Neil - completed!

Well, I'm finished.

From my last post (Progress 6) there has been about 4 or 5 more hours work on the face, building up the shading to the darkness I was after. What took the longest were subtle changes that needed to take place in the shape of the nose, eyes and mouth. Things that may seem insignificant, but that make all the difference in the final product.

Have a look at the below comparison - the one on the right is the finished product.

I spent about an hour or two working on this upside down. You would be suprised what you see when looking upside down, that for some reason you never notice normally.


This next photo is a zoomed in version of the detail of the eye and wrinkles. Probably about 75% is achieved using the paper stump to smudge, and the rest directly with pencil.

It's been surprising how much the wrinkles have made this drawing so enjoyable.

Neil - Progress 6

This will be my second last scan of this image.
It's pretty much done, but I want to do a final check and bring out the darks a little more, then erase the frame, clean up any bits and pieces, and then that's it.
I'm very happy with how it's gone.

Neil - Progress 5

Nearly there!
I've darkened the skin tones a few more times since the last scan, as well specific places on the nose, ears and eyes.
A few more hours to go...

Neil - Progress 4

Hair always presents a great challenge. For some reason I find light coloured hair more difficult than dark.
It's very enjoyable working out how to shade hair. Often I find myself discontent with the results until I step back and look at the whole picture.

Neil - Progress 3

Neil - Progress 2

Neil - Progress 1

From the outset, this was the whole idea behind this blog - to allow people to see the progress of the portrait they have asked to be drawn.

It also gives me a chance to talk about my thinking and my drawing process.

To start with I draw the rectangle that frames the picture.

Although it seems insignificant, this rectangle is THE most important component of completing the outline.

On the reference photo this frame is the edge of the photo.
It is how I measure various points of the outline, with both a vertical and horizontal measurement.
Each point measured is then joined to another point, just like a dot-to-dot, slowly forming the outline.

The photo below may not be very clear as it is a light outline done lightly with a HB pacer.

Once I get the basic outline done I then work at the major facial features.

Next, each section of shading is also outlined - each light and dark area.
It is at this stage that the picture looks slightly freaky, as it isn't clear what areas will with be dark or light. It almost has that negative image thing happening.

Once I'm completely (and I mean completely) satisfied with the outline, it is only then that I begin the shading. If the outline is correct, it doesn't matter how well I shade, it will not resemble the person I'm drawing.

At this stage I usually breathe a sigh of relief because I realise that it will all turn out okay - yes, the finished outline stage freaks me out that much!

From here we just continue on, usually working from top to bottom, left to right.
This particular picture contains the darkest skin tones that I've ever worked with, and it's pushing my limits on what I believe my little HB pacer can do!

At this stage I'm building up the graphite, layer upon layer, getting just the right tone I'm after.
This can take time, and is often deceiving. I'm sure I'll go over this section a number of times more before I'm completely happy with it.

Okay... back to the drawing board I go!