This is my first sketch with charcoal, and I'm darn proud with the way it turned out. The thing with charcoal is that you can't be fussy about mistakes, you just gotta let loose, and if something goes wrong, you work your way around it to make it look good.

I know his face looks a little odd, but it's my first one, so whatever.

And, just in case you're wondering, this is Grey Owl, a famous naturalist from the late 1800s-early 1900s. He was born Archie Belaney in England, but came to Canada when he was an adult and adopted the name Grey Owl and the culture of the First Nations. He was a beaver trapper for a long time, but then realized what he was doing and later opened a beaver sanctuary. He was one of the pillars that stopped the overhunting of Canada's national symbol. He was revered until his death, upon which everyone found out that he was in fact English, not Aboriginal.

While drawing this I couldn't help but think about Chris McCandless, and what he was running from. You could say Grey Owl was running, too. Weird how two people who've never met could relate so well.