Artist Statement:
The word "Mfuasi" means follower in Swahili. I intuitively created this face as I was practicing building layers of charcoal to capture the magnificence of dark skin tones. As I am originally from South Africa, I had observed many beautiful dark skinned people in my lifetime. My challenge to myself was to capture the strength and courage of my imagined sitter. Once he was completed, I asked him what his name was, he replied inside my heart, "Mfuasi" - Kathleen Tonnesen, 2009.

PRINTS and merchandise available on Fine Art America

BOOK: "How to Draw Step-by-Step Charcoal Portraits for Beginners" available in stores, on Amazon and on Kindle.

"I have created an easy to practice guide, demonstrating simple portrait steps for beginners. I love charcoal! Charcoal affords the artist the opportunity to sculpt with dust, by building layers of charcoal and then softening the lines with your fingertips. Massaging the dust into the contours of the facial features and removing the highlighted areas with a kneaded eraser, is for me almost a 3D experience - as I move the charcoal into the energy of my sitter. I am a self-taught artist. I remember as a young child of six, being hungry for knowledge of how to bring my drawings to life in the manner of Beatrix Potter. I loved Peter Rabbit and the washed irregular brush strokes visible in her illustrations. As I grew older, at eight, I would marvel at the wrinkles, dark skin, and character lines of an African man my grandfather, Charles Holton Peers, had sketched in charcoal and graphite, that hung proudly in our home. Thus began, my life long love affair with charcoal and it is my hope that you will fall in love with charcoal too!" - Kathleen Tonnesen, 2019.