Self Portrait

This is my self portrait, it's very big. I think it's 24 by 18 inches. It was really challenging because I was more likely to mess it up because of its size, but I think it paid off. I was able to add more details than I would have if it was smaller. It was kind of annoying though because I thought I would be done with one part and then I would look at it the next day and realize that it didn't show enough value. It was also challenging to redo an area because I had to worry about smudging the charcoal in other spots I had also done. I had to hold the pencil kind of weird so I wouldn't put my hand on the paper.

I feel like I learned a lot by doing this. I improved at drawing faces and using charcoal. Charcoal has become my new favorite medium because of this class. I love the way it looks on colored paper, and it really allows me to showcase my style. I can get really dark and show more movement with charcoal than I ever could with pencil. It was my first time doing a drawing this large, and I'd really like to do it again. I didn't realize that there was such a big difference in drawing large pieces compared to normal size pieces. It's not like you're just moving your arm, you have to get up and move around at certain points. I even had to stand up on my seat a few times to see the drawing all together. I also learned that it's a lot easier for parts of the drawing to fade into each other. I had to add a little pink to the eyes so they would pop out more, although it's not very noticeable. 

It might've been hard to do this piece, but I really like it. I like the compositor a lot, and surprisingly I really like the texture of the hair. The lips are what really make it for me though. I think pulling at my face made them look really cool, and it was also fun to draw the skin that way. The color of the paper adds a lot to it too and I'm really happy with it.