A commissioned portrait of a young boy called Diarmuid, which was done using graphite pencils. The drawing was for a work colleague at my previous job, and Diarmuid is his son. I drew from a nursery school photograph taken of Diarmuid at the age of three.

I’ve had a very busy week, but eventually found a few hours to make some progress in my latest commission, Diarmuid. I completed half of his jumper, which really starts to balance the drawing through the nice contrast with his lighter toned face. This week I was working in and preparing for the new exhibition, Stray by Paul Gaffney , in Belfast Exposed gallery.

In my previous work in progress update I had drawn Diarmuid’s face, I have now drawn his hair to complete his head, making a nice contrast between the darker tones of his hair and lighter tones of his face. I also done his neck and collar, leaving just his jumper and hands left to do.

This is the first work in progress update of my latest commission. The drawing is of my friend’s 4 year old son, Diarmuid, and the photograph used is his school portrait. In this first update, I have drawn his face, but as I complete other sections of the drawing, I will continually adjust and enhance details of his face to make the drawing balance well.