A portrait of Ian Somerhalder using charcoal. This is a birthday gift for my supervisor, Laurie. She's been wanting a drawing of Ian for over a year now. Thought this would be a nice gift for her. Also baked her strawberry swirl cheesecake.

I've been getting some criticism on drawing portraits. Sigh. I didn’t start out with realism at all. I was more into darker things then. I was also still young at the time. I think my work matured as I matured. In any case, I think realism is highly underrated. I’ve even seen people coin the term “photocopy.” It’s given a name like it is some type of disease. What I find most interesting is how many people can you name that have mastered realism? How many people can actually find a photo and draw nearly identical to that photograph? Or imagine something and transfer it lifelike on a 2-dimensional sheet of paper? Exactly. I can probably list names using one hand if I thought hard enough. There are drawings I’ve seen that have captured that still moment far better than the photograph itself. That’s what I hope to achieve one day. I want to master realism without any references or even a second thought. I always joke that my drawings are just mere doodles because I think I have greater things waiting for me (I know, I'm such a pompous ass) once I’m able to visualize snapshots in my head and having the ability to breathe life into them on paper. Before I can even begin to take that path, I have to practice with as many photos as I can. So before you criticize me, think about what you have to offer to begin with.