A new drawing!

Yes, Raymond Blanc may well look surprised! After such a long slump, I'm surprised I haven't forgotten how to draw! I thought he'd be a fitting subject as he's been inspiring me with his TV show Raymond Blanc's Kitchen Secrets. Taking a complete break from drawing and doing other creative things has been really beneficial.

After a long break, and especially with not drawing on white paper for a while, you forget all the shortcuts and you're open to learning anew. I started off here in the same way I would a drawing on brown paper - with Derwent pencils and a loose scribbly technique but had to quickly adjust. After a layer of Derwent Gold Brown and a bit of Rose Pink, I went back to my Lyra pencils as they just seem to work better with cartridge paper. (Could well be my imagination so don't take this as a fact!) Back with my favourite, Venetian Red, but there is a lot of Burnt Ochre, a bit of Cinnamon, Magenta and Warm Slate Grey (gosh, this sounds like a recipe!). A dash of Derwent Smalt Blue in the background and a big slug of Luminance Black for the hair. The hair I'm not happy with as the Luminance pencils are waxy and not so easily manipulated. I used tissues and tortillons on the skin but I had to keep layering the black. It wasn't working at all so I just went for coverage rather than detail.

Drawn on Winsor & Newton cartridge paper.