Bringing Graphite to Life - Sara Madanat

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

I can draw the outline before starting to shade by simply looking at a reference picture and imitating it. One of my favorite art teachers once told me to look at the reference picture more than looking at the piece I am creating. She taught me to not rely on my memory and creativity when forming my outlines. This helps me create a more realistic portrait that looks like my subject. Since the outline is never accurate from the first try, I always use a light pencil—preferably the shade HB or lighter— so that it does not leave a mark when I erase and make changes. Another tip that greatly helped me maintain accuracy in my outlines is holding them in front of a mirror and observing them. The reflected image from the mirror helps me notice areas that look off compared to my reference pictures. It allows me to observe my outlines from a different lens. Moving on to my favorite part of the portrait-creating process; shading. Before starting to shade, I always identify the lightest and darkest areas of the face I am drawing. This step is significant because maintaining these light and dark areas creates the contrast that gives the portrait its 3D look. Even though the light and dark areas have their importance, it is imperative not to forget about the various medium tones. Illustrating the medium tones makes the portrait seem more realistic due to the different values and shades it holds. When creating the numerous values in my portraits, I make sure to layer and not press on the pencil. Layering causes the different values to look smoother and more realistic. The layering technique I use depends on the part of the portrait I am drawing. When shading the face, I use the shading technique, circulism for a blended in look. However, I use hatching when drawing the hair to show a similar flow to realistic hair. The pencil shades that help me capture the different values in my portraits are H, HB, and 2B. Two tips I always work by are placing a blank paper under my shading hand to avoid smudging my work. I also use a kneaded eraser because it does not leave crumbs on the paper and it gives me the freedom of shaping it based on the areas I want to lighten or erase. As I produce new portraits, my process develops unconsciously and I discover additional aspects about my identity as an artist. I believe that developing a skill or hobby contributes to building my character traits. By practicing planning, outlining, and shading, I became a more skilled artist and a more patient and observant person. 25

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