ABOUT ME:

“When you cease to learn, you cease to grow. And when you cease to grow, you cease to improve, get better, move forward.”

-Uknown

Hello my name is A. DaCosta also known as DaCostaArt, and I am a New Jersey pencil artist. The idea of turning a blank piece of paper into a drawing so life like it looks like a photograph is what attracted me to this style of realistic art. Growing up I’ve always had a pencil in my hand. Drawing people and face portraits was something I always enjoyed doing. My art journey began in January 2019, when I decided it was time to take my passion for art more serious and study realism drawing.

I believe the way in which I create my drawings is what defines me as an artist . The style in which I create my pencil drawings isn’t the traditional style of a pencil artist. I use both charcoal and graphite pencils as well as powder in my drawings. I’ve found that using them together in balance achieves a different level of realism. Another unique technique of mine is using different types of paintbrushes to blend my graphite and charcoal.  This technique is key in creating smooth blending and/or matte black colors for life-like textures. When choosing my paper, I use three types for my drawings; Bristol smooth, cartridge and hot press water color paper.  After trying every type of paper, I’ve found that hot press watercolor paper works very well with charcoal in creating life-like textures.

My current work focuses on where I started: drawing people and face portraits. I’ve found that my passion for this type of work has grown with this new understanding of hyper realism. A favorite quote of mine reads “When you cease to learn, you cease to grow. And when you cease to grow, you cease to improve, get better, move forward.” Although I’m happy with my current work, I’m still improving and learning this challenging style of hyper realism with each drawing I complete.