Wow, life has been crazy! Aside from wedding planning (less than 90 days away, oh my gosh!) and getting settled in our new house (home art studio is coming along nicely) I’ve also been cast as the lead in my community theater’s production of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” Breaking gender rules, which, I love!

So while I’ve had little time on my hands outside of work and rehearsal, I’m proud of myself for making time to revisit something I haven’t done in a while: portraiture. Specifically, graphite portraiture.

I’ve never been a huge fan of drawing in pencil — I’m a lefty so, ya know, graphite tends to leave my entire drawing hand coated in grey dust — but I do LOVE doing portrait work in this medium.

After seeing the new Fantastic Beasts trailer flash across my TV, I was feeling inspired.

I’ve mentioned before how much I love this franchise and this character in particular, and had a lot of fun setting aside a couple of hours to do this drawing.

I’m looking forward to having more free time after next weekend following the conclusion of “Willy Wonka” and sharing photos of my developing home art studio!