Below you’ll find a Charcoal Self Portrait project tutorial. It’s a great introduction to working with charcoal, for elementary students.
The upside to learning how to draw a charcoal self portrait is that you get a built in dramatic look, thanks to that dark black color that charcoal makes so well. Shadows are also a breeze to make, and only take a couple of swipes to create them.
The downside is that charcoal can be a bit messy and smudgy, but that’s a small price to pay for a really artsy looking self portrait, right? The trick is using it carefully, so as to make the most of that dark black color, with just a minimum of smudges. It can be done, if these tips are followed:
• Plan the head drawing first with a pencil, so it only needs to be traced with the charcoal
• Use a Q-tip to smear the chalk lines and spread the dust to make shadows
• Draw the hair last, as just fat lines that go over the head. Spread the color just a bit with the q-tip to fill in any gaps, and then … stop. Overworking and spreading things out TOO much will make the drawing mostly gray. The goal is to have a range of light to dark color. That’s what makes it interesting to the eye.
Use the button below to grab your free tutorial
Charcoal Self Portrait Coloring Page
Materials
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Directions
Time needed: 45 minutes
How to make a charcoal self portrait
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With a pencil, draw a LARGE oval so the features can be as big as possible.
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Draw two simple eyes (no lashes).
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Add a brow above each eye.
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Draw a simple nose.
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Add mouth line and two ears.
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Draw neck and shoulders.
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Trace the pencil drawing with a stick of charcoal. Note: It will get smudgy.
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Use a Q-tip to blend the charcoal colorand spread it to make some shadows.
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Finish by drawing charcoal lines for hair, and blend to soften the color. Work
lightly to create the least amount of charcoal dust.
