COMMISSIONED: Art Portrait Process stages

Yay! 😊 it's a new week again and I hope we're all prepared to give it another trial for the things we couldn't push through with last week or moving to the next after being successful on the previous. I wish us all good luck 🤞.

So today, I will be taking us through the process stages of making one of the commissioned art portrait I worked on. Every stage with its own interpretation as success is not achieved in a day boom 💥, NO, its a gradual process or stages. So never be too quick to judge your trails for been a failure when you're yet to finish through to the end of the tunnel which has light of success. (I'm not a motivational speaker though 😁).

So like every house/building must have a good foundation, so every art portrait must have a good accurate foundation as well.
It starts from having my paper ready, my graphites and charcoal pencils, erasers, cotton wool/bud, blending rolls, measuring tape, ruler and that's all.

I Grided the picture in the number of rows and columns I deem fit for the work and grid same number of rows and columns on the art paper then I began my sketch. I ensured all outer lines of the head shape and the parts of the head like eyes (including eyelids, eye brow,eye balls), nose, lips are as exactly as it is in the picture to avoid giving my client/client's loved one having a strange face.

Moving over to the first layer of shading after confirming I have a good sketch (foundation)already. I refer to it as layers because for me, I don't make the dark shade of a picture at once especially when the person I'm drawing is dark or very dark in complexion. I believe in applying gradually so as not to have a rough blending.

Next on to the second layer of shading, where it becomes more darker than the first layer since I'm drawing a dark in complexion lady who is also on makeup so I shaded the contour part of the face. I shaded the part of the neck too towards the shoulder and upper chest level to give the whole work a rhymed level of shading at the end.
I also shaded the part of the nose; holes, bringing out the shape of the nose gradually.

Started to shade out the makeup part as mentioned above and made it more darker this time giving it a third layer of shading. The upper eye lid, the lips including the texture lines of the lips.

The next pictures shows the shaded eye lashes, eye lid, eye brows and theshadow in between the face and neck. Also, the weaved hairstyle been brought to live as well as the two ears including the pair of earrings used in the picture and also a general touch on the whole picture.

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My late mum doesn't like these stages where I had bring out the whole part of around the eyes but leaving the eyeballs or socket white 😀. She will be like put this eyeballs and complete this eyes jare.
So that takes us to the last stage of the commissioned portrait.

Everything is set in the aspect of drawing and bringing out the art piece my client would love. I would love your honest feedback on this piece.