pushing around the line

I've been practicing figure drawing for the past few days using old nubs of charcoal and newsprint. Subject matter: me falling or pretending to hit a wall. Someone stopped by the studio, laughed, and asked "why do you like to draw weird pictures of yourself?". I couldn't answer, I just laughed...

I'm still enjoying pressing my face up against the glass and photographing it. Trouble is, when I draw it with a simple outline (without shading which is how the hair drawing will be executed), the face just looks out of proportion. Not up against something. How to draw smooshed flesh? Hmmm. Guess it needs to get more detailed. Show pores and things? Sketches top left.

I hate taking the time to sharpen charcoal but when I don't I start loosing the line and get frustrated. I'm always drawing with a rag or eraser in hand and the pencil or charcoal in the other. I realized I draw like I paint. Put down a line, then rub it away with a rag to get it "right". Forget drawing. Why not just paint? Once I've got this smashing/falling figure down I'll start using hair which is a much easier line to control. Its always the same width and stays flexible for quite some time, until the glue dries. I can push it around with pins, tweezers and my nails until it shapes the line I want.

The drawing left top was done with a calligraphy pen and masking tape for the "mistakes". Another way I like to work...add and subtract by layering.

When not drawing, I've been unearthing scraps of paper and articles I've collected since I last had a studio. I found an article from the Feb 2005 issue of ArtNews on Tim Hawkinson and his Emoter, a collage of his face that moves in response to sensor-driven mechanisms. Apparently things stick in my head for a very long time. See http://www.artnet.com/artwork/424281454/423775681/emoter.html for images. This is how grotesque the figure's face needs to be for the concept to be successful. Otherwise its a floating figure.