Self-portrait

It's drawing sunday ! :) Today I decided to do something I've never tried before, except in drawing classes where I had no choice but to do so: draw myself. I chose a picture that I really like so my job would be easier, which is below.
As for materials, I used graphite pencils HB, 2B, 4B 6B and 9B. I haven'te drew for quite a while and I found hair a bit hard to draw and it's not as dark as I wanted it to stay. The scanner ruined many of the shadows, but I think you can still see them. It's as close to the photo as I could draw. Though I like the way it turned out, I really need to get to draw more frequently, need practise. It took me about an hour and a half. Here it is:

The hakama.

This one's part of a comission I finished recently. I am not showing the full drawing for privacy reasons. I am sorry for the quality once again, but this one I wasn't able to scan. It's in A2 size, and as you probably know, it's huge. It doesn't fit my scanner. So I took a photo, and my camera isn't the most professional so it came out like this. If you want to see the details properly, just click the drawing and you'll see it in a bigger size.

The hakama is the skirt-like pants that some Aikidoka wear. It is a traditional piece of samurai clothing. Wearing it is part of the tradition (of most schools) of Aikido.

There were different styles of hakama. The type worn by today's martial artists is called  joba hakama. The seven folds in the hakama (five in the front, two in the back) are said to have the following meaning:

1. Yuki - courage, value, bravery

 2. Jin - humanity, charity, benevolence

 3. Gi - justice, righteousness, integrity

 4. Rei - etiquette, courtesy, civility (also means bow/obeisance)

 5. Makoto - sincerity, honesty, reality

 6. Chugi - loyalty, fidelity, devotion

 7. Meiyo - honor, credit, glory; also reputation, dignity, prestige

In many schools, only black belts wear the hakama.

Information taken from: http://www.aikidofaq.com/misc/hakama.html 

This is a general definition of the hakama. If you wish to know more about it, the details, feel free to research. :) If there's wrong information feel free to let me know so I can correct. 

Have a wonderful weekend ! :)

Avan Jogia.

Hi everyone ! Lately I've been really inspired, and I've even been working on multiple drawings at the same time. One of them is, like I already told you, a drawing to my sensei that I'll give to him as a gift when we get back to the dojo. The other one is the one I'm about to show you, that I finished moments ago.

So, I'm a huge fan of Avan Jogia. Ever since I found out about Twisted (one of my favourites TV series EVER), where Avan plays the main role as Danny Desai, I, as many others, fell in love with both the character and the actor ahah. I love the mistery of it all, you're always wondering who did what and why, and when you think you're sure of what really happened, they always find a way to surprise you. I'm completely hooked ! I'm getting carried away already, I'm sorry ahah. Yey Twisted ! 

I started drawing Avan two days ago, after seeing a beautiful photo in his official facebook page of the photoshoot he did with Angelo Kritikos for Perez Hilton. HERE it is, if you're curious. He looks absolutely stunning and I just couldn't resist ahah. I left it aside yesterday, because I spent the day out, but today I finished it.

To me the hardest part to draw was the pattern of his suit. It wasn't too hard of course, but it wasn't that easy too. I was so concentrated on the shapes  of the pattern that I got a headache. But I still finished it. So, here he is, Avan Jogia everyone ! :) <3

(Click for full view)