McGregor

An older drawing of mine from 2017. This is a white colored pencil portrait of the UFC champion, Conor McGregor. I was very into UFC at the time of this drawing and this was also my very first white colored pencil an black paper drawing. I only used white colored pencil, black paper, and a black colored pencil to adjust errors. I absolutely love the mediums used in this because working with the highlights instead of the shadows is something different than I typically do and I really believe it helped me develop my value skills further. Not only can I exaggerate the contrast with shadows on white paper, but now I have also learned to the same with highlights on dark paper. I am most proud of the texture of his hair and skin, as well as the flow of the fabric of the Irish flag around his shoulders. The chest tattoo was also exciting because I do not normally do tattoo art and the style of it is not my own.

Canine Emotions

This was a close up study of a dog's eye reflecting an urban area. It was also a graphite value study, so the only materials used were a mechanical pencil and a 4B pencil for the darkest areas. It was later trimmed down the the outside of the square to fit a 5 x 7 frame. I really wish I had a smaller eraser so I could have exaggerated the highlights in the fur a little better because it was difficult to do so on such a small drawing. I enjoyed this piece because I love working with graphite, dogs are my favorite animals, and I really liked the challenge of doing a reflective surface. My least favorite think about this is the weakness of the fur and I truly wish I have better materials to work with. This was also great practice for me on animal fur.

Comanche Adam

This is a white colored pencil portrait of my boyfriend. He is truly my best friend and one of the most important people in my life right now and I wanted to show my appreciation for him through my artwork. He was ecstatic about seeing the end result of this and the mediums used are one of all time favorite combinations, other than charcoal and soft pastels. This entire drawing was with white colored pencils on black paper. I also used a black colored pencil the same shade as the paper to fix errors. According to his family and myself as well I captured his likeness very well and although his was not my neatest drawing, it was one of the most sentimental I have created. I am very proud of the face and textures of the hair and facial hair specifically. I also believe I did well on the shirt considering the pattern of it was hard to decipher from the reference photo he took of himself.

Youth

This was another commission I have done this semester. Originally, it was just a request my father made for me to draw his girlfriend granddaughter. Later, after giving her the gift for her birthday, they unexpectedly paid me for my work. This was also my very first attempt at drawing a child, let alone a baby. Although I do not know the child personally, I really believe I captured her as she was in the exact moment the photo was taken. This was drawing using a mechanical pencil for the general sketch and detail and a 4B pencil for the darkest values and to create the texture of the skin. If I would have done anything differently about this, it would have been to add more to the background. I left it blank other than the implied lines of the car seat because the infant was all that was requested.

Unexpected Commission

This was my first commission I have ever been asked to do. It was a fairly quick portrait of an engaged couple and will be given to them as a wedding gift in April. For this piece I used only a mechanical pencil for detail and a 4B pencil to get the darkest values. The person who requested this commission was very helpful in the process because of all the critique I received. They really wanted it to capture the pair, specifically the woman in the drawing as to make her feel confident about herself. Most of the time spent on this drawing was taken by all the times I reworked the faces trying to get them as close as I could. Although I do love the end result and the client and myself both think I captured their likeness, my biggest mistake was not working larger. I would have been able to do more if I had drawn them bigger on a larger sheet of paper.

Surreal Self Portrait

When our instructor talked about self portraits, I was not expecting him to assign a surreal self portrait. As someone who favors realism, this was a really fun way to make a realistic drawing with a unique twist. For this piece I wanted to show two sides of myself; such as two of my most distinctive emotions. I used charcoal pencil for the faces and the sweatshirt of the figure. I filled in the hair with song lyrics to the song Dear Fellow Traveler by Seawolf in light blue pen ink as a way to represent a hidden sense of adventure within myself. I also added geometric shapes in the background to create a feeling of depth and, while using a light blue colored pencil in the same shade as the pen, filled in some of the squares. The inked outlines of the hair, the figure, and the squares were lined with permanent marker. I think if I were to change anything about this piece I would have used neater handwriting in the hair and possibly add more the the body of the figure other than the front of a sweatshirt. The strongest parts of this drawing are the faces and how I captured my likeness in them.

Bonnie and Clyde

This piece is one of my favorites I have done this semester. It is a charcoal drawing of Bonnie and Clyde I created using one of their original pictures as a reference. I have always loved their story and much of my family is intrigued by the outlaw pair. Actually, my boyfriend and his cousin, whom is my best friend, are both distantly related to Clyde. For this piece I used a mechanical pencil for the general sketch of it all and then I moved onto shading dark values with different types of charcoal pencils. I also used both light gray and white soft pastel pencils to achieve certain highlights and smoother textures, such as the fabrics. I chose black and white to go with the originality of the reference photo. Critique I have received about this piece is mostly about the background being too plain and unbalanced because of the car on the left side and the blank sky on the right, so I made the decision to crop to maintain focus on the figures. If I could go back a redo parts of this drawing, I would have not have rushed Clyde's face as much since I am not competently happy with the outcome of the shape. I think the strongest parts of this is definitely the contrast and the look of the fabric they are wearing.