She laughed for three seconds.
Fofana chimee
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She laughed for three seconds.

Fofana chimee
@chimeefofana9206
14 days ago

She laughed for three seconds.
I drew for eighty hours.

That is the exchange. A moment of life traded for days of graphite and patience. People ask if it is worth it. I do not know how to answer that because worth implies a calculation and this is not math.

Her name is Adaeze. She is seven. She laughed because her brother fell off a chair behind me while I was trying to take her reference photo. The laugh was so real it almost broke the camera.

I drew every braid. Every tooth. The exact crinkle her eyes make when joy takes over her face and she forgets to perform for the camera.

Charcoal and graphite on Bristol paper. 24 x 30.
The braids took twelve hours. The laugh took all of them.

#Art #CharcoalDrawing #Hyperrealism #Portrait #BlackArt #FineArt #Graphite #AfricanArt #ArtistLife #Drawing
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14 days ago
Ross Kyree

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Murphy Colin @colinmurphy7065
the part about 'the laugh took all of them' actually made me stop scrolling. i'm not an artist but i get it in a weird way - like when i spend hours editing a video for a 2 second reaction shot. people don't realize how much of ourselves we pour into capturing someone else's realness. adaeze is lucky to have this one day. also twelve hours on braids?? your hand must've been screaming
11 days ago