All the drawings are done with “Prismacolor” colored pencils. I’ve found this brand, for my work, is the best due to their oily quality. Other pencils I’ve used have been too dry. The paper is a high quality, acid free, medium bristol.

A drawing usually starts like this: I begin doodling on an inexpensive paper- almost always starting with a face or animal figure. Once I get one I like, I’ll copy it on my scanner and print it out. Then, with scissors, I meticulously cut it out and trace the parts as I go. So, I’ll deconstruct each individual part- the eyes, the mouth, the hair, etc., until the whole face is transferred over to the final work.

I’ve tried to capture the image by redrawing it in a freehand style, but it never turns out quite the same! During the process of reconstructing the different figures in my pieces, I’m continually thinking about the concept of the piece as a whole. Since the larger drawings take up to 6 months to complete, this gives me a lot of time to meditate on the piece and find out what it wants to say.

Some of the techniques I’ve developed with the color pencils are the “white line,” the “hard press,” and mixing colors. The white line came about through necessity. Since my drawings don’t have shading, I use a fine white line to separate the figure from the background. This creates the illusion of objects being cut out and pasted down. The line is created by drawing the background up close to the figure but not touching it, so what you’re seeing is just the plain white paper. The hard press is what makes the colors in my work so vibrant. I press down hard to bring out the full color. This uses a huge amount of pencils because the lead is continually breaking. I also use the white pencils to lighten a color once it’s down; usually a darker color, like indigo blue. It also creates a nice contrasting texture.

Once a drawing is complete and ready for framing I like to use a black double mat in a black wooden frame. Black seems best suitable with my work as it makes all the colors stand out. Please contact me for specific dimensions if interested.