*Hi steemians, its great to see the steady price rise in Steem since its low in November. I have just bought 115 Steem and powered it up. I would like to buy more but will force myself to dollar cost average because learning from the past I don't know where the price could go. There could be a  short term correction however, in my opinion with the bitcoin price going up there is not long left to buy cheap Steem.*

I'm sharing with you quite a dark drawing today of a skull based on the modelled drawing exercises I have mentioned in previous posts. I was gifted by a friend a model of a skull and thought it would be a good opportunity to draw from life and also learn anatomy.

![IMG_20200211_202743445~2.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmPxvqatAkCBmt3BbpVKmqqWzk9JHaVBM98nXFpccJKmV5/IMG_20200211_202743445~2.jpg)
![steemit banner.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmaq7mAtMdz9ZoeXSAhboeGDcRJQXAzqbpWpNsahMGqpdh/steemit%20banner.png)
  
### I started of by drawing all the lines in the vertical direction of the model
![IMG_20190811_183103720.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmRa8cotGPDcT9Dc22dTJdw4ED2k7foyiWtKqsFD74P14Z/IMG_20190811_183103720.jpg)

### I then did the same however in the horizontal direction.
![IMG_20190811_184805902.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmXadQM8TRgeowcbTdsAZ4mXjhwxGuoP3CCa6L5EqEvUAU/IMG_20190811_184805902.jpg)

### Using darker pencils I went over the drawing once again adding darker tones and more details.
![IMG_20200211_202743445.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbSguvYsax6VQqYkjF45uDDV9EWmpxxaKx67RYeTeZ7Sp/IMG_20200211_202743445.jpg)

## Finished result!
![IMG_20200211_202743445~2.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmPxvqatAkCBmt3BbpVKmqqWzk9JHaVBM98nXFpccJKmV5/IMG_20200211_202743445~2.jpg)

I used a rubber to create some highlights where needed and a blending stump to blend some of the tones (it's important not to over work it though). For the dark areas I would recommend a 9B or 8B pencil, I used charcoal for some parts to create the darkest tones. It was done on A3 paper and took about an hour and a half to complete. I'll use better quality paper in future as some of the texture appears in the drawing.

![steemit banner.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmaq7mAtMdz9ZoeXSAhboeGDcRJQXAzqbpWpNsahMGqpdh/steemit%20banner.png)
### Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for checking it out!
### Ian,