#proton-ghost

Haven’t been drawing regularly lately (busy at work) but eased back in using portraiture for practice and inspiration. Borgnine has such a square, vibrant face I couldn’t resist.

After a photo I took in the Louvre of a late Roman funerary statue.

Study/Sketch. Having trouble getting Pelosi right. She has little brown mouse eyes and I still haven’t mastered eyes yet.

I started with red pencil to get the under drawing and then tried cross-hatching to take an initial stab at working out the value. I like this version of the image but wanted to develop it further using a technique I had previously used in Procreate where I would add color washes under the ink drawing.

Study/Sketch. Practice, practice, practice.

This is a framed drawing (after Beatrix Potter) that I have on my night stand. The original was a very sensitively rendered ink value study. The energy changes slightly since I used a different medium (pencil vs ink). I tried to maintain the relationships of value so that I could feel as if I’m looking into the darkened interior of the fox’s house. It’s good enough that I get pleasure every time that I look at it. Being able to produce that experience through the medium of art is what I’m trying to achieve. Every once in a while, whether copying another great work or creating something original, I have that experience. I want to get past the emotional struggle that is part of the process to more consistently grow in this form of expression.

To be clear, I detest Trump and can’t wait until he is a private citizen again subject to the same standards and laws as everyone else. After being forced to endure his image in so many forms of media I was curious if I could do a good likeness.

In a similar way I also notice that when I’m talking to someone or observing someone seated close to me at a restaurant or checking out at the grocery store, I’m unconsciously analyzing the planes of their face and how the shadows reveal the structure. I wonder if this happens to all artists.