A portrait tutorial from La Place du Tertre featuring Hamid Darwish

A masterly exhibition of draughtsmanship by one of montmartre's best portraitists,"Ajar"Darwish. In this monochrome drawing of a father,mother and two daughters,Darwish shows his technical know-how and his sensitivity of execution.Paper:Ingres.crayons: conté and pastel.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• how
• to
• draw
• portraits
• from
• life

[shysterlicious]

Davy-

How does Hamid keep his Conte Crayon (encased in wood) sharpened? I have one of those cylindrical pencil sharpeners that contains two different size holes, one for a regular pencil and the other for a bigger size barrel. Let me make a long story short, the lead broke off when I tried sharpening my Conte Crayon in it. How does Hamid do it? Thanks:0)

[yvadmil]

@shysterlicious Nobody on the sq. uses traditional pencil sharpeners,either for conte pencils or pastel.Get yourself a cutter from a hardware store.They have retractable blades which are extremely sharp (keep out of range of children) and ideal for getting a good point on the pencil.I am NOT refering to the (too)short-bladed Stanley knives.I have an Olfa cutter which I have used for years.Replacement blades are fortunately quite cheap because I change blades every 2 days.

[shysterlicious]

Davy-

What is the difference between a Conte stick and a Conte crayon? In the video, the ones you refer to as Conte sticks are labeled Conte Crayons in the package that they came in. Is the pencil that you refer to as a Conte Crayon a Conte pastel? Thanks:0)

[yvadmil]

@shysterlicious A conté stick is not held together with a binding of wood.In France they are branded 'conté carre':rectangular blocks,which,with usage develop a natural pointed end.Ajar uses a white conte stick in this vid,for the foundation layer of white,and for lightening the face and hair(I inaccurately refer to this as a conte crayon).Apologies!He doesn't use pastel in this drawing except

for the hair.Many artists use the "Conte a Paris" brand of PASTEL crayons so it

can get confusing

[yvadmil]

@shysterlicious Real conté crayonsare are also made by the"conté à Paris" brand.

The black ones have "PIERRE NOIRE" inscribed,and they are also available in various degrees of hardness(I like 2B)The advantage of conté crayons is the deeper

blacks you can get out of them,and the crispness of line,but Ajar could have used pastel all the way through this portrait with equal effect.In actual fact tools aren't as important as you may think,its what the artist does with them that matters!

[shysterlicious]

Also, I was hoping you would do a video focusing on the work of "Ajar." In your video "A pastel portrait Tutorial from the 'Place du Tertre' in Paris", he did such a MAGNIFICENT job!

[yvadmil]

@shysterlicious Hi Tom,thanks for your support.I rate Ajar very highly,easily the most

consistant artist on the square.I hope the video does him justice.Infact I phoned him

just after uploading and he gave the vid a big thumbs up.bye for now,Davy

[shysterlicious]

@yvadmil Thanks Davy. This afternoon, I purchased 9 of the "PIERRE NOIRE" Conte Crayons (encased in wood). They are 5- 3B; 1-2B; and 3-HB. I inadvertently purchased two extra 3B's thinking they were 2B's (the lead designation on the pencils is quite small). I already had in my inventory a number of the Conte sticks and now I can't wait to use them!. Thank you for responding and I check your channel everyday for new videos. Take care:0)

[Erniesite]

il dessine presque aussi bien que moi mdrr =p

[Perlie82]

So wonderful. Someday I have to visit Montmartre. Danke schön.

[cardellacole4]

ah so thats how you use that big stick of compressed paper that i turned my nose up to , perfect for shading around the eyes clean precise and quick , a must have if your fingers get as black as ajars , no more licking the edge of my pinkie and wiping it on my jeans lol , ajar pulls form out very quickly , i just love to watch the magic of form, with a tilt of the head lol, a bow to a master, bravo ajar , Many thanks davy for sharing the experience of the place du tertre

[lnsordo91]

masterfulyl done. bravo