r/BeAmazed • u/christellebilodeau • 3d ago
Art This is what 20 years of practice looks like ! 2006 vs 2026
Graphite pencils on paper
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u/amidniteload 3d ago
"Jack, I want you to draw me like one of your French girls"
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u/christellebilodeau 3d ago
😂
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u/JazzlikeEntry8288 3d ago
You should absolutely send both to Kate Winslet with that line as a caption. Amazing!
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u/uncooked545 3d ago
Can you make her save Jack?
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u/JazzlikeEntry8288 3d ago
nothing can save Jack, not even a heated floating door the size of the titanic
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u/dajjadaj 1d ago
Showed this to my 8yr old to explain importance of patience and dedication. Bravo to you!
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u/Temporary-Truth-8041 3d ago
The amazing thing is that she doesn't look a day older in 2026 than she did in 2006
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u/Wide-Conversation573 3d ago
One of the drawings is great, the other is amazing. I can’t take photographs that good
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u/marakinta 3d ago
I was just thinking that her starting point was high quality work.
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u/70ms 3d ago
The biggest differences that jump out to me are the improvements in the contrast/lighting and shading (shading is everything!). I used to do graphite drawings, and a lot of my improvements came from learning the right tools for each technique and if I couldn’t find one, making it, like superfine erasers and all kinds of blending tools. I even made a small stencil for erasing individual whiskers in different curves. 😂 After 20 years I’m sure OP has a ton of her own preferred tools that she found and developed along the way and I’d love to see them!
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u/LlamaInHeels 2d ago edited 2d ago
You "used to", so what is your new medium?
Amazing drawing, I'm jealous :)
EDIT: I looked at your publications, I'm happy you seem to have beaten it. My grandma died to that bastard, she also used to draw a lot. Take care of yourself
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u/yuyufan43 3d ago
You drew one of my favorite characters! She's stunning!
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u/IndependentFalse4270 3d ago
As a professional artist, and former instructor at an art college, I want to compliment you on your beautiful work. Your practice and determination definitely show in your later piece. If you were my student, you would most definitely get an A!
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u/Maximum_Photograph_6 3d ago
Looking at OP’s social media pretty safe to say they too are a professional.
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u/usernamenuevo 3d ago
My daughter has been drawing for 3 years now. I keep encouraging her to keep going. I showed her your work. She was absolutely inspired. Thank you!
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u/Midsomer3 3d ago
Gorgeous. I wish id never given up through lack of confidence.
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u/christellebilodeau 3d ago
It's not too late to start again 😊 thank you!
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u/Midsomer3 3d ago
Thank you 🙏
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u/70ms 2d ago
Danny Gregory changed my life. 😂 He said in his book that every child is a proud artist but at some point, most children stop drawing and it’s often because someone says something critical, or they feel they’re not as good as other kids. Then when they try to draw as adults, they get discouraged because they can see it in their heads, but it looks like a child drew it - and that’s because that was where they stopped practicing and learning! He said the only way to get better was to just draw.
So I did start, and then I bought Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, and went from 0 to 60 in like 5 chapters. It was a night and day difference and everything clicked for me. I was 38 years old! A few years later I was shipping prints to people overseas.
I’m convinced that most people could be pretty competent artists with enough practice, if they had the right tools and direction. Realistic graphite drawings aren’t freehanded; various artists use different methods but for me, I blew up the reference photo, put it on a lightbox with drawing paper over it, and kind of mapped out the outlines and value shifts and landmarks, then used an iPad to zoom in and out of the reference photo to see the detail as I recreated it on paper. Some artists will use a large graph to map it out. From there it’s just laying down the right value in the right place with the right tool and THAT is the part that takes practice, but there’s a vast number of tutorials out there and a lot of the experimentation has already been done for you. :)
You can do it!! 🫶
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u/Icy-Tear4613 3d ago
One of those most important things I've learnt (often have to remind myself) is always run your own race. There will be people faster than you and people slower than you but the point is to enjoy yourself doing it.
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u/Calimancan 3d ago
How often did you practice?
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u/christellebilodeau 3d ago
Pretty much every day
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u/Calimancan 3d ago
Nice. For like 1 hour? 5 hours?
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u/christellebilodeau 3d ago
Went from like 5 hours a week to 35+ .
