Portrait drawing

"To draw, you must close your eyes and sing." Pablo Picasso

Quotes are beautiful. I find them very inspiring. No matter how passionate or self motivated, there are days when nothing seems to work. Quotes speak the right words at these moments.  

My today's post is a portrait drawing of a beautiful old woman with great features. I met her in Hee Bermiok, Sikkim while I was holidaying there in a traditional homestay high up in the mountains. She came up to our homestay, climbing all by herself and her agility, enthusiasm and bubbly nature inspired me. I had the pleasure of interacting with her and I got to know a lot about her way of life. It is so peaceful out there and I consider her fortunate to be able to enjoy pristine nature.

I have already created a side profile drawing  of this beautiful woman and posted it earlier in August. This time I decided to sketch her front face in order to capture her expression, emotions and feelings. Her curled up scarf over her head, which left a few braided hangings accentuated her looks. I also loved her traditionally designed nose ring which I found was pretty unique. 

In Quiet Moments

Charcoal and white pastel pencil drawing on

Strathmore gray toned paper.

Size 5" X 7"

As an artist I love doing both "Landscapes" as well as "Portraits". Portrait drawing takes much longer time than a landscape painting. Therefore I do it in stages by taking frequent breaks. The portrait such as above took me about a week to complete but once completed, it gives me immense satisfaction. The feeling cannot be described in words. It motivates me further to create more works such as these. 

Thank you for browsing through my artworks. 

To know about my upcoming workshops CLICK HERE.

The man with the turban - Charcoal and white pastel pencil sketching on toned paper

"You never outgrow drawing, It's so fundamental to everything." Debra Groessner

"The man with a turban" is my latest portrait study on Canson Mi Teintes paper. 

Pagri ( Turban ) refers to a headdress worn by men in many different parts of India. Turban is a long piece of cloth which needs to be tied manually on the head. In desert regions it gives constant protection to men from the harsh climatic conditions. It also has many other practical functions such as travellers use it as a pillow, a blanket or a towel. An unravelled turban can also be used as a rope to draw water from a well with a bucket. ( Courtesy: Wikipedia )

Man with the turban
Charcoal and white pastel pencil sketching on Canson paper
Size 5" X 7"

Apart from painting and sketching on a regular basis, I conduct two days workshop from time to time. Art workshop brings like minded people together. People who are passionate about art but have not had the opportunity to continue their hobby for some or the other reason. During the workshop I share the techniques that I use to create the paintings my way. It is a one on one guidance as the group is always a small one. 

My intention is to teach generously by holding back nothing and to bring joy to others through art. My art is teaching me to live life in the most beautiful way that I could have imagined. 

If you like my works please visit my FACEBOOK page and LIKE and SHARE.

Portrait of a woman on Canson Mi Teintes paper

Portrait sketching in charcoal and white pastel pencil.


The portrait below is a happy smiling face of a young lady from Rajasthan, with a beautiful traditional silver nose ring and a sparkle in her eyes. Each piece of jewelry worn by a woman has its own significance. What I love about the jewelry is its uniqueness and beauty.

To me, portrait sketching is more than just rendering the strokes using different pencils. It is more about capturing the emotion. The most challenging part apart from getting the anatomy right, is to bring life into the face through the eyes. The eyes speak it all.

The smile

Portrait sketch on Canson paper

Size 4.5" X 5.5"

"Drawing is the best way to meditate, while staying connected to the world around us." 

Elsha Leventis

This quote sounds so perfect as I personally believe in every word of it. During my art workshops too I come across participants who share the same feeling. Drawing and painting, they say keeps them busy and happy.

I have my "Two days Charcoal workshop" coming up on the 17th and 18th of this month in which I will be mostly demonstrating landscapes using willow charcoal and other charcoal pencils. I take a very small group of three people so that each participant gets individual attention. If you wish to know more about it you can write to me at manjupanchal@hotmail.com 

Portrait sketching of a woman on toned paper.

"Drawing includes three and a half quarters of the content of the painting. Drawing contains everything except the hue." Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres 

With experience we all realise the significance of the words as mentioned above in the beautiful quote by a Master artist.

