I have always told myself I was no good with drawing portraits. I thought I couldn't do it, and after a while I gave up even thinking about attempting a serious portrait. Until now, I decided that I would practice with portraits during the summer while I had more free time (out of school). I was discouraged for the first few and almost gave up once again. However, I soon got the hang of it and was finding myself more open to continuing this type of work.

I'm not the type of person who prefers realism in art, I'm much more about the emotions that go into it and how it effects others. Yet, once I perfect this (to my ability of course), I could really use this for my advantage. I could in turn produce work that I would never have dreamt I was capable of and perhaps surprise myself.

My first drawing that eased my insecurity with portraits was one of my favorite singer Marc Almond (formerly of Soft Cell). I used the grid system to get proportions as close to the subject as I could and then sketched it in with pencil. After that I roughly went in with vine charcoals to get values and help create the planes of the face. I must say I now love vine charcoals! After I was satisfied with that I used a bit of pencil and conte' to add more details and value thoughout the drawing. After the Marc Almond portrait I was confident enough to take on another, this time the subject was my sister. I used the same technique and again was happy with the outcome.

Now after hours and hours, and days and days of almost non-stop drawing I am now comfortable with this and ready to continue to learn. Expect to see much more work along the lines of portraits in the future.  Next I must try this in painting...