My first commission :) It’s a drawing I did over the last couple weeks for a friend at work. Sadly, I forgot to scan it into my PC before giving it to him, but I did take some WIP photos as I was drawing it and so the image above is from my iPhone.

My friend asked me back in February for a drawing but I kept putting it off as I never felt ready. In the end I said to myself, once I’ve finished my A3 portrait of Evangeline Lilly for Art class, I’m just going to start his drawing whether I feel ready or not!

I personally looked at the photo he sent me and saw many things that slightly scared me, low quality image, 2 people at once, having to draw a bloke, his stubble, her fluffy hat, his beanie hat! Arghhhh, I was scared!

The main problem I had with this drawing though was his stubble, I personally prefer drawing females and have only really drawn 1 bloke before. So I didn’t know how to go about drawing his stubble, at first I tried to get the tone right without thinking about the texture, but it wasn’t looking too good so I left it and moved onto his Beanie hat and then took the drawing to Art Class and asked my teacher for some help. She said to look at the stubble and notice the direction it was growing in, treat it like hair. I hadn’t been looking at it like that, but once she said that I started to see how the stubble was actually bending around his face creating the tone. She also said to let the texture determine the tone, which was opposite to the way I was doing it.

So I went home and spent some time trying to get the texture more stubbly, building up the tone via the stubble texture. I tried my best, but I really do need way more practice drawing blokes, it’s just I don’t get the same level of enjoyment at the moment as when I’m drawing females. I suppose I could draw a female with stubble if times get desperate lol Doing a drawing for someone else was a very different experience, not only was it a drawing I personally didn’t pick and so didn’t have that burning desire inside of me to draw, but it was also strange knowing the whole time that this was for someone else. That thought kept popping into my head from time to time which was annoying, but I just ignored it in the end and it always went away lol I really enjoyed the process, but in a totally different way to my normal drawings.

I was kaking my panties after I gave it to him at work. He says he loves it though and that he’s going to frame it, so I’m just massively relieved he’s happy. I’m very proud of this drawing for many reasons, and I tried my best the whole time, but I see so many things I want/need to improve on in the future.

As a learning experience however, I would class this as a success, and once again it was another art experience that has taught me that you really do just have to face your fears!