About

I first discovered I could draw when I was about 14. I had always enjoyed art, but I never really thought I had any particular gift for it. I remember sitting in one of my middle school classes, bored silly. We had finished work for the day, and were waiting the extra 10 or 15 minutes for the bell to ring and signal our escape. I remember distinctly looking across the isle and seeing someone’s Trapper Keeper laying on the desk next to mine. It had the Tasmanian Devil in 3 different poses dancing across it. I am not sure what prompted me to pick up my pencil, unearth a sheet of paper, and start drawing Taz. However, in that few minutes I discovered a talent I didn’t even know I had. I looked at the paper when I was done, amazed to see Taz looking back at me. When I took the paper home to show my mother, she said, “Who drew that?” She was just as surprised as me! For some reason, it just came easily for me to draw what I could see. I really haven’t stopped drawing since that day.

I continued to draw, mainly cartoons and Disney characters. I remember taking the Sunday comics and copying Snoopy and Garfield. I drew a few animals, but basically stayed away from people because it was just too daunting. However, I won’t forget something that happened that changed my attitude. We were visiting family, and my Mom was telling my older brother how I could draw any picture I could see. He said, “Okay, draw me this”, and took out his wallet and handed me his ID. “I can do anything but people,” I said. This was a very small conversation, but it changed my thinking. I considered it a challenge now, and set a goal of learning to draw people.

Now, I wanted nothing more than to be able to capture the human face, which is arguably the hardest thing to master. My first attempts were not great, still loking a lot like cartoons. Like a true perfectionist, I kept at it, and gradually I discovered how to really manipulate graphite. I started to master shading, and quit working with just a mechanical pencils, and bought some real graphite pencils of varying hardness. I also learned about proportions and really developed my own unique style. Eventually, I realized I had quite a portfolio of works. So, I launched my website PencilsandPixelsArt.com and offered portrait commissions.

Like most pencil artists, I started drawing pictures of celebrities, and then progressed to portraits of family and friends. I still enjoy working with photos to create protraits because it captures the essence of a person in a single instant, be it joy, sadness, surprise, or even flirtation. (I also still enjoy drawing my favorite celebrities for fun.)

To me the eyes are one of the most important features of the face. As the old saying goes, “the eyes are the window of the soul”, and they alone can speak volumes about the emotion of a subject.

While I still create portraits, I have changfed my focus to include creating some original pieces. My priomary medium is stil graphite, often combined with charcoal or carbon. however, I have also been experimenting with pastel chalk and colored pencil.

While in college studying graphic design, I had to take photography classes, and those were really interesting. I have always enjoyed photography, and have been experimenting with that recently as well. I have been gathering quite a portfolio of photographs. My favortie subject is nature. Some of my pictures I use as basis for my graphite art.

Thanks for your interest and visiting!

Nicole I. Hamilton
Artist/Graphic Designer