24" x 36" Charcoal Drawing, 'Walter'
Above: 24" x 36" charcoal drawing of Breaking Bad's Walter White, as portrayed by Bryan Cranston.
For a final project and as a birthday gift for my older brother, I drew a portrait of Walter White - the protagonist of his favorite TV show. Though I had limited experience working with charcoal, and it was my first attempt at a portrait, I received approval from my professor to draw Mr. White (instead of the provided options for our Intro to Drawing prerequisite course).
It was by no means a walk in the park. I spent late weeknights and long weekend hours in the studio, dedicating many hours to what became a painstaking and arduous process - but I was determined. Despite experiencing moments of frustration and self-doubt, as well as the aggravation from charcoal seemingly crumbling into everything I owned, my motivation to make the coolest birthday gift that I could never faltered.
Upon completion (after roughly 40 hours, but who's counting), I vowed never to pick up charcoal again, but seeing the look on my brother's face, and how thrilled he was, made it all worthwhile. Realizing that my primary drive and ultimate fulfillment comes from bringing joy to others, I wouldn't hesitate to do it all again.
Lesson learned: making others happy is the ultimate reward.
Below: (1 & 2) Process, (3) a final drawing close-up, and (4) the gift's final form, laser-printed on sheet metal.
very early stages, grid mapping/sizing up the reference photo
general background and sense of light/dark areas is established
close-up view of the completed drawing
picture of the drawing, laser-printed on sheet metal, hanging in my brother's apartment
Bonus content:
This was not the first drawing I did of Walter White. During high school, I depicted the pizza-on-the-roof scene for a physics project.
