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Samantha Ornellas is a self-taught artist who is inspired by many things: The way light falls. The angle of a face. An intimate moment between two people. Lines. Shapes. Colors in nature!

“When I am creating a charcoal piece there is no pre-drawn image,” she explains. “Using a charcoal sachet, I place the eyes. The sachet allows for fine charcoal powder to fall down the paper and create a layer of dust that I can move around and manipulate with a dry paintbrush and eraser to fill in the other details. I use a vine charcoal stick and pencil to emphasize dark tonal values for contrast. A spray of acetone creates little bubbles for added texture and interest! Like watercolor it is hard if not impossible to correct a mistake once the charcoal has been pushed into the paper. So I have to find the balance between being careful and taking risks!”