Mary - WIP 1

To round out the portraits of my nuclear family, here's one I'm working on of my wife, Mary. I'm going to do my best to finish this by Mother's Day so I can give it to her then. This was tricky because of her glasses, but hopefully I did OK. They could probably still use some touching up.

This is 9x12" Arches HP WC 140 lb paper, and so far, I've only used a 2B mechanical pencil with some F pencil for the skin. I've tried used a stump this time, which I haven't done before, and I rather like it. For the larger skin areas, I'll be using a chamois again.

Cole - Final

Here's the completed portrait of Cole. I've learned a few things doing this portrait, and I'm fairly happy with the results. I do need to work on clothing, because I think the shirt could have been better.

Cole - WIP 4

I finished the underside of the brim of Cole's hat. What a pain - there are so many folds because of the way it's sewn, but I think it came out pretty well. The top part should be easy after this! Then it's on to finish his neck and do his shirt.

Cole - WIP 3

Well, I'm essentially done with Cole's ear and hair. I don't really enjoy drawing hair, and of course, Cole's hair, which is normally straight, was kind of sweaty and matted when I took this picture. I'm pretty happy with the hair, but might do a little more tweaking to it.

Cole - WIP 2

Well, Cole now has a mouth and chin. His face is almost finished. I didn't get as much time to work on this during lunch hours as I would've liked this week, but at least I'm still going on it! If you notice anything unusual about his teeth, that's not an error. One of his front teeth broke in half when he fell on it when he was two. I think that was a bonus when I picked out this photo to draw, because it shows off his teeth in a subtle way. I hope to get his ear, neck, and hair done next week.

Cole - WIP 1

It's hard to believe, but it took me four months to get around to starting my next portrait of my son Cole. After I took a break, it was hard for me to get started again - like had happened before, I lost my confidence and dragged my feet. After I started, though, I felt like I could do him justice. We'll see how it turns out.

Aidan - Final

After a little over two months, I finally finished Aidan's portrait. It was more complex than I first realized, with all the different textures - skin, hair, hat, shirt, bird bath, snail - but I'm happy with how it came out. Now I just need to find a good reference photo for Cole's portrait!