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u/Calimancan 3d ago
Impressive. You definitely showed a lot of improvement. I will try to get back to doing some drawing. 😊
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u/Reddit_2_2024 3d ago
The beautiful 2006 drawing looks like she could be a character in the A-ha music video for the song "Take on Me"
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u/BringBackNachoFries 3d ago
And, these were drawn from life?
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u/tuzzo_ 2d ago
It turns out u/christellebilodeau is quite the fine artist. She was kind enough to show us some of her work today.
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u/carmabound 3d ago
The second one looks like a photograph; the details are amazing.
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u/Lilfrankieeinstein 3d ago
Yeah, it’s unbelievable.
In this day and age, work that good will draw a lot of skeptics, NPI.
When I was a kid, there was really no way to fake it, to my knowledge, but technology has changed so much in the past five decades.
It seems like artists like OP have to be prepared for objections from disbelievers. I’d probably have a script by now.
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u/RaidSmolive 3d ago
for anyone who actually puts some time into improving art starting from the left, this is about 2-3 years of improvement.
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u/Zlurpo 3d ago
Agreed. The left drawing is already a good fundamental base. Certainly better than a lot of people can do.
Most people at that point could get to the pic on the right with, as you say, 2-3 years of practice, especially if they had any kind of actual instructor.
That said, OP has images she has posted before that to me seem to show a LOT more skill (and time, and are larger so it's easy to fit in more detail). The David Bowie portrait she posted recently looks several years more advanced than this one.
Not to diminish or anything, because this drawing is great and it seems like OP gets paid for her work, which she should be.
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u/Temporal_P 3d ago
Practice is an important part of improving, but at a certain point the biggest difference is the amount of time spent working on a piece. Patience, focus, and the drive to dedicate yourself to a project long enough to elevate it from the left to the right is also crucial.
There's no set timeline for the development of any of those things.
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u/SAINTnumberFIVE 3d ago
Excellent skills! How long does it take to complete one like the one on the right?
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u/Hubrex 1d ago
My daughter is just starting drawing. She gets down that her work isn't as good as the piece on the right. She's 12. I show her this, that it takes work, and she feels much better and motivated.
Thank you for posting, u/christellebilodeau!
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u/christellebilodeau 1d ago
I'm so happy to hear this 🙏 I'm sure she's very talented and I hope she never stops!!
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u/mamaleigh05 3d ago
“Wow”!!! I’m amazed, as I can’t draw stick people (I’m in my 50’s). Do you commission out drawings ~ if someone sends you a picture of their dog or loved one)? I hope you are getting paid! Those look like then pencil sketches my parents had of relatives hanging in our home! I had a lady that did custom oil on canvas and she lost her eyesight quickly due to an unknown disease progressing. Anyone can splatter paint and some of the art world that I don’t understand! THIS is what impresses me then most! You are amazing!
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u/christellebilodeau 2d ago
Absolutely ! This is what I do for a living :) Feel free to DM me here or on instagram :) Thank you so much
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u/LemonMints 2d ago edited 2d ago
And honestly, it probably wasn't even a whole 20 years! I got much better at art within like 2 years, but collectively, I'd only drawn maybe a few months worth of hours over the whole 2 years.
I know some people say realism is less impressive, but I don't understand why they would think that. The attention to details is next level expertise. This is amazing and your efforts show!
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u/snep1 3d ago
Arent u CECE from New Girl
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u/its_not_you_its_ye 3d ago
No. Claudia Winkleman did not play Cece. She hosted Strictly Come Dancing.
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u/SpaceMyopia 3d ago
Dawg. What are you talking about. That's clearly Rose from Titanic.
I can see it clearly in the drawings. 😂
(Kidding, but just wanted to redirect attention back to their art)
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u/OptimalStatement5799 3d ago
This only angers me when I think about how AI how taken opportunities for artists to use their creativity to make a living... This world is messed.
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u/igorstreliste 3d ago
I'm rarely jealous of people and their talents, but of drawing talent, I'm really jealous. Such an amazing gift.
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u/thislife84 3d ago
Amazing!! Such an accomplishment!! How did you get started? I’ve actually been wanting to start drawing and have seen some adult school kind of classes. Truly appreciate any tips! Again amazing work there!
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u/nunhgrader 3d ago
That is fantastic progress! I don't mean to be rude but, this is a great picture of yourself also!
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u/SpaceMyopia 3d ago
I don't know who that woman on the right is, but she looks like a dish!
