Realistic Self Portrait

In these two drawings, I used graphite pencils from HB to 6B to convey shadows. I used these pencils to shade in a value strip, then used the value strip to help me draw my self-portrait. The value strip was pretty simple and straightforward, but the self-portrait was much more complicated. The self-portrait took me hours to finish because of the way I drew it, but it turned out better than any other self-portrait I have ever drawn.

For the materials I used in these, I used an HB, 2B, 4B, 6B, white gel pen, an eraser, tortillons, pastel paper, and drawing paper. When I was working on the value strip, I just simply shaded using grayscale and a tortillon to shade. Using the value strip I drew my self-portrait with all the B pencils. I used the B pencils, tortillon, and an eraser to make different values in the self-portrait to make it seem more realistic. On some highlights, I would use a white gel pen to add some light reflections, such as on the eyes.

For my value strip, I used a grayscale to help guide my shading to be close to correct, and then I used the value strip as a grayscale to help in my self-portrait. I drew out a grid on an 11" x 14" piece of pastel paper as well as a printed picture of my face I would use to guide my drawing. I went square by square to draw the self-portrait. I used the different B pencils as well as an eraser and a tortillon to create the different shades of black to white. I worked from left to right up to down and finished it in about 6 hours.