Learning to Draw episode 2 - High Contrast "My battle with photorealism"

Hi Guys,

Welcome to episode 2.

I decided to start drawing so that my mind could have a little break from reality. I am finding it extremely therapeutic and have a great sense of achievement from turning a blank page into something I can enjoy.

In this series you will see my skills progress and my confidence grow when putting pen to paper.

So I was sat there one day thinking how great the artist Prince was, I'm not into guys but I could appreciate his talent and beauty as a human. So obviously I decided to draw him.

In my previous episode I spoke about the journey from light to dark and the importance of layering.
I decided to start with a very light, basic outline so I could get the proportions correct.

I felt this was a good start but I knew I was far from the finish line.
I found it quite difficult to resist rushing the drawing, I kept telling myself "this is not a race, take your time".

I worked on some details next, particularly the facial hair and his eyebrows/eye lashes.
I used a smudging stick to blend the pencil lines into the shadows to make the skin look smooth and young.

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I grew more confident with every pass of the pencil, building layer on layer of lead. It got to the point where I thought I was finished.....

I decided to go bold on this one and break out the black prismacolour pencil. This gave much more depth and a higher contrast in the shadows and around the eye.
I also used a very fine black pen to create texture on the beard paying particular attention to the direction in which the hair grows.
The final step was highlighting. I used an eraser pencil to elevate the light parts around the cheek bones, lips and ear.

Below is the finished product, I'm very pleased with it. To be honest I can't believe I drew it.

Thanks for looking, again any tips or comments you have for me, please leave them below.

Jonny