Personal Work - Realism

This is actually a personal commission I did for a co-worker of mine (I ended up giving it to her free of charge, due to circumstances preventing me from getting the work done in a timely manner.)

It's of her best friend, Paul, who died unexpectedly last year. She asked me if I could draw a stylized realism portrait of him for his sister. I was happy to oblige, not only as a friend, but also to give me a chance to practice more at realism.

My beginning attempts were frustrating, as realism is rather difficult for me at this time. But towards the end, it got smoother, coincidentally as I relaxed more about it. She wanted it in simple gray-scale shading with a simple background. Though they are not well emphasized, those are clouds behind him, meant to represent peace and heaven.

Overall, I enjoyed doing this as it was a learning experience. Both her and the sister were happy with it, which is what mattered most. :)

Drawn on 12x12 Bristol Board Smooth Paper, with a regular graphite pencil. A willow charcoal stick was used to help create the background, as was a kneaded eraser. This was also put into a simple black frame.

Still Life - Sunset Trio

This is a piece I did back in 2007, for my Drawing II class.

I admittedly haven't done much still life, but this is by far my most successful attempt, and one of my favorite pieces of work. Our professor encouraged us to shade it with unusual colors, to create vibrancy and be creative. I chose to do mostly warm colors with the vase in contrasting cool colors.

The objects were completely at random and thus, this is the way they were set up when I drew them. The "sun" or "circle" behind them is a plate.

It was sketched in regular pencil, then colored with Prismacolor pencils, on brown paper.