Welcome to my gallery of work with @lifefigure_. This page is in development. I appreciate your patience with my process.
Photo reference drawings
In the galleries for the images below you will see the originals in my sketchbooks, digital versions of some images, and artist trading cards for each photo reference I worked with. All of the new @lifefigure_ digital composites for 2026 utilize my painted abstract (above) from his painted name card (below). Yep, the one above now looks like the one below and has now become digital.
He is the first model that I started working from photo reference with via Instagram in 2021.
@lifefigure_ – reference one
This photo reference mixed media drawing from 2021 of @lifefigure_ includes stamp inks, alcohol inks, pastel, and graphite. You will find it in my 98lb. mixed media 5.5 x 8.5 sketchbook. In the gallery below I’ve included digital versions of this image. The first four digital versions are from 2021 and utilized preset filters. The next digital version, also from 2021, is combined with another one of my abstracts to create a digital composite. The final digital composite is the new one (2026) created with my painted abstract as mentioned and shown above.
A 2023 mixed media drawing of the reference photo in the same 98lb. mixed media 5.5 x 8.5 sketchbook is next. This image contains drawing inks (wet media) for the background pattern, with pastel, and graphite (dry media) for the figure drawing. I’ve also included the new 2026 digital composite of the image.
Below I’ve included the artist trading card for the reference. The artist trading card is pastel, charcoal, and graphite on cardstock.
The reference photos from @lifefigure_ are quite inspirational. Reference photos like his really presented challenges and opportunities for growth and creative exploration. I was inspired more than once, as you can see above and below by multiple interpretations of the same images.
reference two
You can find both the 2021 blind contour above and the 2023 mixed media drawing below in my 98lb. mixed media 5.5 x 8.5 sketchbook. The image above is stamp ink, acrylic marker, pastel, and graphite. The image below is quite textural with acrylic, acrylic mediums, alcohol ink, pastel, and graphite. I’ve also included the new 2026 digital composite with both images.
From the same reference photo, the next image is in my 98lb. mixed media 7 x 10 sketchbook. This 2023 modified blind contour mixed media figurative image is textural, geometric, patterned, and consists of stamp ink, acrylic marker, pastel, charcoal, and graphite. I’ve also included the new 2026 digital composite of the image.
The artist trading card for this reference photo is below. It is pastel, charcoal, and graphite on cardstock.
reference three
This 2023 mixed media drawing is in my 5 x 8 (65lb.) volume two sketchbook. This image is a bit textural and includes acrylic, alcohol ink, pastel, charcoal and graphite. I’ve also included the new 2026 digital composite of the image. This is followed by the artist trading card for the reference photo. The atc is pastel, charcoal, and graphite on cardstock.
reference four
The 2023 blind contour mixed media drawing above is in my 5 x 5 blue sketch. This image includes acrylic, pastel, and charcoal. I’ve also included two new 2026 digital composites for this image. The name card abstract mentioned above is utilized in two distinctively different ways for these composites. This is followed by the artist trading card for the reference photo. The atc is pastel, charcoal, and graphite on cardstock.
reference five
Above is a 2023 mixed media blind contour drawing in my 5 x 7 rainbow sketch red pages. This one is acrylic, pastel, charcoal, and graphite. Below is a 2023 digital version where the image above is combined with one of my geometric abstracts in acrylic on canvas paper.
The next image is the 2024 artist trading card for the reference. The atc is pastel, charcoal, and graphite on cardstock.
For my next drawing of reference five, it was inevitable that I would explore more with using the gel plate. I use it for applying acrylic to paper that normally would not handle the moisture content. I used the gel plate to paint a contour drawing in wet media and then transfer to the sketchbook. Of course, this led to a reverse “mirror image” of the original.
This was a process all it’s own that probably could use a blog post about and definitely worth trying again. Then I had to reverse the reference image to complete the sketchbook mixed media drawing with dry media. This image is also in my 5 x 7 rainbow sketch, but in the green pages. This sketchbook image consists of acrylic, pastel, charcoal, and graphite.
Of course, this led my curiosity to go back again to reference five of @lifefigure_ and draw it again from the mirrored image resulting in the image below. This mixed media image is in my 5 x 7 sketching (50 lb.) pad and consists of stamp ink, alcohol ink, pastel, charcoal, and graphite.
Curious for more, I had to explore some digital image editing with this new drawing. Of course, in that process I decided to reverse the image again back to the original reference position resulting in the digital composite image below.
@lifefigure_ – reference six
Although similar to the previous reference, this is a different one. No reverse imaging was done. The image above was done in my 98lb. mixed media 5.5 x 8.5 sketchbook. The sketchbook image consists of stamp ink, alcohol ink, drawing ink, pastel, and graphite. The image below is the artist trading card for the reference. The atc is pastel, charcoal, and graphite on cardstock.
@lifefigure_ – reference seven
Shown above is a 2026 mixed media collage of @lifefigure_ in my 6 x 9 black sketchbook. The image consists of acrylic, pastel, charcoal, and graphite. Below is the new artist trading card for the reference. The atc is a modified blind contour mixed media collage consisting of paper bag, acrylic, pastel, charcoal, and graphite on cardstock.
Artist Trading Cards
The first six artist trading cards were created in 2024 for the first six reference photos. The images can be seen above with their related photo reference drawings and in the gallery on the ATC page linked above. The newest atc created in 2026 has also been added there and can be seen above with reference seven.
Thanks for taking your time to look at my work of @lifefigure_. I appreciate it.