Sketchbook
Welcome to my online sketchbook. Here you will get a window into my approach, what inspires me, and progress on my latest projects. This year, I have decided to focus on portrait and figure drawing to help round out my explorations in architecture.
Reclining Figure - I
martedì 17 febbraio 2026
After working on portraits for the better part of a month, I decided to explore something different. Figures are tricky because they involve flowing lines. Any interruption or discontinuity will cause one’s eye to stop and focus upon that area — even for just a bit. While these discontinuities can be used to add emphasis, they can also cause one’s eye to abruptly stop and fixate on a particular area instead of taking in the whole.
Three-Quarter View - II
martedì 17 febbraio 2026
This was another attempt at working through a three-quarter view portrait. Part of the issue was that I attempted to rush things, but I also tried working with a variety of techniques here as well. I have found that when I rush, I tend to revert to using lines, instead of relying upon shading to bring out the features of the face. Also, the black pencil, while adding more impact, also is smudgier and tends to get a bit more messy.
Black Ink - II
lunedì 16 febbraio 2026
I really wanted to see what would happen when working with large swaths of black ink. This is a combination of black India ink and brush pen. All in all, I was happy with how the thin line work came out, but was less enthralled with the hair. I have a feeling that I will attempt another version of this style, but that it may be more suited to a combination of traditional and digital approaches — especially given my desire for geometric lines in the hair.
Lizzie - III
domenica 15 febbraio 2026
This was another attempt to create a portrait of my friend, Lizzie. This time I used the Staedtler Mars Black pencils, which proved to be quite tricky given the fair features of my friend. I still have quite a bit of work to do, but I was curious how much my perspective had shifted in the past week.
Full On - I
sabato 14 febbraio 2026
This was another experiment with the black pencil and the color accents for the eyes and lips. I am getting closer to running another experiment in ink to see how this will translate into a different medium. I had fun with the hair in this piece, as well as the shading of her cheekbones and around her neck.
Sara - II
venerdì 13 febbraio 2026
After my first attempt yesterday, I decided to work on another portrait of my friend, Sara, this time in color. I also wanted to adjust the angle of the head and chin, compared to the previous portrait. All in all, I had fun with this even though it is difficult to keep the colors clean when using the black pencils.
Sara - I
giovedì 12 febbraio 2026
I am extremely grateful to my friend, Sara, who had the insight to ask whether I worked from photos and if it would help my work if she sent me a few of herself. This is my first attempt at creating a portrait of her, in profile nonetheless. I can honestly say that this is the first profile of a person that I know that I am pleased (and even pleasantly surprised) with how it came out. I will most likely attempt another version of this with some combination of black and colored pencils.
Black Ink - I
mercoledì 11 febbraio 2026
After working with pencil, particularly the black Staedtler Mars, I was curious as to how this would translate into ink. As with my sketches, I began by creating an outline with the regular HB pencil, and then began inking over it. While I was able to develop some interesting textures with the hair and incredible density with the eyebrows, I am much more partial to pencil and paint for the shading of the face.
Mars Lumograph Black - I
martedì 10 febbraio 2026
This was my first time using the Staedtler Mars Lumograph Black pencils and I was not disappointed. The pencils are very easy to use and actually erase quite well. More than anything, I am impressed by the impact of the black on the white, as well as how well the black photographs for quick posts and such. I created the basic outline using a regular HB and then filled in with the black. From there, I used blue and red watercolor pencils to fill in the colored accents for the eyes and lips.