Coming into this course my objective was to practice likeness. Observe the subtleties of a person's face. I didn't get a 100% likeness with this portrait but this is as close as I've ever been.

The process:

When I started I was planning on making it a digital drawing so I started with my iPad. With the reference image in Procreate I traced over the image to get the correct landmarks and I also traced my block in. I was ready to start detailing so I moved my landmarks and block in layers to the side of the reference image.

But I was feeling bad about placing each item on the page myself. I wanted to practice my observation skills after all...So I kept my iPad beside me as my reference and I started the portrait on a watercolour paper block.

When I finished placing my landmarks, I started to see that I had placed the jaw too high, the eyes too small, etc. So before placing my block in, I adjusted until I was satisfied with my landmarks' positions. 

I don't have an image with my block in shaded. I got too excited to start adding details! I added a black background to bring the shoulder into the composition. 

After some tweaks here and there, here is the final drawing:

I might still have some fun with this one and add some abstract watercolour shapes. But I'm afraid I'll ruin it! If I end up adding some colour, I'll update my project.

Thank you so much for the wonderful class!

Gabi