Prove yourself as the best artist for the week

Hello, Steemians! It’s your friend @emmaboy23, and I’m super excited to share my latest pencil drawing for this week’s art contest titled “Prove Yourself as the Best Artist This Week.” For my entry, I decided to challenge myself by drawing one of the most talented and inspiring singers of our time — Ariana Grande. Her elegance, confidence, and distinct personality made her the perfect choice for this creative challenge. My goal was to make the portrait feel alive even though it was done entirely in pencil. I wanted every line and shadow to capture her charisma and natural beauty. Below is the process of how I created this piece.

Drawing materials

• A4 paper

• mechanical pencil

• Graphite pencil

• charcoal pencil

• 4B pencil

• 2B pencil

• black pen

• eraser

• sharpener

Step 1

I began by lightly sketching her eyes. Once the basic shape was in place, I slowly refined her eyes, which I consider the soul of any portrait.

Step 2

Next I drew one of her hands on her face so I would be able to get the proportion of the face right. The tattoos on her hands were detailed patiently, each symbol carefully placed to make the drawing realistic and true to her personality.

Step 3

After doing that, the next stage was shading the facial features. I took my time to blend the tones around her eyes, lips, and nose, ensuring a natural look while keeping her signature makeup style intact. Then I sketched her hair as well.

Step 4

After doing that, I then drew the other hand on her face and focused on the hair. For the hair, I layered my strokes gradually using 6B and 8B pencils to achieve the dark tones and flowing texture. I used my blending stump to smooth the transitions while maintaining visible strands for realism.

Step 5

Next, I added her shoulder and shading to the clothing folds and used the blending stump to smooth out the graphite, giving the overall image a polished and balanced look.

Step 6

Next I added details to the entire drawing and added contrast where necessary and darker lines, and then my artwork was finally complete.

A selfie of me and my drawing.

Creating this drawing was both challenging and rewarding. Every pencil stroke reminded me how much dedication art requires, but also how fulfilling it feels when a piece starts to come alive. This artwork is my official entry for “Prove Yourself as the Best Artist This Week”, and I’m truly proud of how it turned out.

Thank you for stopping by my post, my fellow Steemians! I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section. Your feedback keeps me inspired to keep improving and sharing more of my pencil art with this amazing community.

Inviting

@caringmanasseh

@josepha

@m-princess

@us-andrew

Cc @dequeen

Until next time, keep creating and never stop believing in your art! 🎨✍️.