This portrait of my son holds my love for him. His smiles are so inviting it is impossible not to share the moment with him. He is one of the great wonders of my life.
This portrait was done using lead hardness’s 6h,4h,2h,hb,2b,4b,and 6b and completed on Bristol board. The entire first layer was done with the 6h and 4h pencils, with the subsequent layers starting to build up the shadow areas. He has a very fair complexion, like me, and his hair colors range from blond to dark blond.
This portrait is but a moment in time that is warmed by the life of my daughter Denna. Her gifts of love and joy are given ecstatically. Though I gave life to her one summer day, she has given me back many fold ever since. I have come to appreciate a life more vibrant than I ever could have imagined.
This pencil portrait was done all in pencils ranging from 4h hardness through 2h, hb, 2b, 4b, and 6b. The picture was taken from a 3×5 photograph, enlarged manually and completed on an 11×14 bristol board. The entire picture was first layed out with the 4h lead and then subsequent layers were added in lesser amounts taking shadows and light areas more into account. I took about 15 hours to do.
This portrait was created November-December 2008
This is a portrait of my sister and her husband. I used 6h,4h,2h,hb,2b,4b,6b leads. I really enjoyed working with the texture of Brads sweater and Maria’s hair. It was challenging making a portrait of someone I know because you think you know what a person looks like until you really look.
This portrait was taken from a 8×10 phototgraph and manually enlarged using a grid technique. Using lead harnesses 6h,4h,2h,hb,2b,4b,and 6b, it was done on 11×14 bristol board. I did the entire first layer with the 6h and 4h leads and moved to the shadows with the subsequent leads. This was a second drawing done for myself, the first one commisioned by my sister and done on coldpress board with a 2″ border on the sides and top and a 3″ border on the bottom.
Baby portrait created November-December 2008.
A portrait of a one day old baby drawn from a photo sent via email. I did three individual portraits of this picture. The final one took about 15 hours. I used Staedtler leads 4h,2h,hb,2b,4b, and 6b.
I really felt successful in the composition with the positioning of the baby’s head and the folds of the blanket and his onsie. The final 6b lines were a wondrous joy when they just made the picture pop and come alive. I used a workable fixative throughout to avoid smudging and a matte finish spray to seal it up. I had elbow cramps for a week.
That pencil was an extention of my mind, and it was a dance!