Grandfather Drawing

Drawing with graphite has always been one of the mediums I was most familiar with and have been in practice with the longest. While working in between digital projects, I wanted to work on a traditional art piece, which ultimately became one of my most time intensive projects. The subject I decided on was John Dugan’s character from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, based on a promotional photograph from Dr. William E. Barnes MD. The desiccated old man provided vast opportunity for texture and value. Some of the strengths of graphite pencils are the ability to recreate minuscule details and the high contrast provided by the value range.

In adapting from the source material, choices had to be made for composition and value. I settled on the current cropping of the image as it has a clear focus on the center of the image. Adapting a color image into black and white is also not a simple process, as there is a need to keep an interesting contrast as well as preserve some of the finer details. One of the more difficult aspects to emulate with graphite is depth of field. Both contrast in value and sharpness are needed for a photorealistic effect to be achieved.