WGA Open Annual Art Exhibit 2011

I am preparing for the Woburn Guild of Artist's 48th Annual Open Art Exhibit which will be held at the First Congregational Church on Main Street in Woburn on Saturday November 26, 2011 from 3:00 - 7:00 PM.

I will be entering three pieces this year. My portraits titled "Christine", "PFC Daniel", and "Brooklynn" will be entered to be judged. Judging will take place Saturday afternoon from 12:00 - 2:00 PM.

Portrait of Brooklynn Complete

Here's my completed portrait of Brooklynn. She is 11 x 14 graphite on Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper.

Drawing Technique - Hair

Here's a small video of me drawing hair. Now, there's many ways to draw hair and I'm sure other artists may render hair differently than I do. This is my technique which I use with each and every portrait I do.

Trace Adkins Complete

Here's the finished portrait of Trace Adkins.

Trace Adkins WIP 2

It's been a few weeks since my last post. I've been working hard on this portrait of Trace Adkins. I have about 80 hours total on it so far and have about another 30 before it's completed.

I'm now using a circulism technique because I want to create a little texture on the face. I have about 3 layers of graphite on the face.

So far I'm using a 7H, 4H, B, and an HB Prismacolor Torquoise drawing pencils.

Trace Adkins WIP 1

My demo on 2/10/2011 was a big success. I was nervous in the beginning because this was my first demo and I wan't sure what I was going to talk about. I decided to draw Country Singer Trace Adkins. I love his music and I think he has an interesting face.

He has a soft soul but also a certain toughness about him that I wanted to capture both. I wasn't able to finish the portrait as I only had 2 hours and I needed about 200. I plan on finishing Trace.

Here's what I have so far.

New Portrait - Progress 7

Here's another update. I took the photo with my phone from my drawing table. I have the faces just about finished. I started working on the clothing. I have maybe another day or two to work on this then I should be able to call this finished.

Woburn Art Guild "In the Round" Member Demo

On Thursday February 10th, I'll be joining 4 other artists as we demonstrate our techniques and share our experiences as artists with the residences of the New Horizons at Choate in the Terrace Lounge located in Woburn.

I am excited as this will be my first demo where I'll be speaking to an audience about my art and sharing my blending technique and the tools that I use.

I'm excited and am looking forward to it.

New Portrait - Progress 6

Now this is a much better image than my last post. Here's another update. I went back to the hair. The face is just about finished, I may make some small adjustments here or there but for the most part it's done.

For the hair, I'm using a 0.5mm mechanical pencil with a 2B lead. I'm still blending with a medium tortillion and picking out highlights with an eraser pencil.

New Portrait - Progress 4

Here's another update. I changed my technique for the second portrait. I'm now using circulism. I want to try to have a smooth and more natural looking tonal transition. I used 7H, 4H, 3H, and 3B pencils. I'm still working on the forehead, I want to add a little more darker tone. I also started the sideburns.

The paper is not yellow, it's actually white. I forgot to turn on the flash on my camera when I took the photo, the room was dimly lit so the paper captured the yellow hue. I'll take a better photo for my next upload.

New Portait - Progress 3

Here's another update. I started the second half of this portrait. I'm still using a 0.5mm mechanical pencil with a 2B lead and blending with a medium tortillion.

New Portrait - Progress 2

I have just about one half of this portrait finished. I'm using only a 0.5mm mechanical pencil with a 2B lead. I'm blending still with a medium size tortillion.

The color is better in person, I attempted to scan the image with a scanner but it didn't come out as good as I wanted. Next time, I'm going back to using my digital camera.

Here's an updated image:

New Portrait - Progress 1

I'm working on a new portrait of an artist friend who recently passed away. I'm combining two reference photos together at different ages to make one portrait.

The size is 14 x 17. I'm drawing on Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper. I'm using a 0.5 Berol Mechanical Pencil with a 2B lead.