Reverse Drawing

The assignment was to find a black and white photograph with good shadow shapes and cast shadows. It can only have one light source. The photograph I chose is called "Jim Sausalito" and was photographed by Robert Mapplethorpe in 1977.
Disclaimer:: I don't own the photograph, Mr. Mapplethorpe does. This was just used for academic purposes. I don't make money off of it.

The date I posted as completing it isn't entirely accurate. I'm not quite sure when exactly I finished it but I know it was during Fall of 2003. The size of the board it is on is I think 20 by 20 inches including the 1 inch white margin.
This was a tonal study assignment for Art 112A. It's called a reverse drawing because you are to fill the entire board (except for a 1 inch margin) with charcoal and then erase out the light. You are basically "drawing the light." I think it is one of the most important assingments of the semester because you learn so much with just one assignment. Of course you spend weeks on it trying to get it just right. It's still not perfect but it was certainly a huge improvement for me. You should try doing a reverse drawing sometime, it's fun.