Himalayan Boy

Well, OK, it's neither wild nor Australian, but after seeing some fantastic figurative work on display on other blogs - notably the charcoal and Conte drawings of Marina Dieul - I was inspired to give this subject a try.

In 2002 I visited Nepal and was enthralled not only by the stunning scenery, but by the warm, friendly people and their culture. It would seem this little boy had encountered camera-toting tourists before - he posed dutifully without much persuasion.

I used Conte pencils for this one on the usual Canson Mi-Teintes pastel paper.  Having come this far with the drawing, I realise that I may have been wise drawing on the the smoother side of the paper; it would certainly have made some of the delicate shading in the boy's face much easier to achieve.  It's also evident that the white Conte crayon I used to restate the highlights once the fixative had dried makes a much more intense mark than the white Conte pencil I'd used initially and I'll need to carefully lift out some of those highlights with a kneadable eraser. 

I'll sit with this drawing for a while, consider what needs tweaking and decide on an appropriate background.  In the meantime, it's back to that wallaby.

Namaste!
Pete