Conte blocking, conte, ©ElishaDasenbrock2006
This is a conte blocking. You take a piece of conte and use one tone to lay out the basic shape of the person, then you press harder to get another tone for the shadows. You only shade in the darkest shadows and you only use the 2 tones. You also only use the broad side of the conte. The purpose for all that is you just want an abstract form, no details. He looks like a samurai. I love it.