Self Portrait

When I did my self portraits I decided to do them in the style I always used to draw in and one that I find more comfortable doing.
I've always found comic book styles interesting and inspiring and I've practised drawing in them more than any others. When I was growing up I would always copy images that I liked from comic books so its a style I'm used to and enjoy doing. Before coming on this course being a comic book artist has always been something I think I would of really enjoyed doing.

Portrait practise.

Since coming on the course I've pushed myself to draw more realistically and from life instead of photographs as much as possible. It has been quite difficult for me at times and when I get most stressed out at drawing I tend to revert to my comic book style.

I feel much more confident in my ability to draw in a come book style rather than a realistic one which impacts the strength of my drawings.

(left) comic book style, (right) drawn from life

For my final piece I wanted to draw from life properly using a mirror, rather than a photograph, I think this gets me to concentrate more on what I'm doing and produce a better image. I took me around 8-9 hours to do and I'm pleased with the outcome. I made the decision to use my comic book style to draw the image rather than trying to do a more realistic one. I think the style works well, with solid pencil markings and my confidence in using the style shows.

Self portrait final