The Benefactor

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

As a break from posting watercolor paintings and to offer variety, I figured it would be best to publish a portrait drawing. In late winter, as I was recovering from a broken wrist, I was eager to try out these new charcoal pencils purchased from Jerry's Artorama. While charcoal pencils traditionally make a mess, these claim to not smear at all. I find this claim to be quite accurate, and, in addition, they come in four different colors: black, white, sepia and sanguine. The above drawing was done with a sepia  pencil, a color traditionally used throughout art history. 

The subject is taken from one of my wife's alumni magazines in which they provide profiles of alumni with a page-length photograph. This is a drawing of a photograph taken by David J. Turner in the Spring 2014 issue of Macalester Today.

Using these jumbo pencils, one feels a waxy sensation as the lead is applied to the paper. For me, they are quite pleasant to use; however, it is not easy to keep a sharp point, thus areas around the mouth and eyes are not as precise as with a regular HB pencil. What do you think?