Soot experiment III - step I... On the coat tail of soot again!

Having some withdrawal symptoms from not painting for a week, I decided to start this new experiment with soot...

Working in a small studio is a challenge in the rendering of a face in a large 36 X 36 format... nothing that couldn't be corrected by widening the nose shadow and lowering the left side to the mouth...

Right now, I'm using a hybrid approach (soot/paint) partly to overcome my limitations... and  to develop a new look. I'm using tinted soot as a first step to short-circuit the process...

Note to self: "Developing a perfect black and grey underpainting in one shot is a challenge... but eventually my drawing capabilities will be up to par. For now, I'm excited about the fluidity of this new approach, and the capability of correcting a little along the way owing to the addition of paint."