S.I. #11

Through his portrait, I aimed to capture the love, joy, and excitement that Eli brings wherever he goes while highlighting his love for iced coffee. I want this piece to convey bright characteristics of Eli and have all the focus on his face in the center of the page so that when he sees it he can feel confident, and to pique other viewers' interest in who this smiley kid is and how they can get to know him.

To create this work I used acrylic paint, Copic markers, Faber Castell pens, and a white gel pen. I'm new to Copic and skin tone markers so this portrait involved experimentation with how the ink and colors blend together and where I can incorporate them across the skin to convey a realistic complexion. I greatly enjoy having a brown I can blend in to create shadow. I used paint and marker for the background design and the pens to create detail and definition.

As always, I began by searching for an appropriate reference photo which is important to my process because by viewing different photos of my subject, I can get an idea of what I want their portrait to look like and how I can manipulate the pace around them to create meaning. Prior to starting the final piece, I practiced drawing Eli's mouth because it is a trickier area of the face to draw and I wanted to experiment with how I could build my materials and colors to create a more realistic look. When using ink/paint, it's important for me to understand how the materials will work together to create texture in the piece; for example, I used quick, blotchy movements to paint the background, while the smooth marker strokes create contrast in texture.