Arts Benefit or Art's Destroyer

 I find  drawing realistic hair to be a challenge ,and have tried many different techniques. I was one to keep shading and erasing until I basically ruined the portrait that would leave a grey , dull, choppy paper. I have found it; to leave that eraser alone unless it is a MUST, and only use a good eraser not a graphite eraser such as the ones that fit the end of a pencil , the colored eraser can leave a hint of color behind and ruin any piece of art you are working on. I use kneaded erasers very lightly they can pretty much pic up any charcoal without the smudging, The pure white erasers work well for highlights but you need to wipe off the eraser with each swipe or you will spread the pastels or charcoal and cause a smear of grey that at times is impossible to get rid of. My favorite eraser to use is the tiny little white one found at the end of most refill mechanical pencils you can purchase those refill erasers at a cheap price, just remember to wipe with each use or you will spread the colors you are trying to get rid of. Erasers can either benefit the art or destroy it, so be cautious when choosing your erasers for pastels and charcoal art projects.

 I have found a easy hair drawing technique, by simply pulling my pencil downwards half way then upwards half way using a strong line at top and bottom then tampering off lightly  to leave that center a bit lightened to add the shine found in realistic hair, then I lightly use my large, flat, dry, paint brush in a upwards then downwards swipe to make the two come together leaving a realistic shine. I am getting better at this technique .
 I use many dry paint brushes to blend my darks and lights to get that even grey scale to light look, I reserve the blackest black for the background, eyes and creases. I found using a blush brush blends charcoal rich and smoothly over any paper. And small, flat,dry, paint brushes smooth out any noticeable, unnatural looking lines in any charcoal portrait. I use big charcoal sticks and charcoal pencils for most of my work . I use a torteilan   ran over powdered charcoal to create the details in a face without adding too dark of lines and also use this technique to build shadow around the face areas, I also use q tips to do this.

My latest work as proven a lesson in eraser and charcoal use, I have found a darker back ground brings the picture more to life, but that's me, not all artists are the same.

 In drawing this hat on this child in the portrait , I found using tapered strokes in the lines then blending with a thin, flat, dry paint brush gave it a more realistic affect.