Realistic Self Portrait

Artist Statement

The main idea that guided this artwork was being able to use shadows and lights with only graphite to create a realistic self portrait. For my photo, I used a selfie I took a few months ago.

For this artwork I used Graphite on 11" by 14" Watercolor paper.

The process I went through making this self portrait was I first filled out the graphite value strip which helped me understand what amount of pressure needed to be added to what pencil to create the wanted pigment. I then went on to gridding my paper into one inch sections so that it was easier later on to get the proportions right. I did the same on the actual photo. I then began to draw in one inch sections until I got my end result.