Portrait of Alfie

Portrait of Alfie

Drawing of my son, it went very wrong, I definitely overworked it! But I spent enough time on it that I want to share it anyway, if only to give me something to look back on to try and better next time!

I love the texture of the graphite, it’s not as harsh as it’s photographed here but I can’t seem to represent it accurately with my phone camera.

Immediate issues are some harsh lines here and there that I should have taken the time to build slowly to keep it more natural. I found the hair very difficult and the nose and mouth were incredibly challenging.

I’ve only recently started drawing again after not touching a pencil for a good 8 ish years or so (maybe more!) and human faces are super new to me so I wanted to really push myself with this project. This is my first attempt at realism. I’m not sure I got there, I feel it looks very much like a drawing, but it’s a start! Art is a journey so I’m not going to beat myself up too much!

Although I’m not totally thrilled with the final piece I took a lot away from the course and this is definitely a medium I will be working in more and more!! I will be going back through the course materials to make sure the techniques really sink in as I definitely fell into some old habits - have to learn to be more consistent and not rush!

Graphite pencils and powder

Using graphite powder to add washes using makeup brushes