Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Patti

9x12
This is another Christmas commission I did.
In this portrait, I used 2B, 4B, 7B, and 8B pencils, an eraser stick,
kneaded eraser, tortillions and stumps.


Monday, December 29, 2014

Grandparents

9x12
This portrait was drawn from an older picture of my grandparents,
which my aunts and uncles wanted me to do for Christmas.
I really liked drawing this portrait, the lighting differences and
just drawing people I know was interesting and fun!
 
For this portrait, I used HB, 2B, 4B, 7B, and 8B pencils, an eraser
stick and kneaded eraser, tortillions and stumps. It took roughly 4-6 hours
 to draw.

Friday, December 26, 2014

Hoops

9x12
 
This is a commission I did of a cute little clown in training. I used HB, 2B, 4B,
7B, and 8B pencils, an eraser stick, tortillions and stumps.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

The Joy of Education

Photography credits go to Dennis Thern: (dennisthern.com, + http://instagram.com/p/srOAmovEQw/)
11x14
This is a photo of a young student holding some chalk and a pencil. My mom
was saying how in one description she found, someone commented on how it
was an 'excellent example of an educated child,' hence the title: The Joy of Education.

For this portrait, I used HB, 2B, 4B, 7B, and 8B pencils, 7/16, 1/16 tortillions, an
eraser stick, and kneaded eraser.


Monday, December 8, 2014

Zambian Girl


 
I absolutely loved the picture of this little girl. Her sweet, serene smile
strongly compelled me to draw her, and I loved the technical pros of the photo as well.
I am very happy with how this portrait turned out, and although there are a few
things I can point out to do better, I think it came together pretty well overall.
9x12
I used 2B, 4B,7B, and 8B pencils, an eraser stick, and tortillions (mostly 7/16).

This is my last portrait as a 14 year old, since I'm turning 15 tomorrow!
 


Monday, December 1, 2014

How To Draw An Eye

 (sorry this picture is so blurry!)
1:    Start out by drawing a circle & make an almond shape around it.
You might draw two diagonal lines that make two 90° angles.
 

 

2:    make the eyelid by outlining the basic shape of the eye,
the closer the outline is to the eye, the deeper set the eye will look.
 Draw the different shapes in the eye and add a tear duct.
Underline underneath the eye, making it wider at the outside,
getting thinner towards the middle.

 
 

3:    draw the outline of the eyebrow and lightly shade the DARKEST parts.
Add a faint bag under the eye, shaped like the lower half of a lemon.
 Erase the right half of the line you just made. Lightly fill in the tear duct.

 
 
4:    lightly shade in the eyebrow with a 4B pencil and darken the parts
you’ve already shaded with a 4b, lightly shading the lighter parts of the iris.

 

5:    with a stump or tortillion, blend your drawing carefully,
making sure you smudge it the directions you drew it.
Darkening the black parts even more, use an 8B pencil and shade.

 
 
6:    using your 8B pencil, shade your darker parts even more.
(i.e. the crease, outside of the iris, pupil, and maybe black eyeliner)
Blend with different thicknesses of stumps/tortillions.

 

7:    shade around the eye LIGHTLY, and with a stump/tortillion,
very lightly shade the rest of the semi-lemon shape.
Continue to shade the darker parts with an 8B.
As you darken, be careful not
to darken the white parts. 

 
8:    smudge the iris with a 1/8 stump or tortillion and
 using a tuff stuff© eraser stick, erase little white specks
 on the lid, to give it a sparkly appearance. Since the eraser stick was not pointed,
I cut a piece of wax paper and snipped out a very small hole,
then placed it over the eye and erased over it.

 
 
9:    With a sharp 7B pencil and (for thick lashes) a
 Faber-Castell PITT artist pen (B) add the lashes and
 fill in the eyebrow, making sure you curve the lashes
 and start at the roots, letting some lashes overlap and cross.
 I also added the reflection of the lashes. 

 
10: Finish touch ups and add your signature!

       Voila!

 
 
Here is a picture of all of the utensils I used, except for the wax paper stencil.
 
 
I hope this tutorial was helpful!
 
Here is a collage of all of the steps together: