Quick sketch of Frida Kahlo with my new Blackwing pencils.  I really like the versatility of these graphite utensils.

Pushkin

It's been awhile since I did a portrait so I'm a bit rusty.  This is a copy of a drawing from the cover of a book of Pushkin poetry.

Henri Fantin-Latour

I am a big fan of Henri Fantin-Latour's floral compositions and I'm not even sure I can explain why.  I  simply like the shapes, colors, and energy in his paintings.  Here is a copy of a self portrait.  The eyes are a bit too close too each other so I need to be more diligent at measuring before I commit the darker values.

Olive and Ernesto

For my sisters birthday in January I offered a commissioned painting of her choice.  Of course I could have guessed she would want a portrait of one of her dogs.  And in fact she requested a portrait of both her dogs (since the commission she has adopted a third dog named Lulu Bell) with a bayou theme.  She sent me a few photos to assist me in my composition but little did I know how much work is involved in a commissioned painting.  Well, after much effort I completed the painting in August but it needed time to dry and I also oiled it out and applied touch up varnish to give it a nice finished look.  I shipped it off yesterday and I hope she likes it.  Below is the final painting along with some sketches and color studies.

Framed painting

Final painting

Original sketch

Color study

Leelee

I found a beautiful portrait of Leelee Sobieski on IMDB and sketched this drawing in the order that William Maughan recommends in his book Drawing the Head - gesture, proportion, shadow shapes, then details.

David

At BACAA this Thursday I had the opportunity to work on a portrait.  I spent more time on measuring and proportions before rendering the planes and values.  I also looked for connecting lines, shapes, and values.

After Rubens portrait underpainting

The old Masters often used an underpainting to lock in shapes and values.  One method is called a wipeout where you draw contours and and shadow shapes onto the canvas, then apply a thin layer of raw umber or burnt umber.  Using cloth from an old t-shirt you wipe out the lightest values first and then the other light and mid-tones.  You can add back in darks that got wiped out using a brush.  Below is a quick study I did after a portrait by Rubens.

Bargue 38

Here is a sketch of Bargue plate 38.  It definitely helps to keep checking proportions and values. I was a little sloppy with my initial construction.

Westerns

When I was a kid I used to love watching Western movies and TV shows.  I loved the freedom, wide open spaces, good-guy / bad-guy conflicts, romance, and sometimes tongue-in-cheek humor.  Here is a portrait of a cowboy actor you won't recognize because it looks nothing like him.  The eyes ended up a bit higher on the forehead than I intended.  But the only way to learn is to keep working at it.

Taylor

In my attempt to work on portraits I found a picture of actress Taylor Schilling in Orange is the New Black on IMDB.  Here is a sketch of Taylor.  Some of the proportions are off and it doesn't really look like her however I think I captured some of the emotion from her expression of introspection and despair.

Summer portrait

A few of my artist friends got together to draw portraits and figures.  We had a lot of fun drawing from life while listening to opera.  Here is one of my drawings from these sessions.  Each time I draw from life I learn new things and find things to fix and focus on next time.

Bargue plate 53 - Jeune Femme

Here is a copy of a classic Bargue plate 53 of a young woman.  This drawing was done with a charcoal pencil.  It's critical to get the proportions right in the beginning.  This makes the rest of the drawing much easier.

Bargue Plate 39

Below is my attempt at drawing Bargue plate 39.  Charles Bargue designed a drawing course in the 19th century that guided students from plaster models to studying master drawings and then on to the live model.

Mike Myers

I've found that imdb.com to be a great source to practice sketching celebrity portraits.  Here is a sketch of the comedian Mike Myers

D

Ears

Many beginner artists such as myself have a tendency to draw ears as an afterthought.  Therefore practicing drawing features like ears is crucial to good portraiture.  Here is one 20 minute practice session based on the book by William Vaughan I have been working my way through.

Heather Lind

Here is an attempt at a portrait of Heather Lind based on a photo I found on imdb.  She stars in a new TV show called TURN with JJ Feild.  I have not yet seen this show but it has an interesting premise about America's first spy ring that takes place during the Revolutionary War.

JJ Feild

Well, what do think?  Any resemblance to JJ Feild?

Eyes

I found a very good used book titled, The Artist's Complete Guide to Drawing the Head, by William L. Maugham.  Here are a couple of renderings of eyes from the book since the eyes are so often the focal point of a portrait.

Essential Skeleton

I recently discovered a free iPad app called Essential Skeleton 3.  I find this app useful to practice drawing human skeletal features from different 3d perspectives.  Another good free resource is George Bridgeman's Constructive Anatomy.  Below are a few drawings based on Essential Skeleton 3.

Bennie

Ok, by far the most difficult art I have attempted is portraits in watercolor.  How does Charles Reid and others make it look so easy?  Here is attempt at painting Benedict Cumberbatch