Medium: Graphite pencil
Size: 9.5 x 11 inches
Completed: October 2018
Graphite is one of my favorite mediums, and this sneaker study is a good example of why. There is something satisfying about building an image through value alone: soft gray transitions, sharp dark edges, rubbed textures, and all those small shifts between light and shadow.
This drawing gave me a lot to study. The worn fabric, rubber sole, metal eyelets, loose laces, creases, scuffs, and cast shadow all had their own little texture problems to solve. A sneaker is such an everyday object, but when you really look at it, it becomes surprisingly complicated. It has structure, history, and a personality that seems to have walked in with mud on its shoes and a story it may or may not tell.
I liked the challenge of rendering something familiar without color, relying only on graphite to suggest material, depth, and wear.