In 2006, I created a series of portraits using the acrylic and charcoal medium. Back then I was not using toned paper for my charcoal works. After having worked with charcoal and white pastel pencil on toned paper I have developed a tremendous liking for it. Therefore I have decided to take this passion further by sketching portraits on a regular basis. It is challenging though as it requires an in depth understanding of facial anatomy. However I know from experience that by consistently working on a subject will definitely enhance my knowledge. Moreover I believe that learning is a process which has no boundaries. The learning curve steadily climbs up with time.

The charcoal portrait that I just completed is of  a "Woman from Kutch, Gujarat"with traditional jewelry. The morning rays of the sun are fall on her face, casting beautiful shadow of her nose ring. The light and shadow play on the face makes an interesting composition in portrait sketching. It helps me create a range of values. While creating this portrait I wanted to capture the glow, the happiness on her face. I have used Camlin charcoal pencil and Creatacolour white pastel pencil to create this portrait

The Glow
Charcoal sketching on Grey hand made paper
Size 6"X 8"

For portrait sketching I have always enjoyed selecting  "Traditional Indian women" with their colourful attire and exquisite jewelery as it speaks so much about the rich culture of the place that they come from. To browse through some of my other portrait works you can visit my PORTRAIT page.

Many of my paintings are available for sale and if you wish to purchase any of them you can Contact me for further information about the same. 

Sketching a portrait using pencil

I posted a pencil portrait some time back which I created on a 6" x 6" Favini paper. Based on
the same series I have done another portrait using HB and 6B pencil by Camel. Sketching a
portrait is a very different experience as compared to doing landscapes and seascapes.

Presently I am using Canson and Fabriano papers to create my charcoal and pencil drawings. My stock of Favini papers which I purchased quite some time back is almost getting over.

Deep Thoughts

Pencil sketch on Favini paper

Size 6" x 6"

Sketching a Face in charcoal and white pastel pencil

My last portrait study motivated me to do another one. Somehow I am enjoying the Handmade paper which I purchased from For from Sun Enterprises. For a long time I was busy doing Landscapes which was a revelation in itself. I learnt a lot and enjoyed a lot.

In the portrait sketching as below, my focus was more on getting the anatomy of the face, the expressions. There are facial muscles and bones underneath which all create shadows and depth. An understanding of which will make portrait drawing much better. I have added jewellery but not really worked on details.

The Smile

Charcoal and pastel portrait on Handmade paper

Size 6" x 8"

I am trying to work on a common size ( 6" x 8" ) from here on so that when it comes to framing it some day then I can go ahead and buy a Frames of a common size which makes it very convenient.

There is a very informative article on FRAMING of paintings on Artistsnetwork.com and it is very helpful in taking the right decision regarding proper framing of paintings.

Study sketch - Portrait on Grey hand made paper

I have always enjoyed creating drawings and sketches on toned paper using a simple white pastel pencil and a charcoal pencil. It is a good exercise and very satisfying too.

Given below is the image of a sketching which I have created on Grey hand made paper which has a textured surface. This is my first portrait on toned paper and it is more of a study sketch. To work is just black and white and to get the values right can be a little intimidating.

Avoiding too many details, I have tried to focus on the facial elements and expression.

Looking Across

Size 6" x 8"

Charcoal and white pastel pencil on Grey hand made paper.

Artistsnetwork is a good site where one can get a whole lot of information on charcoal
sketching or any other art related topic. During my spare time, I browse through such
sites a lot. It adds to my knowledge and helps me further in doing better artwork.
Moreover I get to see works of world renowned artists.

Beautiful face of a woman from Kutch ( Gujarat ) - a pencil sketching

Posting below yet another portrait rendered in pencil. The sketching is done on FAVINI paper and I have used two different pencils for the same. Normal 2B and a 6B pencil. I am working on yet another portrait of similar kind. Beautiful faces from Kutch , adorned with jewellery made of silver and other beads. 

Favini is an acid free paper with two different usable sides. One has textured surface and the other side is smooth. For any portrait sketching I always use the smooth side of the paper.

A Glimpse

Pencil sketching on Favini paper

Size 6" x 6"

If I were to frame this work, I would use an offwhite matt board around it ( neutral colour )

and a thin black fibreboard frame around it. This painting will require glass over it for protection.

Pencil sketches do not smudge as much as soft pastels, hence I have not used any fixative over it.

Spanish artist , Pablo Piccaso said, " In drawing, nothing is better than the first attempt."