Many portrait drawing instruction books and CDs that are sold in arts and crafts stores illustrate a lot of finished portraits created from photographs along with very little instruction to show how these portraits are created.  At least, that is what John L. Seay encountered when he first attempted to do charcoal portraits from photographs.

    He tried to use an opaque projector since these art books and CDs were of little or no help.  Even the opaque projector was rather cumbersome to use.  He figured his best bet was to attempt to do charcoal portraits from photographs free hand, which was in vain most of the time.  Then he developed a technique which was inspired by his early drafting training in the late 1970's. Presently, John is offering a new portrait drawing instruction CD that describes his technique.  It is fully illustrated and comes with complete instruction on how to do a charcoal portrait of MUSEUM QUALITY  from a photograph similar to the charcoal portraits in the CHARCOAL PORTRAIT GALLERIES pages in this web site.  Click here> CHARCOAL PORTRAIT GALLERIES to view charcoal portraits and the photographs they were drawn from. The CD is titled:

 

The Must "Seay" Approach to Portrait Drawing

 

    Doing a charcoal portrait from a photograph for the first time can be a very intimidating experience.  Before John discovered this technique, he felt this way every time he started a charcoal portrait.  This was because of the unique, different characteristics in each subject being drawn including the different angles of the head.  His CD addresses these issues plus many more problems in doing charcoal portraits from photographs.

   To give you an example of how the instruction in this CD works, below are charcoal portraits (18"x 24") of his father.  The photograph (left) was the subject John drew from.  The photograph (middle) was his first attempt at doing a charcoal portrait (1991) of his father before the drawing technique was developed.  This first charcoal portrait took about 60 working hours to complete.  The photograph (right) was John's second attempt at doing another charcoal  portrait (1992) after his technique was developed.  It was finished in a little more than 12 working hours.

   This 150 page CD, consisting of 15 sections, systematically describes a procedure for doing a charcoal portrait from a photograph ranging from the selecting of the photograph, creating the pencil sketch, working to completion of the charcoal portrait, and instruction in storing the charcoal portrait.  Each CD comes with a complete outline that describes what is in each section.

    Since charcoal portrait drawing is one of the most disciplined fine arts because of the very small margin of error, this CD is ideal for teaching at the middle school level and beyond. The technique does not require any previous art training.

    Occasionally John has an opportunity to teach charcoal portrait drawing classes using  his method described throughout his CD.  Below are charcoal portraits that were completed for the first time by some of John's students while attending his classes.  Accompanying the charcoal portraits featured are the original photos these were drawn from as well as the quick pencil sketches that were done by the students to determine their drawing skill levels before actually doing a charcoal portrait.

    Have you ever thought about learning how to create a charcoal portrait of MUSEUM QUALITY from a photograph of loved one just like the charcoal portraits featured in the CHARCOAL PORTRAIT GALLERIES in this web site? John L. Seay admits that it can be a very intimidating task when you first start out. However, he promises that you will enjoy this rewarding experience or your money back. The lessons are being held in the Jefferson County, Alabama area, but John will try to expand the territory later on. 

   If you would like more information on the lessons being offered, you can contact John L. Seay by using the following methods:
-
1. by telephone (205) 531-8679
-
2. by CLICKING here> mustseayportrait@aol.com to E-mail for requesting more details, or
-
3. by CLICKING here> GUEST BOOK (in the event you cannot E-mail from the computer you are using) to request more details or to leave a message (public or private)