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Day 20,
I did some extra work today in lieu of tomorrow, this time working on a miscellaneous page of head constructions, plane exploration, likenesses, ect. For the Tony Soprano one, I tried to really put myself into Sargent mode, and treat the shadows as large masses on an egg shape. I wanted to keep these studies quick, so I used Mark Westermoe’s method of laying in the shadow shapes with mid value at first, later to be refined if I wanted to take this drawing further. I love this approach because it helps to identify the light and shadow separation, while at the same time leaving some room for corrections, if necessary.
Day 19
I’m going to post 2 days worth because I will be away from my computer tomorrow! For today I focussed on switching up my approach, as I typically tend to focus more on the analytical method of building up the drawing from a construction, but I also want to work on my shape design and the ability to achieve a graphic read. I have a random celebrity generator website in my bookmarks, so that I don’t keep drawing the same people over and over. For all of these, I didn’t use a construction drawing at all, instead using a high value copic marker to lay in a characteristic head shape. In the case of the Zendaya one, I did the same thing only with a water colour wash, carefully adding a little bit of warmth to the cheek area for a softer plane indication. I actually really like the Michael Jordan one not so much as an accurate portrayal, but more because its so different than what I normally do, in that there is very little linework, and most of the indication is done through value shapes. I used a little bit of white chalk to try and bring up the value a bit because I chose a copic that was way too dark at first. Learning new lessons every day!
Day 18,
Today I thought I’d try painting a celebrity portrait in procreate just for fun. I usually do my drawings in pencil before hand, but this time I used some of the pencil brushes in the app to do the drawing. I treated it like traditional media, however, by leaving in the pencil lines and painting in digital gouache underneath. I exaggerated the skin temperature quite a bit because I love the way that the cheeks and nose can be used to add saturation to a portrait. The subject is Larry David.
Day 17,
Today I did some quick sketches from some of the new videos on portrait painting. I haven’t had time to really start the course yet but I’m sure looking forward to it!
Day 16,
Today I did a preparatory sketch for an editorial/celebrity portrait of actress Lily Collins in her role in the film Mirror Mirror. I do most of my color/painting work digitally, but I still like to draw in pencil or verithin so as to be able to move my arm more freely and capture the gesture and structure of the head. When I do my celebrity portraits, I don’t actually copy from a photo reference. Instead, I use the head construction skills I have learned here through NMA to create an approximation of the person’s head shape at the angle I wish to capture. I then consult photo reference for the nuances like the shape of the person’s eyes, nose, mouth, ect. I’ve found that this method gives me the ability to still capture the likeness, while at the same time creating my own new work of art.
Day 15,
Today I did some quick sketches in my sketchbook using some of the new reference photos. Sorry the lighting is so bad for these photos, but I’m just trying to keep them quick so that I have more time to practice! Here is one of Yoni that isn’t finished by any means, but shows some exploration of planes and tone. I really love the new portrait albums by the way!
Day 14,
Two weeks in! Today I decided to focus on staging, using a barn owl as my subject. I like to study animals in addition to humans for my portraits, as animals sometimes provide us with the most unique expressions and poses. I like owls because of their unique head shape. I used a combination of a water soluble brush pen and a water brush pen for an ink wash/hatching combination.
Day 13:
Today I decided to do a study of a European sculpture, using mostly a brush pen to explore using large blocks of dark value to indicate planes. I am trying to incorporate the planar approach more into my work, blocking in value areas, and then going back in to add detail within the shadows, if possible. Of course since this was an ink exercise, this level of refinement wasn’t really possible, but I did enjoy the chance to problem solve using designed
graphic shapes.Day 12:
Today I decided to focus on expressions, trying to envision the muscles at work under the skin.
Day 11:
Today I decided to have some fun in my sketchbook and explore a looser style inspired by urban sketching and current lifestyle illustration. I chose Howard Stern as my subject as his unique likeness gave me many ideas for exaggeration and caricature. I used a combination of a water soluble brush pen, leading to some bleeding and mixing effects and coloured inks. I’m thinking of using this study as inspiration for a more refined portrait as part of my ongoing editorial celebrity portraits project.
Day 10:
Today I did a quick sketchbook study of a Sergio Toppi piece using a crow quill nib and brush pen combination. This was a good exercise in hatching technique and the stylization of facial proportions.
Day 9:
Today I did some pen and ink freehand sketches in my sketchbook exploring some unique faces. I attempted to add a little bit of warmth on one of them in copic marker but it was a bit too strong, so next time I would do it with watercolour. I definitely like the idea of combining the white of the paper with some small spots of colour, and I often incorporate this approach into my celebrity portraits. I also tried to introduce some of the scribbling, looser lines used by artists like Sargent in his charcoal drawings and Heinrich Kley in his ink work. Working without a pencil drawing is quite liberating and I want to keep exploring these looser types of sketches in order to make even my more finished work more energetic and interesting.
Day 8:
Today I decided to do something totally out of my comfort zone and try out the illustrator Kim Jung Gi’s approach to drawing the head, which is to essentially freehand it with a brush pen with no pencil sketch. I typically like to construct my heads very carefully using a combination of Steve Huston and Mark Westermoe’s approaches, but instead I had to make decisions on the fly. I did start out with a very high value neutral gray marker as somewhat of an underpainting, so to speak. Then I went in with a chunkier brush pen. This isn’t my favourite approach, but it has taught me to think even more about mark making. Charles Hu has a really great video in the costume series where he uses a brush pen, so I also used that as a starting point!
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