Free Art Project: Swan in charcoal

Swan in Charcoal

This intermediate project will sharpen your charcoal skills and ability to see shadows and light.

Ages 10 and up.

Supplies:

White drawing or charcoal paper
Willow or Vine charcoal
Charcoal pencil
Kneaded eraser
Photo reference (see below)

Instructions:

1. Using the willow charcoal lightly sketch a diagonal line of action and a large oval on it.
2. Add another small oval for the head to the left of the large oval, as shown.
3. Add the shape of the bill and the neck.
4. Erase all of the extra lines, except for the tail part of the line of action.
5. Add on the shape of the tail and the bottom of the body, which is squared off at the water line.
6. Add the wing shapes and erase all extra lines.
7. Lightly sketch the shapes of the shadows on the swan.
8. Fill the shadows in LIGHTLY with the willow charcoal. Adjust your pressure to make lighter shadows light and darker ones dark. Also - use your charcoal pencil to fill in the black parts of the face and bill.
9. Using a clean, dry finger, carefully smudge the shadows. Look carefully at the photo to see if the edges of the shadows are hard or soft, and blur them accordingly.
10. Using the charcoal pencil, darken the shadows where they are darkest on the photo. Add some texture lines on the neck for the feathers.
11. Sketch a large oval around the swan and fill it in darkly with the willow charcoal. Smudge with a clean finger.
12. Carefully outline the swan with the charcoal pencil, keeping your outline thin. Use your kneaded eraser to erase away the ripples in the water. (Mold it into a point first.)

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