Beauty in Despair

I wanted to make the feeling of this piece dark while keeping the majority of the piece drawn in lighter tones. To do so I tried something very different - how to make graphite pencil look like paint or watercolor. I also wanted all the focus to be on her face, hand and hair to elicit that feeling of “despair”. So I deliberately left the remainder of her form empty of detail and very light to not detract from the darkness of her eyes, hair and lips.