Hailee Manipole is an artist living and working in the Richmond area, known for her realistic charcoal portraiture. She graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2017 with a BFA in Communication Arts and a minor in Craft and Materials Studies.

After graduating, Hailee spent the summer in Washington, Maine, teaching drawing and metalsmithing classes at a youth summer camp for the arts, where she realized her love for teaching. Hailee held a graphic design position in an office for a short while after that; it didn't take long for her to realize that the 9:00-5:00 life wasn't for her! In early 2018, she left her office job and started working as a free-lance artist. This initially meant taking on a lot of logo and graphic design jobs, but Hailee's realistic charcoal portraits quickly gained popularity and became the bread and butter of her practice, now known as HM Portraits.

While she's most experienced in drawing and jewelry fabrication, Hailee has dipped her toes into just about everything, from needle felting and photography to concept design and animation. She loves clean lines, dirty hands, and beautiful typography, and never passes up the chance to learn something new.

You can see Hailee's work in portraiture at www.hmanipole.com or on Instagram at @hmportraits.