Baby Portrait Grandaughter - Rough Sketch

I have transferred the image to the watercolor paper using a home-made graphite paper. I use the premade paper for painting as the lines are harsher and I have learned the hard way if you are going to transfer an image using the premade paper, you better intend to draw darkly and be very committed to the rough sketch!

By making my own graphite transfer paper I do not need to worry about the harsh lines and the transfer paper is reusable many times. I took a photo of the portrait so far and have adjusted the values in photoshop so that the lines are more clearly visible. The actual portrait is much lighter

in real life.

Baby Sketch of Grandaughter for Christmas Gift

This is a mock up that I will be using as a reference photos that I will be using for my next graphite portrait commission. Her grandmother is commissioning the portrait as a Christmas gift.



I took her hands from another photo as she just looked so cute with her hands in her mouth and her little daisy's on her pjs but the lighting was not great on her face and the angle was a little off. Her face in the second photo was perfect and I just matched the size of her hands so that everything fit together nicely. Luckily the angle of her body was the same for both so things fit together quite naturally.



The portrait will be done as a pencil sketch on arches watercolor paper so it will not have as much depth and detail as a full portrait but I think being more 'sketchy' will enhance the fragility of her face and hands nicely.

Watercolor Dog Memorial Portrait - Sketch

The sketch has been transferred to the watercolor paper and has been adjusted in photoshop so the lines can be seen better online. The flowers & leaves will be done very loosely for a glowing effect whereas the deck and Kelly's portrait will have stronger details to ensure that they come forward and that Kelly stays the focal point of the painting. A few of the flower petals and leaves will have more detail just to lead the eye and add interest.

Birthday Portrait Commission of Kids Sketch

This is the outline graphite sketch for the birthday portrait. The color balance has been adjusted in photoshop so that the lines are more visible online as they are fairly light on the actual paper. Now the fun begins!

Father's Day Commission Sketch

This is a mockup using two reference photos that I will be doing a Father's Day commission for. I am really excited as the photos are just awesome both in quality and the character and emotion that has been captured. I honestly can't stop smiling everytime I look at it already, I think it is going to be really sweet :)

The portrait in total will be 18 x 24 which will be really great as well as I will be able to capture so much detail. I started on the outline sketch today so hopefully will have an update tomorrow!

Family Sketch Commission - Grandmother

Well the grandmother is starting to take shape but still a ways to go to adjust the likeness and complete the range of tonal values. Many adjustments need to be made but I think already her warmth is coming through. Of course I am adding much more detail than I should for a sketch rather than a full portrait but I just can't help it :) So far I have used 2B, H, and B graphite pencils.

Family Portrait Commission - Sketch and Reference Photo

This is the start of my latest commission. It is a sketch of the grandparents, father and children which will be a birthday gift for the father from a very nice friend. The artwork is 15 x 19 on a sheet of 16 x 20 Arches Hot Pressed watercolor paper.

The layout took a bit of reworking both by the client and myself and I think it was well worth the effort. It has a very nice flow which draws the eye from the father around the portrait to the other family members.

As this is a larger commission, I will start with the grandparents and work my way down from right to left, top to bottom, to the kids, house & then the father to avoid smuding and keep the drawing fresh. Generally each portrait is completed to roughly 90% before moving onto the next and then final adjustments and tweaks are made at the end. Time to jump in!

Graphite & Charcoal Cat Portrait of Zak

This is a cat portrait of Zak that I have just started. He is going to be a Christmas Gift for his unsuspecting person. The photo is really small but the pose is priceless and the lighting is aweseome. I have darkened the sketch in photoshop to show the detail better. The sketch was drawn lightly with a H graphite pencil. Next I will start adding in the layers of graphite pencil in 2B, HB and F for his fur.

Graphite & Charcoal Cat Portrait

This is the graphite sketch of a cat name Vartz that I have just started. It is a 50th Birthday gift for his person and it is a rush job so not sure how many posts I will do of him before he is finished due to the time. I darkened the graphite sketch so that it is easier to see online it is much lighter on the paper. I added more detail in the sketch than I usually do as he has so many stripes in his fur and the photo is a little dark so I don't want to get lost as I go.