Blog January '26 - Pencil drawing of sister and brother

January is chilly and cold, but thankfully the days are slowly starting to get longer again.

During these winter months, I'm giving myself the opportunity to draw portraits and animals for the upcoming exhibitions of 2026. Here, I've opted for a touch of nostalgia.

A pencil portrait of the children from an old analog photo.

I want to reiterate that it's perfectly fine to choose an old photo, one with a fond memory, instead of a digital photo. As with most portrait drawings, I use an HB pencil for sketching.

I use 2B and 4B pencils to add shadows and depth, all combined with different sized stumps. When drawing the hair, I rotate my drawing sheet 180°

so I can more easily shade fine lines.

The texture in the dress is achieved by shading fine lines in different directions (vertically, horizontally, and diagonally) with a 2B pencil.

Once I'm happy with the result, the drawing is matted and framed.

When framing a drawing, most frames now use regular glass or plexiglass, which more easily reflect outside light or light sources (indoor lighting). Plexiglass can also ripple slightly, which doesn't do the drawing justice. From now on, I'd like to inform you that anti-reflective glass is always an option.

Via this accompanying link, I'd like to direct you to my website where you can get a better understanding of the anti-reflective glass I use through concrete examples.