In this exclusive realtime tutorial from the Ethnic Blooms series, we draw a life-size portrait of an elderly woman paired with a radiant sunflower on 350 GSM paper (16×20 inches). The sunflower here symbolizes strength, warmth, and an enduring spirit, reflected in every wrinkle and detail of the face. The process begins with a 1-inch grid for accurate outlines of the head, scarf, jewelry, and sunflower before moving into deep shading. You’ll learn to build rich graphite bases with powders and brushes, add embroidery and fabric textures with erasers and cross-hatching, and create realistic elderly skin using wrinkles, pores, and tonal variation. Key techniques include balancing depth and softness, layering eraser-based highlights, fine hair rendering, and jewel-like reflections. References are included in the Materials section.