What is a WIP you may ask (and, no, it is not misspelled)? For those non-savvy art lovers a WIP is a Work In Progress. Today I am going to share one of my own WIP’s with you. It is using a process of a grid system to begin work from. I find that using a grid allows me to better place everything in a drawing in relationship to everything else.

The drawing is a charcoal drawing 22.5×25 of my fiancé. I started with gridding out the paper in one inch squares. From there I sketched in the basic drawing (no critiques yet please ). Now, this is just a preliminary sketch so there is no real need to worry about the over look just yet, simply get the placement down. Below is the full image after the sketch is done and a detail of the sketch also.

Now for the real fun! Start blocking in large areas of black and/or dark areas using willow charcoal. I use willow charcoal in this stage because it is the most impermanent form of charcoal I know of. It is inexpensive and can be found anywhere drawing supplies are sold…even Wal-Mart.

This is the stage where you want to begin thinking about details a bit. Notice I began to somewhat define the eyes, the hair, the ear, etc. The good thing is there is not much commitment so far as willow charcoal is easily removed with a gum eraser. Below is an image of the piece up until now.

I know it looks rough right now, but be patient with it. Who knows yours may look better at this point. But it is just a beginning. Stay tuned for the next set of images on this drawing!