Building The House Of Dracula Part 1

I've been commissioned to recreate an oil painting I did several years ago, the castle from ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN. This is a perfect opportunity to show you the process, step by step. So first up is the charcoal sketch, done on the canvas. I use vine charcoal, which is very easy to correct - that is to say that it erases easily. It also smudges easily, so one has to be careful not to rub an elbow or palm against it until it is sprayed.




You'll notice that the sketch is rather rough. Details are unnecessary at this point, because later I'll be covering all of this with paint. The sketch is just the foundation on which to build. It's important, however, to get the proportions correct at this stage. They're easier to fix now rather than later.


The next step: Painting in the tones...