It has become a tradition. Since I began drawing, I make a Jack Sparrow artwork every two years. It is a good habit, not only because I love Captain Jack Sparrow, but also because I can track my progress this way. I did the original post 2 years ago, you can check it out here. Now, a couple years later, I thought I should add the 2019 version.

2013 was graphite, 2015 prismacolor colored pencils.

2017 faber-castell polychromos colored pencils and now in 2019, I felt the urge to go back to my signature style, and create a heavily textured, high contrast, black and white drawing. (True, it is 2020 now, but I finished the drawing in 2019, so it is within the 2-year margin, right?)

Tools

• Winsor&Newton smooth surface cartridge pad 230gsm. (My favorite paper to this date. It has a slight texture that is visible under all the layers of graphite, and as you already know, I am not a fan of super smooth flawless shading. Love paper texture, I feel it makes my drawing “legit”.)
• Mars Lumograph 4B and 8B graphite pencils, with 8B used about 80% of the time.
• Tombow Mono eraser.
• Putty eraser
• Tissue for blending.

Thoughts

It’s crazy seeing your old art and seeing how much you have improved or gotten worse in some cases. My art journey has been hectic and not-so-smooth. You can check it out here:

After many idle years, it was hard for me to grab my pencils again, both physically and emotionally, because my technique deteriorated. But here I am again, determined to continue my journey. Keep your eye on the horizon for the 2021 Jack Sparrow drawing! Ahoy!