Aprox. 24"x 25" Graphite and Carbon Pencil on Rives BFK paper.
This double portrait was for the 2nd Annual, Harrisonburg, VA Art Lotto exhibition. This year I drew the names of photographers Katie Shmid and Amelia Eliza Shmid of the Pinwheel Collective.
I had a rough idea for the composition before I took photo references of them together, but as usual, the photo session actually directed the composition to its final arrangement. In this case, I combined a separate shot of each of them to emphasize their juxtaposed moods and reflected personalities. Obviously, the candid shots are usually the moments that reveal people's truest selves and are the most sought after in portraits; the shots when subjects stop thinking about "posing". The image of Katie laughing at my lack of directing ability spawned the idea of pushing their contrasting moods.
