As a realistic portrait painting can be a slow process for me to complete and whilst looking at Artists Dirk Dzimirsky and David Jon Kassan, I have decided am going to start my work in charcoal. This drawing of a Thai woman a friend of my fiancé, is my first exercise, its purely to familiarize myself with the medium of charcoal and overcome any problems that come with it. The Size is A3 on pastel paper using charcoal pencils and took 6 hours to finish. I learnt quite a lot about applying and shading with smudge sticks and the speed and realistic affects you can get in such a short time.