Introduction
We were given an opportunity to recreate a self portrait in our Draw & Comp class using only black ink and with the ink pen still having gradient tones. I decided to record step by step how to when about this project.
Materials
- Black ink pen
- Pencils
- Eraser
- Blank white bristle board
- Mirror (Not shown in picture)
My creative process
My creative process was pretty simple for this project. I wanted to just show the process of my gradient work and how I went about to creating details with only one pen.So I went ahead and documented that process so I could give you the best step by step ever.
Work Flow
The first step I went through was drawing my face in the most basic form possible aswell as adding in the shading under the nose and mouth so I know where to start and stop. I made sure to start with the most detailed area which were the eyes.
After starting the eyes, I proceeded to fill in the eyebrows using the darkest gradient possible because my eyebrows are very dark.
The hair took a little bit more time than I thought but the faster the stroke was the better it turned out to be
If you look closely, you can see I used different lines in different directions to accomplish the shading.
Here is the final piece ( I didn't have enough time to finish the hand)
Conclusion
I have never used this technique before to create a self portrait but I am extremely happy how it turned out. Next time I try this project I hope to see improvement with my gradient work. Thank you!
