'DAVID BECKHAM' graphite drawing (New Technique)

Finally finished my first portrait with my new technique and overall i'm pleased with it. Still got allot of practising to do to refine it, but I finally feel as if I've got a better understanding of how to draw natural looking skin and eyes.

As I stated in my journal fav.me/d6udamj, I decided to try a new technique and process to push me towards my goal of hyperrealism. As I believe if something is not working no matter how comfortable it is for you, you’ve got to try something new.

And my next few drawings will be of celebrity portraits (which I do find boring) so that I can practice and test this new technique. And I chose to draw 'David Beckham' first because I originally drew this pose (but in portrait not landscape), 1 year ago and it was my 'first ever' realistic portrait which you can see here fav.me/d5j91cn. It looks pretty bad now but at the time i was really pleased with it, so I thought it's a perfect way to see how much progress I've made in a year.

And over the last few months I've tried new techniques and equipment with varying success. But the main thing i'm trying to understand is how to draw realistic skin textures, as in my other drawings the skin just did not look right, and skin is the most important key to realism. Second most important is the eyes, as in my previous drawings the eyes looked very unnatural like shiny marbles. But I've got a new technique for that , and have over the last few days gone over some of my older drawings and altered them so the eyes look slightly more natural (so the change won't be to obvious). There are also be other smaller things I will change to but those will be less noticeable.

On A3 paper with graphite and charcoal pencils. Approx -25-30 hours.

Here are some of my other graphite drawings.