The Benefit of Living with a Model Update

The end of the semester has brought a flurry of university Zoom modeling sessions.  In one of our last sessions, David modeled, and I ran the camera.  During the long pose, I grabbed a set of graytone pastels with 5 values:  white, light gray, medium gray, dark gray and black.  After a quick vine charcoal gesture, I tried to capture the areas of highlight and shadow in the bold lighting, discerning each step as best I could. 

Though I ran out of time before I completed the scene, I enjoyed getting lost in finding the shadow shapes and values.  His back was all in shadow, yet the values within the shadows on David's back changed with each rise and fall of his form. The dark valley of his spine transitioned into the higher, lighter ridges of muscle that parallel it on either side.  

I find I can achieve pleasing results when I stay true to the values I see, and feel lucky to get to practice.