The eyes have it

Cute.

Cute cute cute cute cute.

That's all I have to say about this little boy.

Here's some shots of the pencil portrait in progress:

I am very, very happy with how this turned out. It's great to be able to draw such exquisite eyes.

If you're interested in commissioning a custom pencil portrait of someone equally adorable, visit my Etsy shop!

The process of designing a greeting card

This summer I'm taking a class called "Decorative Illustration." Part of the class involves designing greeting cards, and it's a lot of fun. Our first assignment was to design a non-holiday, "anytime" card.

First I drew a bunch of thumbnails. I hate this step, and after about 6 thumbnails I usually run out of good ideas and start scraping the bottom of my mind barrel.

I took my favorite idea out of the bunch and sketched it out in pencil. My favorite part is the stuffed whale - it's based on a stuffed animal my Mom made me when I was little.

Next I digitally added colors on top, trying various color schemes.

My teacher liked the last one the best, so I cleaned it up digitally and added some detail.

Then I printed it out on a card and made a matching envelope for it.

Cute, huh? It's kind of thrilling to design something on the computer and then hold it in your hands. I plan on sending this card to my grandma. :)

Still Daddy's Little Girl portrait

Does this couple look familiar? I drew them six months ago, and I liked the portrait so much that I put it on the back of my business cards. :) I love that you can really feel how this Dad totally adores his little girl.

I was very happy to work with this customer again. It amuses me that her husband is wearing the same Texas A&M hat in each portrait. "Yes, my husband is an Aggie and always has his ballcap on," she said. Now that's loyalty!

Little Angel Portrait

When I saw this photo, this little boy immediately made me think of a little classic cherub, and I knew this would make a great portrait. Just look at that innocent sleepy face!

The customer explained that she and her husband wanted this portrait of her son as "a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law. She is going through cemo right now for breast cancer. We thought this would make a lovely and special gift for her and my father-in-law." I hope the portrait brightens up her Christmas!

Blonde things portrait

Look at these cute little shavers. This 11x14 custom pencil portrait was ordered as a gift for the parents of these children. I'm excited to hear what they think of it.

As you can see, I combined two photos into one portrait. It was an easy combination because the photos were taken in the same setting at the same time, so the light was consistent across both faces.

These two kids really remind me of this photo of my brother and I, circa 1990:

My Dad used to affectionately refer to us as "blonde things." (Neither of us is still blonde, sadly.) I doubt if any baby, before or since, has even come close to matching the perfect roundness of my brother's head.

Buddies portrait

The customer who sent me this photo has ordered from me twice before! I guess I have a fan. :) I should do something special for her.

Here is the finished drawing.

I just realized that I am probably commissioned draw boys more often than girls. Weird, huh?

More cute boys

It seems that I have been drawing a lot of cute little boys lately. What a tough life I have, right?

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a customer with an interesting challenge. The customer had three sons, but she already happened to have a portrait of one of them. Here it is:

She wanted me to create two more portraits of her sons that match the style of the first portrait. It was an interesting process, trying to imitate someone else's style while still being true to my own. I thickened up the outlines, lightened the shading and used less detail than usual. The customer was very helpful in providing guidance about how to match the portraits to her existing one.

In the end, I quite like how both of these came out, even though it's different from what I usually do. They have a nice simplicity to them. After receiving the drawings in the mail, the customer said "I LOVE them! The portraits are stunning... thanks so much for working with me to get them just right."

All in another day's work for Drawworm!

Men are from Mars, Etsy customers are from Venus

Aren't these brothers adorable? I love how they each have a dimple on the left side. These are two portraits I recently drew for my first male Etsy customer. Yeah, I know! A male Etsy customer is like seeing a white elephant! And he was great. Thanks to his helpful comments, I believe that these two portraits are some of my best yet. 

Since my customers are usually women, they tend to leave really gushy feedback, like "I love the portrait, it made me and my entire family weep uncontrollably! I will treasure it forever and cry every time I see it! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! <3" Compare that to the feedback this guy left for me:

"Extremely pleased with the quality of the portraits and the overall level of service provided."

My best regards to you too, my good sir. Thanks for the opportunity to draw from your photos!

Three and a Bunny Portrait

Custom triple portrait - in my shop!

I recently finished this portrait for a returning customer. You can see how I modified the photo she gave me:

Besides obviously cropping the photo and removing the red eye, I scooted the little boy closer to the other children. I'm quite happy with how it turned out. :)

Sweetheart Portrait, in progress

What a beautiful little girl. Love her hair! And those long eyelashes too!

Curly hair takes a lot of careful work and attention to shading, but I enjoy doing it.

Jammies portrait

I had the pleasure of drawing this cute little girl a few weeks ago.

It's pretty hard to feel sad while drawing happy children. I've noticed that I also tend to imitate the facial expressions of whoever I'm drawing - if I'm drawing a smiling person, I tend to smile without realizing it.

Continuing my series of portraits of cute kids, look at this little guy!

I don't usually enjoy drawing clothing very much, but the overalls were a lot of fun. All the details made them interesting!