I decided I'd post a little process for this one because lately trying to explain how I end up doing things confuses even me. I chose to do this as one of the portraits because I thought it would be more of a challenge for me to draw her like this, and well more interesting. I'd rather be drawing a girl with bleached eyebrows and tons of metal in her face than a pin up any day.
(Charcoal, Ink)
I don't have any process shots of the actual drawing stage, but I normally use a yellow erasable colored pencil to block everything out then I'll go over that with a blue mechanical pencil before I ink it. I just find this helps me separate the blacks easier once I bring it on the computer. Saves me from a ton of gross graphite smears too. I have a tendency to add more lines than I need to faces because it's easier to take them out than it is for me to put them in later.
So because it's a likeness the first thing I did when I got it in photoshop was a bit of plastic surgery and scribbled in some values on the face as a rough to make sure something wasn't terribly off. Once I've sorted that out I move onto the print outs.
(Graphite wash, Ink, Charcoal)
I'm not working on any sort of really special paper, just something thick enough to hold a wash.
I really enjoy working like this because it gives me the ability to nitpick and the mental freedom of working on something that isn't precious.
Combine them all and with a bit of luck..
