This started off as an experimental piece, I bought a pack of 2 larger black canvases  (18”x24”) to play around with & was not totally sure what I was going to do with it but knew that I wanted to try something new.

After some thought and staring at the blank canvas I decided to re-create number 31 of my Inktober sketches; it is one that I wanted to expand on since the small sketch was created.

I started of with a light pencil sketch – lighting is very important as graphite is a bit hard to see on black, so doing this with angled light or in front of a window helps – once the sketch was complete I used tinted charcoal with some light pastels to make the illustration pop. I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out!

About a day after posting it on Instagram someone I used to work with bought it for a family member for Christmas. I was surprised & delighted at how quickly it sold, at first I was unsure about selling it as it was an experiment that worked out better than anticipated 🙂

Shortly after selling it, I started to sketch out a design for the second black canvas. More on this to come once complete. Follow me on my social to see my process & projects happening in real time.

Thank you for reading 🙂