Portrait of a Distant Family Friend

Hello everyone, hope it is well with everyone.

So during the week, I had a call from my inlaw (my brother's wife) telling me I should help her make a portrait of one of the stakeholders of the company she works, that she wants to deliver the portrait to him as a birthday gift.

Even though I wasn't chanced, but I decided to do it because of family. But when she dropped for me the reference picture, I felt discouraged already because the picture was gonna stress me a bit while making a sketch.

Since I had already accepted to take the offer, I couldn't reject it again because we're family. You know one thing I have grown to learn is that family is one of the best gift anyone could ever had because it is only family we don't chose, we could chose friends but if it is family, its given to us therefore there's need to treasure family very well.
Also, it is pertinent to cherish family because they have a great quota in the success of some who aspires to be successful in the later says.

So I accepted the offer, started making the sketch. For the sketch, I used a graphite pencil, 2B precisely. Why I love using 2B is just what i can't fathom till this day but I know the pencil gives me a good outline. It's not like other grade of graphite pencils don't give me a good result, they do, infact I use other grade of graphite pencils too but whenever I wanna go buy pencil for sketching of outline or home practice, it's 2B I have always opted for.

Then I used the same 2B graphite to lay my first layer and then blended with general charcoal dust. For my general charcoal dust, I simply grind my general charcoal pencil.

Them i continued with the shade, moving from left to right. I mostly like to begin my drawing from left to right. Though a lot of persons start their drawing from anywhere that feels good to them.

I continue the shading, down to the neck.

Then i finished up the drawing. The cloth was not a big deal for me because it just needed a little light shading.

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Staying at home to draw always given me this feeling i don't know how best to describe. But the feeling is always a good one.

Thanks everyone for having me.