Amica Family Portrait

Here's my completed portrait, finished on time.  This is 11 x 14 graphite on Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper.  For pencils, I used Pentel P205 mechanical pencils with 4H, 2H, H, B, and 2B leads.  

This is sprayed with fixative, matted and framed, and is ready to be delivered.

Amica Family Portrait Update

Here's an update on my commissioned portrait.  Almost finished, should be done by tomorrow night.  Once complete, I'll spray this with fixative to prevent yellowing and smudges, mat and frame it, and prepare it for delivery on Wednesday.  More to come, stay tuned.

Amica Family Portrait

Here's my line drawing for my newest commission piece (that has to be done by Christmas - talk about marathon drawing sessions).  Sorry the lighting is bad, but I took the photo with a very dim desk lamp.  My next update will be better.  This is 11 x 14 graphite on Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper.  I'm using Pentel P205 mechanical pencils with 4H, 2H, H, B, and 2B leads. I'm working light to dark to adjust the contrast accordingly.  This is the first time I'm drawing to people kissing.   More to come soon!

Maille Family Portrait - Update

I made an adjustment to the portrait, took away some graphite and dark tone using blu-tak.   I made the drawing a bit lighter which I think looks better.  I've sprayed this with fixative, matted and framed it, and delivering it tonight.

Maille Family Portrait Complete

14 x 17 graphite on Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper.  This commission piece is complete.  Now to start my next one.

Maille Family Portrait WIP 1

Here's a work in progress image of my newest portrait.  This is a commission piece for Christmas.

This is 11 x 14 graphite on Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper.

For pencils, I'm using Pentel P205 mechanical pencils with a 2B lead.  I'm blending with a small tortillion, soft bathroom tissue paper, and a 2inch hake brush. More to come!

New Portrait Commission

Here's my line drawing and first work in progress image for my newest portrait commission.

This is 14 x 17 graphite on Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper.   So far for pencils, I used a Pentel P2015 mechanical pencil with a 2B lead.

I love using 2B lead because I can get such a tonal range just by using more or less pressure and by layering my graphite.

This is how I always start my portraits.  I call this stage in my process the "ugly" stage.  The lines are loosely drawn and quickly drawn which makes the drawing at this point look like a 2 year old did it.  But this stage is used for placement of features only.  Sort of like a road map, I map out how I want the portrait to look.   Once I have everything where I want them to be and all the features mapped out and mark where the shadows are, I can now start adding tone and texture to bring the portrait to life.

More to come soon!!!