Anthony Barrow first illustrated how to sketch the shape of a head using an oval, a centre line down the face and eye spacing. He used heavy lining wallpaper prepared with gesso.
The paper was prepared with willow charcoal rubbed in to make a grey basecoat. The basic head shape and position of key features were drawn with a charcoal stick.
Anthony worked on the features in charcoal and darker areas with compressed black charcoal. Highlights were created by wiping charcoal areas.
Anthony applied some hairspray and a wet acrylic wash (mix of burnt sienna, red and blue) over the face to fix the image so far.
The face was refined with more charcoal drawing and white chalk pastel.
The final result was impressive and inspired members to try charcoal portraits.
Farsley Art Club 