Surprised my husband with a charcoal sketch of his father’s WWII Army photo. I am finding charcoal is a good medium for me to practice portraits as it is so forgiving and allows for easier manipulation of features.
To all who served, “Thank you!”
Debbie
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What a wonderful gift, great job!
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Very nice and beautifully framed. 
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Thank you Ginny! I have learned that matting and framing are the
final touches to bring a piece together
Debbie
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Thank you Lori! I also did one of his mom from her high school
years. They are framed identically and now he gets the job of
deciding where to display them both
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Wow! This is great. Your husband must of been pleasantly surprised! My father was in World War II to also.He was in the Navy.
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Very nice job! Thank you for your service!
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Thank you Denise…he was! A heartfelt thank you to your father
for his service to our country
Debbie
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Thank you Logan!
Debbie
Apologies, I meant to say Thank You Chris
Very nicely done and a thoughtful gift!
Thank you! My husband was so pleased that picture now resides
above our fireplace 
Very nice job.
Very emotive
Thank you Derek. I can honestly say I enjoyed the process.
Working with graphite and charcoal mediums are my favorite as I
feel I have so much more control
Debbie
Agreed.
I love graphite (or more accurately as I’ve said before… I love having an eraser) although I struggle with charcoal beyond occasional accents.
Something I’m working on.
But your portrait work is excellent.
Hi Derek,
Just wanted to say if you love graphite and "your eraser", I
think you will find charcoal a nice alternative. You can use the
kneaded eraser to “lift-off” the marks to create beautiful
values. I believe Matt has an apple tutorial done with
charcoals…might be worth a look
Whatever you do, just have fun!
Debbie
Very good! Thank you for sharing this!
Jack
Thank you Jack. If you are a veteran, Thank you for your service
Debbie
WOW beautiful. I’ll bet your husband loved it.
Thank you Yvonne. He does indeed love it! His dad passed away
several years ago which added to the “specialness” of the piece.
Debbie