Baby Nia
Charcoal on 12" by 12"
Mother's day commission for a friend at work.
There's always a dichotomy when I begin my portraits. On One side, I want to render the portrait in a like manner to the person. This is a must. On the other side, I want to add a personal touch, which means moving away from an exact photographic representation to giving the image personality and feel. I don't want to be a xerox machine. I don't want to be a slouch. The happy middle is something that is very hard to reach and requires a great deal of work on behalf of the artist. A lot of times it has nothing to do with the technical approach to the drawing, but rather a disposition in which the artist must look inside and evaluate how each pigment placed on the paper plays a role in the overall piece. This is what I find so fascinating in drawing people, there is always this inherent challenge (I do enjoy drawing people for other reasons, but this is one that I come back to over again and again.)
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