 2 assignment! Invented blobs.

These are my blog assignments, and I have overdone the shading some.