This is not a drawing or photo, but rather scratchboard. This medium is one of the most difficult and unforgiving art mediums. The scratchboard panel is a fibrous wood-like material, coated with a special white clay, and a topcoat of black ink. Using mainly a scalpel, I scratched hundreds of small specks and lines to remove the ink. The white clay formed the image as a result of the various patterns I scratched out. I recently did this scratchboard piece after the Opus 2023 art show. One of the visitors was looking at my work and talking to me about music and art. He mentioned that I didn't have a Willie Nelson piece up there. I thought it would be a great addition and an interesting subject. He's older now and his skin is weathered. This makes the perfect subject reference for a scratchboard portrait. Nelson has a nice relaxing vibe, which makes this an even more enjoyable piece. I love the way this came out. It's now one of my favorite portraits.