While I usually always take photos of my works while they are in progress, I generally don't share them. They are mainly for my own benefit, but after watching several artists show their work in stages, I kind of wanted to share my own.

I'm uploading my most recent school assignment and the progress photos (3 stages, that's all I really photographed).

The assignment was to do a self-portrait, where you had an "ambiguous expression" on your face. As usual, we are encouraged to take our own photographs, and reference them for these works.

- My basic process for these works starts with the photo of choice, usually one picked over several tries and different shots.
This is the one I decided on, since I liked the cropping of my head and the way the light came out exactly wrapped down my face, which was what I was hoping to achieve in my photos: [link] I suggest using a high-resolution photo so you can zoom in to see details clearly (on the computer).

- Next, I upload the photo reference onto my computer and open it in photoshop, make any necessary crops, and sometimes edit colors (for instance if I want parts or all of the picture grayscale, I run it through the appropriate filters/adjustments). You could probably do basic cropping and color edits in any basic photo editor.

- After the photo is how I want it to be rendered, I apply a grid over it to help me lay it out on paper. In Edit> Image Size I was able to adjust the image to be about 3 by 4 inches, and then in Photoshop > Preferences > Guides, Grids, and Slices I set the grid display settings to 1" markers, so you have the result as seen:
[link]

- The reason I sized my image to be 3 by 4 inches is because my paper was about 3 feet wide and 4 feet tall. So basically, I could easily translate each inch grid into a foot grid instead. So, after drawing the grid (in feet on my paper) I use the grid to check my placement of everything when I sketch the drawing in pencil on the paper.

- After this, it's just a matter of rendering in whatever medium you choose. In this drawing, I wanted to use color pastel like I have been learning in this drawing class. Here in progress 1, I had began rendering, constantly referring to my photo for colors: [link]

- Basically this step just continues to the end of the drawing. As far as color mixing with pastel goes, you can generally layer colors, avoiding black in shadows. It's better to mix complementary colors (or opposites on the color wheel) like purple and yellow to achieve softer, more realistic shadows and grays in particular, dulling down brightness. Then I blend generally with my fingers to get a fairly smooth application and color mix. Usually one layering process isn't enough; reworking the surface usually multiple times in every area is necessary.

Progress 2 (Nearly done): [link]

Generally large scale drawings with this sort of medium take me upwards of 10 hours before I'm really happy with them. This one I think was in the ballpark range of 13 to 15. The completed drawing will be added to my gallery next week.


I think it would be really interesting to photograph a work in progress after every hour of work that goes into it, and then make it into a video. But doing this and making it look good would require a static work area, with a tripod that wasn't moved either. I lack this sort of space and such items, so it will have to be approached later on.

Anyway, hope this is helpful and/or interesting to anyone who wants to read it ;; Thanks for your time