Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Three Sisters In Graphite Pencil


I recently delivered these commissioned pencil portraits, of three completely charming and lovely girls. Drawing siblings is always interesting, because as I work I notice the features and expressions that may be similar to each other.

Another thing that is unique to a set of portraits such as these, that will be hung together on one wall, is making sure that they look comfortable together. The way I accomplish this is to make sure they are each lit from the same direction when I take my reference photos, and choose poses that create a feeling of unity.

My plan with these three was to place this one in the center, with the other two sisters each facing toward her. Once they were matted and framed (beautifully, thank you Sylvie!), they did indeed make a very nice group!

(each 9x12", graphite pencil on bristol)

2 comments:

Jenn Falcon said...

Did you photo them together?

Elizabeth A Patterson said...

Hi Jenn! I photographed them separately, but had them sit in the same chair by a window, one after the other, so the light was the constant.