Bringing Graphite to Life by Sara Madanat
My eyes traveled back and forth from the strokes of the graphite pencil to the little girl who giggled on the wrinkly wooden stool. Her hair was thin and blonde, frizzy from running around the carnival before her mother made her sit still in front of the artist. The artist struggled as the little girl fidgeted with her hair and tilted her gaze to every sudden sound. Her mother stood over the artist’s head, “Don’t draw her chin like that, it makes her look fat.” “Fix her nose, make her look pretty!” I ignored the cruelty of these words, shifting my attention to the main reason I stood there and witnessed this weird interaction, the artist. He was a man who appeared to be in his forties. His hair was short and thin, with some shiny grey hairs scattered over his head. He held a straight posture while sitting on the short wooden stool. The artist constantly moved his head between two spots, the canvas and the girl’s face. He ignored the mother’s comments saying he would make her daughter look pretty and transferred his observations to the canvas. An hour later, he moved away from the primeval easel revealing a copy of the little girl who sat in front of his sight. This memory constantly floats in my mind, reminding me the significance of making observations and focusing when creating art. In retrospect, inspecting the process of the artist, I hoped to create a realistic portrait one day. After numerous years of birthing projects and portraits, I have developed my own portrait-creating process. Creating portraits with graphite pencils is a process that requires planning, outlining, and shading. To start the planning process, I choose who I want to draw and capture a clear picture of them. Most of the portraits I have created were of myself. This helps me compare the progress of my work. It also allows me to notice more details, values, and textures in my face. When taking my picture, I use my phone and position myself based on what I want to show.To ensure the clarity of the different values, shades, and textures in my face, I take my reference picture in natural light. When I first started drawing, I relied on the grid method to increase my accuracy when outlining. Now, after developing my observational skills, 24
