drawing darth vader

i spent around three hours last night learning how to draw darth vader.

it's for a "project/gift" that has been in the works for a little over two months. if you want to hear details about the project email me and i will tell you. i started drawing anakin skywalker's older version of himself with pencil. once i semi-mastered the erasable grey etches, i moved on to ink, used on a big piece of scrap paper. shortly after that version was finished, i proceeded to handle the final page for which the design was originally intended. on this page, it started with a circle and lines drawn through it- all done in pencil. but then, later, once the foundation had been built on the page, i could start going over the lines that would stay, with the ink and erase the penciled in lines that helped me get to the final creation, but are now superfluous.

one thing this whole process showed me was to not get impatient because i might flub up part of his helmet. it takes time to draw darth vader and as long as i stayed intent on getting it done right, i didn't allow myself to feel hurried and i now think the sketch really evokes that sense of time and focus. so i'm pretty stinking excited about it- partly because of all the work that went into it and then also that i- someone who can draw but is lousy working with design perspective, was actually able to achieve it.

sometimes we surprise ourselves. and that's pretty cool. thanks for all the input on the room color- if you haven't contributed your thoughts yet, please do (see choices in "on transitioning" post). also if you care to share, post a comment on how you have surprised yourself recently.