Mysterious Specter

Hellooo, friends of the SketchBook community! I hope you're having a day with lots of sparkles.

I had gone a long time without drawing anything and without the desire to do anything, in general.

While I was scrolling through Pinterest, some Junji Ito illustrations came up, and a photo of a girl with that haircut also came up. My mind combined both things, and I decided to draw a girl with an unsettling aura, I hope I achieved it.

I'm very drawn to eyes without irises or pupils, because besides that unsettling vibe, they're mysterious, since you can't decipher what is hidden behind those fogged-up windows of the soul...

Will you join me watching the process?

I started by making a sketch composed of the most general shapes, using geometric figures. Then, I drew the eyes, nose and mouth more clearly. The next thing was to pass the eraser gently over the drawing, to remove the guide lines but without erasing the general idea.

I gave more shape to the facial features, adding subtle shadows with circular strokes, especially on the lips, emphasizing the shape of a smile. The next thing was to give more depth to the hair using long, continuous strokes. I added shadows on the neck and the sides of the face to give more depth to the face and I traced the collarbones.

Although it seems like the drawing is ready, there was a last step that I added at the last minute. With my finger I blended the entire surface of the drawing, to distribute the graphite over the whole area, then with soft strokes I added specific shadows in the areas where it's supposed to be deeper. Lastly, I passed an eraser over the most illuminated areas of the face and hair; especially on the eyes, so that it would also seem like they shine on their own. And that would be all.

This is how the finished drawing looks, it's the first one I've done from my imagination in quite a while.

Does it scare you? I hope so, see you in the next post.