Charcoal sketch of an aboriginal elder from peppiminati, NT

Charcoal sketch - Aboriginal elder from Peppiminati, Northern Territory, Australia.

A few years ago I was wandering around the Merrepen Arts Festival, (formerly the Daly River Mission) on the banks of the Daly River, Northern Territory.
I got talking to a middle aged lady who was basket weaving, and then I asked her about the old guy with her, (her father) who couldn't speak any English.
We had a short conversation via the daughter and he told me that he was from Peppiminati about 50Klm away in the region of the Moyle river. 
The old guy had a look of dignity and inner strength, so with his permission I took his photograph and from that shot I did this drawing.

The technique is very old, any book on drawing will show this style of drawing, using a tinted paper, (in this case Ingres paper with a ribbed surface to provide a tooth for the charcoal), as the mid tone, charcoal as the darker tone and the highlights picked out with white chalk.

For anyone visiting the NT I would highly recommend a visit to one of our major aboriginal arts festivals.  They are absolutely great, the dance, the music the artworks, all are so vibrant and full of life and everyone has a great time and shows it.

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