rio de janeiro

This incredible drawing by Stephen Wiltshire is named Rio de Janeiro. It is obviously named after what the drawing is which is the largest city in brazil Rio De Janeiro. This image is a very famous one but for someone to draw it in such detail is truly spectacular. The media that this artist chose to use is the dry media of the simple pencil. Stephen Wiltshire is a very famous artist for these exact kind of pieces. All his pieces of of very famous spots around the world such as london, new york etc etc and he draws them completely in pencil. It is truly amazing the detail that this artist achieves with such minimal tools. The way he captures the values of the buildings and the mountains is incredible in my opinion. A very incredible drawing overall by a very talented pencil artist.

         This  is a self portrait drawing by JD Hillberrry. It is called "The Man Behind the Artwork." This drawing consists of a combination of pencil and charcoal. This gives the drawing texture and depth. He uses different types of pencils, varying in the hardness and blackness. His shading and multiple values makes this drawing realistic. He has enormous details in this drawing varying from the wrinkles on his forehead to the rough edges of the paper hes ripping.

Beach Drawing

This is a pencil on paper drawing of the famous Laguna Beach.  It shows a cliff that overlooks the beach.  The artists uses shading with the pencil to create value in the piece.  The artists also uses line to suggest movement in both the sky and water.  The clouds seem to be moving and the waves look as if they are actually breaking on the beach.  The shading on the cliff side shows where the sun is hitting it directly and where there are shadows.

Drawing.

This is the same drawing but the top one was taken when the artist was half way done. The bottom is the finished piece. The black background or negative space was made by using a 6B charcoal pencil. The swan itself was made by graphite, and the water was made by graphite and charcoal. When i first saw this drawing, i thought it was a photo. The water in particular is done with so much detail that it looks like the bottom of the piece was photo-shoped. I was pretty shocked when i saw the halfway point because it shows the steps in which the artist took to made this. Looking closely, you can see the shading in the swan, especially on the wings and neck. The values from black to white are done by using different pencils with hard or soft lead, making the picture more realistic and lifelike.

- John Marchetti

Drawing

This drawing is done with charcoal.  The artist probably used this drawing material because it is easy to smudge therefore creating lifelike shadowing without harsh lines.  The charcoal also allows the background to be darker therefore the flower is able to be lighter and pop on the paper.

Taylor Swift drawing

This is a drawing of Taylor Swift.  The artwork is done with pencil on paper.  There is so much detail put into this drawing.  Each strand of hair and ruffle in her shirt is shown beautifully.  The artist used multiple definition pencils to make this drawing look as real as it could.  There are many values of black and white used.  Shading makes this pencil drawing look real.  Such as the shading on her neck and throughout her hair.

-Dana-Lynn

Smudging and blending with charcoal

This is a drawing by Daniel Peci which was done with charcoal. I think he may have used his medium because it is very easy to manipulate and to smudge out. Because of this, he can eliminate the sharp edges which actual human forms do not have, making it appear more real. Also, it is much easier to shade with charcoal to create the different shadows and contours of the face and clothing because it is so easy to smudge. Using charcoal allows him to make the face look more real and lifelike, blending it all together.

-Leah

Drawing

I have also been a fan of Leonardo DaVinci's notebook drawings for some time now.  He drew this piece using a fountain pen on paper. Because he did not paint these or use other media like metalpoint, the work is supported because it suggests the piece is supposed to be a "note" not a status piece.  Everyone takes notes in easily accessible media, like pen or pencil, and the pen was used because of its convenience and speed.  Many people felt DaVinci was in a rush writing the notations in the notebooks and he was trying to make his words keep up with his thoughts.  These are like blueprints for designs and not masterpieces- that is why they are in pen.  It adds to their credibility.

AnnMarie P.

Drawing

This work is called "Persona" by JD Hillberry.  He created the piece using pencil, including the background and tape.  The style of this work is called "Trompe L'Oeil" which means "to deceive the eye" in French.  MC Escher is known for using this kind of illusion in many of his works. This image is very life-like because of the light and dark values the pencil creates that show depth and shadows.  It looks as if there is an actual person putting their eye through a hole in the picture, but it is just an illusion the artist creates by using darker values. You can see every detail of his face, hands and hair that really bring this picture to life.

Charcoal of Drew Barrymore

This is a charcoal drawing of the famous actress Drew Barrymore. This drawings media is black charcoal on a piece of paper. The artist uses a wide array of values in the picture leaving some areas white and some fully black. This image is very life like and has much detail to it. Every hair coming out of her head is seen and every crease on her face is visible. I enjoy this picture because there is no color, but you still can see in your mind Drew's pale skin and dark hair. The use of charcoal was a perfect choice because you can get the full effect of the shadows and details in the picture.

Drawing

The media used to create this drawing is graphite pencil. Using this media the artist made use of many different values throughout the piece. There was also a lot of use of line in the drawing and there were all precise because of the media the artist chose to use. The values helped give the drawing depth and made it much more realistic.

Graphite Drawing of VP Biden

This graphite drawing of Vice President Biden is a great example of this particular medium.  One can see the difference in the pencils used in the value of his two shirts.  Also, as seen in his face there are various pigments seen.  In a closer view of this drawing one can see the smallest of wrinkles around his eyes as well as the folds in his shirts, as well as the different shades of pigment that create shading in his hair.

M Rizzi

Charcoal

 Both of these drawings were done by an artist named Nathan Boyd. This artist does multiple different pieces of art with a variety of elements and medias used but these two in particular were used with charcoal. The use of charcoal was a perfect choice with supporting both types of work because it gave the artist an opportunity to really show shadows and the lights in dark areas in both drawings. They are both realistic drawings the top one of Audrey Hepburn and the bottom of Marilyn Monroe. The artist really used charcoal to its fullest getting the darkest of color through Audrey's hair and the top portion of Marilyn's dress but also the lightest color through their skin tones and even Marilyn's teeth. Overall Nathan Boyd showed a great use of charcoal and both pieces are amazing.

The picture shown was drawn by Juan Fransisco Casas using a few 14p BIC ballpoint pens. Most of his ideas for drawings come pictures he has taken during nights out with friends. This drawing, which uses liquid media, because it is done with pen and paper, shows looks extremely realistic. The man's facial hair as well as the hair on his head looks so real. The folds and wrinkles in his shirt also give the image a realistic look. The artist used different values to show shading around his forehead and glasses. This choice of media seems to be perfect because he used such intricate detail. I don't think it would have looked as realistic if another type of media was used, for example charcoal or crayons. The pen gives the image a smooth, natural tone and the blue highlights of the pen kind of give the drawing more depth.
-Rose Migliara

Drawing

This piece is called "Nutcracker" by Laurie Lipton. It was done using only pencil on paper. This drawing uses a lot of lines and shapes, to outline a story. It especially shows the importance of shading and value. Considering this was all done using pencil, the artist was able to shade objects and not only make them differentiate from each other, but actually look realistic. Even just by looking at the bricks in the walls, each and every one is shaded differently and outlined so exactly, its obvious this took a lot of time. She also incorporates shadows and overlapping to imply space. This was the best technique, or media, to use since she has so much detail in just one drawing. If she had used charcoal or ink, it would have been a completely different piece of art, probably with less detail.

--Alexis Swoyer