There is always a story to tell for every piece, starting from the empty white paper, to the grid lines or even the many hours of studying the reference image and how to go about it. There is always a story to tell.
MY JOURNEY WITH CHINEDU
A client (who is slowly becoming an amazing friend), messaged me saying she wants to make a portrait that she would love to gift it to her friend before he gets to leave the country. She told me the date she will be needing it and as usual she made a deposit and also sent me the reference image. The image sent to me was not clear, but I honestly thought I could challenge myself to enhance the image with my drawing, so I didn't complain, because I have work for this client before and I really enjoyed working for her the first time. So, I started the piece, which was supposed to be a full bodied image. It is my tradition to always start with the face, this is where always give me closure of how the work is going to be. I was working both day and night, the moment I close from school I will rush home to draw because I really wanted to meet up with the deadline, but while working on the piece, I realised the image is somehow, I honestly was not enhancing the image, it was way difficult for me to enhance the work, even my own drawing was not clear too 😒😒. So I messaged my client to tell her about the situation of things and the date she needs it was just around the corner. I honestly wasn't happy inside that I couldn't uphold my word of delivering that piece when it was actually needed, so I suggested she send her bank details so I can forward the deposit she sent to me, because I really would love to keep my name from getting any stain. I was surprised when she said no, that there is no need for that, that I should give her till before the end of the day for her to find a more clearer image that I can work with, and if she could not find any, I can go ahead to send the money she deposited. So, I waited for her message on WhatsApp, and she finally sent me different images asking me to make my pick. We both agreed on the image I will be sharing the progress shot in this post. I did learn a lot about my client from this piece, she's and amazing person and once again I got my proof that honesty says a lot about us as humans. I enjoy being honest with my clients and it has been one of the reasons so many folks enjoy my services.
Hello and welcome to my blog, sorry I had to start with that long read before saying hello. In today's post I will be sharing the progress drawing of my most recent piece. The mediums used for this piece is actually a blend of charcoal and graphite pencils. White pencils also did a large work on this particular piece. The work is a 10 by 12 inches portrait done with a glossy art card. Below are the progress drawings.
I always like to take my piece from the top all the way down to the bottom. Fun fact, I actually drew this particular side twice. The first one was with a pen, after my client sent the picture to me, I was going to surprise her with a pen work instead of a pencil work, but I made a terrible mistake that I can not use creativity to hide, so I hard to start all over again, but this time with a pencil so I can be fast since I am already behind time.
There is always a part that every artist experience some form of difficulty and in this particular piece, it was the nose. I struggled with the nose for a while, I had to pause, I went to the kitchen to fix myself dinner while thinking of how to get the best result. I was having dinner and my eyes were glued to the portrait, and I was just thinking of how to get it done. When I finally understood what to do, I woke up in the middle of the night to get the nose done.
The moment I completed the nose, it became a smooth ride for me, it was easy to complete the remaining part of the face. The face of my piece is what always inspire me to continue, hence the reason I always want to achieve at least 60% of resemblance. So, I always take my time when working on the face.
Here I just finished exploring the neck, some portion of the shirt and also the hand. Working on the hand was interesting. The positioning of the hand was difficult at first to comprehend, so I applied my favourite trick, taking one box at a time. Before I know it, it started taking form and I realized I was on track. The chain was not difficult to work on, I am used to working on chains, but I later felt I should have added more values to make it more pronounce. I don't know if you are thinking that too, are you?🤷🏿 You noticed that white pencil in the picture, that pencil has retired now 😂😂, such a hard working pencil 🤓🤓.
After completing that part, I moved to the left hand side of the shirt and started working on that part, well I always like a neat work, so to avoid staining the work, I always work on angles that will prove difficult if I don't do them immediately. You can noticed I was working on the background as I go on, that way I wouldn't have to stain the upper part of the work later.
Even though the face is always the most important part of all my piece, I still dedicated more time to the shirt, I gave the shirt enough attention. The detailing on the shirt can be noticed, that's because if you look at the reference picture, two things will capture your eyes, his face and also what he is wearing, hence I had to deliver on those parts.
This was after protecting the work with fixative and also with the sticker. The moment I completed this part, I remembered just lying on my bed with my eyes facing the ceiling and I said thank God😂😂, like I needed rest, sometimes, I work too hard but I know what I am working for, I know my purpose but that doesn't mean I wouldn't give myself rest, self-care is important and I don't joke with that part.
FINAL IMAGE
REFERENCE
Here is the final work, my client loved the last frame of the first work I did for her, so I had to deliver on that part too. People don't know this, but I always tint my frames myself, I buy them and change the colours to black because that's what reflect my work very well. I always love delivering quality to my clients hence I always spend money to buy materials that will give me the best and will keep my clients happy, if they are happy then I am happy. Also, the above image shows the reference image.
My journey with CHINEDU (that's the name of the subject in this piece) was a beautiful one, so many ups and down but through all of it, I was able to achieve something. Apart from the money I make from offering my services to people, I live for each of the experience hence my favourite statement The U-ROGA Experience. Every piece have a story to tell, and it all started with a stroke line and the final part of the story inspired my most recent posts here on Hive I shared some days ago, you can read it here.
Thanks for your time and for being an amazing reader, I look forward to your honest review in the comment section. If you like my work, and would love me to offer my services to you, please reach me on discord with officialuroga#9660 or click on the WhatsApp icon below to message me directly on WhatsApp. Have a good night rest.🤗🤗
Thanks for reading!
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