Charcoal on Newsprint

This was from my first session at a nearby studio, San Diego Art Loft. This exercise is about finding the dark areas of the subject using the side of a charcoal stick. My “aha moment” came from squinting my eyes and focusing on the shapes formed by dark shadows.

I think that when it comes to painting, that it is somewhat similar. Next time I would create the “lines” by including the background “shapes.”

At this point, I do wonder how I would go about the next step and start with more detail. Do I start with the nose, the right eye, the hair…?