After seeing my work, one of my aunts asked me if I could draw this old photo of her mom that she had found. It was small and falling apart, and she wanted a way to preserve it. I had never thought of doing something like this before, but I loved the idea! It was a way for me to use my skills in realistic portraits from photos but also a challenge to piece together some areas that had faded more than others. I gladly took on the project and enjoyed something something both new and familiar.
I started out by taking a picture of the photograph so I could pull it up on my computer screen and magnify it as need be.
I started with the basic shapes and outlines so that I could get the proportions right before adding details.
From here I started to add the details of the face, and then I lightened some of the lines and erased others.
I began to shade using a range of graphite pencils, using the softest and darkest ones for the hair.
The last step was to shade in the clothes and the background. The dark background is important to contrast with the face and make it stand out.
I really enjoyed "restoring" this old photo as a drawing. While the portrait drawing process was familiar, the damaged bits of the photo presented a challenge to me as I had to imagine what was there and reinvent the missing bits while still keeping it accurate to the photo. I also hadn't done much work with plain graphite in a while, so it gave me the opportunity I needed to get back to the basics of graphite drawing.
P.S. I have just started college this week and currently have two art classes this semester - Design 1 and Drawing 1. I also happen to be at a really beautiful campus. So keep your eye out for my projects this semester!