Drawing a hooman in coloured pencil

I don't know what possessed me. The last time I did a human portrait was for O level art and I wasn't very good at it. I never liked drawing people. Maybe it's because we had to do portraits in charcoal or pencil - no colour! I found all the O level art modules boring - portraits, still life, nature. It's very traditional subjects and using very traditional mediums like acrylics or charcoal. I think it's about time the academic world redefined what art is.

Anyway, I had no inclination to draw human portraits...until I chanced upon a photo in an online ad. I was drawn to her features, they were gorgeous, and suddenly, I had this inexplicable urge to draw her.

 

Here she is, done in coloured pencil (mostly Derwent Lightfast with some Faber-Castell Polychromos and Derwent Drawing pencils).

 

 

Am pleasantly surprised by the outcome considering the 35-year hiatus! Once again, I think it must be God guiding my hand because human portraits have never been my thing. I don't think I will move into human portraits though. Drawing humans is much harder than drawing animals. But am loving the experimentation all the same!

 

Here's a photo of the portrait in progress. Just as with animals, I always start with the eyes. The blue strips are from a masking fluid pen I was testing out, to mark the highlight areas (which you just peel off later). Doesn't work well on this paper though.