Portrait Drawing Timelapse :: Bobby Aragon

Welcome to my pencil portrait drawing timelapse of the amazingly fierce Bobby Aragon! I really enjoyed creating this piece featuring the interesting upward angle and his super gnarly dreads.

And even though Bobby looks like a force to be reckoned with he is actually a big sweetie and a tender father - and a super talented jewelry wrap artist to boot! So watch him come to life today with some super fun 'n funky music.... 

And if you'd like a little more info about getting your own portrait created by me have a looksy right here

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originally published on June 13, 2018

Yasmine Portrait Drawing

HI friends! It's so lovely to be able to make art simply for the sake of capturing beauty, and sometimes I get so caught up in other things that I forget to make time to just enjoy the process for myself. 

I don't think I've done a portrait drawing in months just for fun so here's a super casual lil vid featuring my drawing of Yasmine set to some really fun French-style remix music by a lady who is generous enough to let YouTubers use her tunes for our vids, Dyalla Swain. 

Hope you enjoy watching as much as I enjoyed relaxing and drawing!

Is there anything you'd like me to discuss in an upcoming vid? Feel free to drop me a comment here or on the YouTube comments:)

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originally published April 18, 2018

Choosing a Great Reference Photo

Howdy friends! Remember last week I shared the whole portrait commissioning/ drawing process video that I'd been working on for my custom portrait website? Well today I am sharing another piece of that easy commissioning process - 'Choosing a Great Reference Photo' - Yay!

The most important thing about having a custom piece of artwork created for a client is that the process should be super simple and really exciting for them so anything I can do to reach those goals is key!

So here's a little teaser of my fancy shmancy new step-by-step guide to choosing an excellent reference photo. Click the pic (or right here) to see all the details.

Keep reading....

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I would love any feedback on my site improvements! Does this speak to you in a clear, understandable, and friendly way? Any spots where you need to call the grammar police? ;)

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originally published April 1, 2018

Custom Portrait Drawing Process

Hi friends! I have been working super hard behind the scenes lately to polish up my custom portrait drawing website in order to make choosing a reference photo as well as commissioning a portrait as easy and uncomplicated as possible. 

It's important for me to learn how to be very clear so my clients get most of their questions answered right off the bat, instead of having to email back and forth to get the ball rolling. Don't get me wrong, I am always thrilled any time someone contacts me in reference to a portrait plus I actually prefer to help my clients choose the very best photo to use, but folks like to know exactly what to expect right off the bat. And who can blame them? I'm the same way so I don't like to make potential clients wait for an email response to have all the information they need when deciding to commission a piece from me. 

So enjoy this 2 minute video showing how fun and easy it is to get your very own custom portrait drawing - a gift that your recipient will love and admire for many years to come:)

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originally published March 28, 2018

Amazing Muse Connection + Doting Mama Appreciation

Wow! I cannot believe how lucky I am to be featured by two such amazing women this past week! Being shared as an artist is the most wonderful and helpful action that folks can take - and I especially love it when we as women can get together to create great art and build each other up too!

Farina, my last Bohemian Goddess, was such a pleasure to paint. Not only is she naturally gorgeous, I really loved painting the interesting shadows on her face and the lush green crown. If you've been seeing my newer paintings then you know this painting was a bit of a springboard for my recent works. 

As I mention on the 'Farina' painting page on my website (here),  she runs a really popular YouTube vlog and she has humbled me so much by including my artwork on a recent video! Wow!! I'm blown away! You can see her excitement while opening up her package of prints and a calendar - squee!! Thank you Farina for sharing my art with so many people! Check out that video here (Skip to minute 22:30 to jump right to the unboxing!):

And as if Farina's excitement wasn't enough... 

I also got to work with an especially sweet and thoughtful mom blogger who wrote a truly tender blog post about the pencil portrait I recently drew of her and her adorable son, Asher. How cute are the two of them together?!? Two peas in a pod for sure! :) 

Krista Happ of 'Happy As We Know It' is such an uplifting and gentle mama. Her posts are filled with love and light, and she writes very meaningfully about motherhood and finding one's place in the world. I am so honored to have my portrait be a part of Krista's tenderly written blog post last week. Thank you Krista for including me in such a wonderful message of love!! Read her post here:

'Because Love is Everyday'

(PS. Snag your own custom pencil portrait here!)

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originally published February 4, 2018

'Lil Man Portrait Drawing Demo

Just a short 'n simple timelapse demo drawing of this adorable little boy I created for a client out of pencil and conte. Enjoy! 

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originally published January 31, 2018

Portrait Drawing Timelapse :: Sunshine

Aloha friends! Today I am bringing you my very first video from inside my new art studio - woo hoo! My little bungalow has such lovely natural lighting and I'm looking forward to so many more videos to come... Yay!

I am drawing 'Sunshine' timelapse-style for you, plus I got some really cool French-inspired music for this vid too. You can see Sunshine in real life through her IG @sunshine_iino and make sure you visit mine @caleighbirdart while you're there too :)

PS If you're about to go on freak-out mode looking for the perfect last minute gift I have Gift Gertificates for my custom pencil portraits here 

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originally published December 19, 2017

Featured on Danae Reid's YouTube! Wow!

Friends, I am beside myself with gratitude for the video that Danae Reid made about receiving her portrait in the mail. She gets so excited and is so appreciative and has been so great helping me get new eyes on my work.

Danae, who is a fellow YouTuber as well as a Radio DJ and blogger (and all around amazing woman), is someone I connected with through her Instagram and asked if I could draw her portrait in exchange for her sharing my work with her audience. I've been doing a lot of collaborations like this lately and it's been fantastic for growing my portrait drawing audience.

And the big bonus is I get to connect with all of these amazing and creative hard-working entrepreneurial women that know the true meaning of the creator-hustle!

So check out this unwrapping vid and see why my cheeks turned bright pink and all my insides overflowed with mushy grateful-loving-goodness vibes. Danae is charming and amazing and I'm sure is destined for greatness (because she will work at it 'til she achieves it!) :):):)

Make sure to check out my last blog post here that features my drawing of Danae while sharing what I've found to be the best pencils for creating portraits. 

PS You can still snag a custom portrait (starting at $85) before Xmas until December 12th (or December 15th with Expedited Shipping) but don't wait too long if you're thinking about it because if I get full I may not be able to take more commissions.  Have a looksy here 

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originally published December 2, 2017

The Best Pencils for Portrait Drawing

Well, sometimes the title really says it all... this is a roundup of my very most favorite and totally essential pencils for drawing my trademark custom pencil portraits. It's actually not a very big collection, which is great because minimalism makes life so much easier. 

I use a small variety of regular graphite pencils, woodless pencils and a white conte pencil for the highlights on my favorite smooth Strathmore toned paper. 

Happy Drawing!

And here is lovely 'Danae' who I used as my drawing demo muse today. She's a really cool radio host and and YouTuber and can be found living life to the fullest at @duhhnay_

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originally published November 28, 2017

Thoughts on Achieving Perfection + Portrait Drawing Demo

Aloha friends! Today I've got something a little different for you. I've made a speed demo of my latest pencil portrait, Isabella, and during the vid I talk a bit about what perfection in one's own art means to me.

Salvador Dali has a fantastic quote that I share in the vid as a kicking off point to discuss 'perfection.' I find it helps me me avoid getting too caught up in minutiae, but I'm also curious if any of you wonderful readers have a quote, mantra, or standard that helps you continue to grow in your own craft, be it art-making or otherwise, and not get bogged down with self-doubt or self-critiques? Leave it for me in the comments!

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originally posted November 14, 2017