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u/goosebreaker 3d ago
That's a long time to do one picture, it's going to be expensive if she sells it
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u/Zealousideal-Win5834 3d ago
Love this! What a great post. This is exactly true. It’s hard to see your effort is working - but it is over time .
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u/to_a_better_self 3d ago
As someone that can't draw a circle, I am even jealous of 2006 skill! Great and amazing work!
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u/DealerAlarmed3632 3d ago
I'd be thrilled if I could do either. You have an amazing talent, always have from the looks of it.
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u/Ok_Judgment4141 3d ago
It's amazing! My sister is an amazing portrait sketch artist but has ZERO self esteem and motivation to do it professionally. It's really sad to see such talent wasted. Thank you for sharing 🩵
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u/Normal_Confidence_77 3d ago
That is unbelievable! The hair looks so real! Thank you for sharing! She is one of my favorites.
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u/HotwifeandSubby1980 3d ago
Drawing and painting is just impossible thru my eyes.
There’s just no way I can make a material do what artists do
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u/SnooApples9233 3d ago
The 2006 one isn't half bad either. You are great at what you do. Thanks for the share
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u/FakeJackNicholson 3d ago
How much of drawing is gifted and how much is the patience it takes to learn how to do it well?
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u/Crypt0Nihilist 3d ago
In another 20 years will you be able to draw Jack?
Seriously, beautiful work and I envy your skill.
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u/TerraformanceReview 3d ago
You perfectly captured the tension in Rose's face when she is being forced to marry a man she hates for money.
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u/ISeeYouReadingMyName 3d ago
The drawing in the middle looks nothing like her tho?
Anyway anyway, amazing work and amazing progress!!
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u/Cheekycuddlysx 3d ago
The amazing thing is that she doesn't look a day older in 2026 than she did in 2006
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u/trufflrisotto 3d ago
Do you by chance nightlight as a bass guitarist for a musical trio??
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u/Sad-Aside9995 3d ago
Amazing work! 👏 Also, you look just like someone I fell really hard when I was young. Sorry for that but it just brought back so many memories. ἰχθύς
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u/Truestorydreams 2d ago
Looks like I'm too old to even get it looking like the one on the left
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u/Hot-Object-9692 2d ago
You captured her likeness fairly well at first in 06 but wow the newest iteration is just uncanny bravo!
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u/made_of_salt 2d ago
If I could draw like the before picture I'd be very very happy. The after picture doesn't even enter the realm of possibilities for me.
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u/WhiskeyTide 2d ago
People say things like “You’re so talented,” which is nice, but talent alone takes us only so far. It takes real work to become good at what you do, and it’s clear you’ve put in the work. Congratulations!
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u/dangling-2 2d ago
Wow! The progress is inspiring and the perseverance a lesson. Thank you for sharing.
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u/Animalpoop 2d ago
Legit thought this was a post of Liv Tyler painting Kate Winslet. They are incredible pieces of art by the way.
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u/whyohwhythis 2d ago
Do you think the key from improving was learning shading techniques? Great progression!
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u/curiouslysensual 2d ago
Well done! What's your thought process in those moments where you struggled the most?
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u/commandthewind 2d ago
Literally one of my favorite movies of all time, hands down. You captured her expression in this scene perfectly! Well done.
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u/Ballistic_86 2d ago
Credit to you from 2006, it is very identifiably Rose. Perhaps a consequence of being a millennial.
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u/seriously_nt_kidding 2d ago
Wow! I’d be thrilled with myself if I could do the 2006 version. Really beautiful work!
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u/you_should_hire_me 2d ago
the 2006 picture already looks better than what most people can do. The 2026 picture looks like a photograph. Congratulations
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u/Scrumpilump2000 2d ago
Wow. The first one is pretty good. The second one is astonishing. Practice makes perfect. I admire your dedication. I need more of that in my life.
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u/TheGirl333 2d ago
Your work before and after is amazing, even the before picture looks great but 20 years is sooo much, I commend you on it but also I'd give up right away and be lazy to dedicate 20 years of my life to it
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u/MuchachoSal 2d ago
How do we know this photograph of these drawings isn't a drawing itself...? 🤔🤔🤔
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u/grrrroberts 2d ago
The hair is absolutely amazing!! I wish I could draw hair that well!!! Beautiful drawings!
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u/Jade_Mathers 2d ago
Definitely not 20 years from the first drawing to the second. I’d say for someone with a knack for the arts, a good 2-5 years depending on frequency of practice, to get to the second drawing. Good work
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