Half finished. Half alive.

Half finished. Half alive.

This is the stage where the drawing decides what it wants to be. The left side is done - every wrinkle placed, every shadow earned, every line on her face a year she survived.

The right side is still pencil. Still possibility. Still light enough to erase if the charcoal in my hand does not agree with the graphite underneath.

Her name is Mama Olu. She is eighty-nine. She said draw me the way my grandchildren see me. I said how is that. She said like I am made of answers.

Charcoal and graphite on paper. 22 x 30.
The left side took forty hours.
The right side will take the same.
Patience is the medium. The charcoal is just the tool.

#Art #CharcoalDrawing #Hyperrealism #Portrait #BlackArt #AfricanArt #FineArt #WorkInProgress #ArtistLife #Drawing

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Mcelrath Kabir @kabirmcelrath59

"made of answers" hit me hard. my grandma used to say something similar - that old people are just walking libraries with wrinkled covers. this piece already feels so alive even half done. can't wait to see the other side come through
7 days ago

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