graphite

Another Sketched Portrait

| cathmary1030

Another online class I signed up for last year that I’m going through now is “Acrylic Portraits, Watercolor Style” at KaraBullockArt.com and taught by Lauren Rudolph. This time I’m not using the class-provided reference photo, but instead the photo is by Ehsan Ahmadi on Unsplash. This image was sketched on 300-lb. watercolor paper, and I’ll be painting it in monochrome, as per the class instruction.

Sketch from “Bringing the Portrait to Life”

| cathmary1030

One of the many (!) online art classes I’m taking is called “Bringing the Portrait to Life” by Lauren Rudolph via KaraBullockArt.com. This sketch was done on smooth Bristol paper, based on the reference photo provided in the class. Next steps will be to trace the sketch, and then transfer it to a 9×12 canvas, do an underpainting, and then paint the portrait. I won’t be using oil paint, but acrylics — when I get to it, with all my other projects.

Portrait Drawing Practice: Day 1

| cathmary1030

I’m putting aside the paints for the moment to focus on drawing faces (before I try painting them again!). I’ve just signed up for Sktchy’s 30 Faces in 30 Days (which starts in January 2024). I’m also going through the Portrait module of Draw Awesome again for additional practice. Phil Davies of Draw Awesome has some free resources, including “Faces for Artists” which is a curated collection of Unsplash images. One of those Unsplash images is below.

To draw this portrait in graphite, I used a method which Davies calls “modified tracing” where you make small marks to denote the width of the eyes (but not the height), the width of the nose, the width of the mouth, and the width & height of the face. The rest is freehand. I am using 9×12 Kraft paper by Stonehenge.

I have done initial shading, and will need to circle back to shade the hair darker, as well as adding white highlights where appropriate.

Photo by Jassir Jonis on Unsplash