Although I don’t advertise it as such, when asked I do draw people to. My first couple of graphite portraits was of family members and once I was confident in capturing skin tones and textures I accepted people commissions. More recently I have been drawing people in colour using pastels. Both graphite and pastels work well but obviously create very different looks. Some reference photos shout for a colour based medium while others would work well with both.
I loved the photograph I was asked to use for this portrait. The expression Barney the Labrador had was priceless. Sadly, he recently passed away and the portrait was a surprise gift for his owner. This was one of those instances where it would have worked with pastels as much as graphite. Graphite, being greyscale can really create a dramatic piece.
The portrait to the right here was my very first pastel people portrait. A friend had asked me to do this as a surprise commission with the understanding that if I wasn’t happy with the outcome given it was my first attempt in colour that I would revert back to graphite which I was very confident in.
I LOVED the challenge and this year on the run up to Christmas I have worked on a couple more which I can’t wait to share with you.
If you’d like information on commissioning a people portrait feel free to email me anytime.