I have become more interested in the overall tonal effect and atmosphere that is possible in a drawing; not just proportional accuracy which was my early goal. I constantly experiment with different media that might create a divergent effects. Different tones of paper, grades of pencil, charcoal, types of pens and different inks - I am always on the hunt for how different tools or the interplay of varying media might affect the final image.  I generally work on toned paper, and most commonly I build a drawing in layers, starting a light underdrawing in pencil or charcoal and then adding darker layers in graphite or ink on top of that. 

My drawing focus has sharpened relative to the early years (the work here is shown with more recent pieces towards the top). Whereas early work included animal sketches, patterns, and landscapes, my more recent work has been primarily oriented to portraits. This partially reflects my comfort with the technical skills needed to do a reasonable portrait. But I also find that a drawing is a highly compelling medium for portraiture. With this in mind, I have invested a fair amount of time studying and copying old master portraits, trying to learn techniques of the masters that I can incorporate into my work. Rembrandt etchings have been a particularly valuable learning resource for me, since each of his portrait etchings are packed with emotion and the etched lines offer a precise recounting of how Rembrandt constructed his images. The most notable example of a crossover of the learnings from these copies to original work is the series that I did on African migrants, six of which are shown here.