Category: drawing

Avril

I’m having a difficult drawing week. Nothing is going right. I’ve made a conscious decision to take more time over my portraits, not rush them, try to work a little differently, and right now it’s a bit of a struggle. None of my drawings are working well. Perhaps this is inevitable when you change things and step outside your familiar work patterns. It wasn’t helped today by a crushing migraine.

Anyway, Avril ended up up with a slightly deformed body – I over exaggerated the foreshortening (not deliberately!) and really messed up that front leg and foot. But never mind. It’s all learning.

I drew Avril’s portrait in my Moleskine sketchbook with a Copic multiliner and Copic markers.

Michael

I was intending to draw Michael with coloured pencil. But when I finished drawing an initial sketch with an HB pencil I moved without thinking into inking out a portrait with a fineliner, as I do when I’m making either a Copic or watercolour portrait. When I realised what I’d done it was too late – I’d inked out half his face! So I decided to make use of my error and try something different.

I knew that coloured pencil hatching alone wouldn’t be strong enough to match the ink lines. So I used my Derwent Inktense pencils, which I’ve hardly ever used in a portrait (not sure if I’ve ever used them if I’m honest), to create my basic colour layers and then finished off the portrait with some hatching with Prismacolor coloured pencils on top. I still think the ink lines are too strong for the pencil portrait but I can live with it, as an experiment. And I do like the combination of Inktense and regular coloured pencil, so I may use that again.

The portrait is drawn in my HannehmĂĽhle Nostalgie sketchbook.

Jack

Today’s portrait is of Jack, painted in my Laloran sketchbook with Zecchi watercolours and then finished with Prismacolor coloured pencils.

Oriana

This portrait of Oriana reflects my new slower and more thoughtful approach to drawing faces. I focused less on capturing her likeness and more on representing something about her that felt true and honest to me. So while I can see that her face shape is not quite right in the portrait, I nevertheless think that I’ve captured the spirit of her in a beautiful way that makes me very happy.

I drew Oriana in my A4 Moleskine sketchbook with Copic markers.

Nicky

In the inspiration photo for Nicky’s portrait she has only one half of her face made up but I struggled to really show that with coloured pencils except on her lips. I really needed to add more depth of colour to her skin tones. Still much to learn about using coloured pencils!

I drew this in my HannehmĂĽhle Nostalgie sketchbook with Derwent Artists coloured pencils.

Thiago

Back once again in my Copic comfort zone, Thiago has a little bit of everything I love. Beautiful skin tones, soulful eyes, a knitted hat, strong facial features, a few freckles and some stubble but no beard. Drawing heaven for me – his photo allowed me to have the simplest of line drawings and let my colour do the work, especially with the eyes and shadow, which are always the most important part for me. If you’re reading this Thiago, you’re the perfect male muse. Upload more Sktchy photos for me ASAP.

I drew Thiago in my A4 Moleskine sketchbook with a Copic multiliner and Copic markers.

Bailey

I drew this portrait of Bailey on my iPad Pro using the Procreate app and Lisa Bardot’s pencil box brushes.

Hope

With this portrait of Hope I was trying here to see if I could use a ballpoint pen brush in Procreate to create a portrait similar to the ones I’ve been drawing in my Moleskine – but I really struggled. I was using a good brush I think but I couldn’t get my pressure/sensitivity right – and I ended up losing the likeness. And it took FOREVER! So I think I might stick to the analogue tools in future.

Loke

I’ve made a big decision about my portrait drawing over the weekend. I feel like I’ve hit a kind of plateau and perhaps even gone backwards, because I’m struggling to find enough time to really experiment in the way I need to in order to push my work forward. So I’ve decided that after three and a half years of more or less daily portrait drawing I’m not going to push myself to post a portrait every day any more. I’m going to continue to draw portraits as often as I can and will probably be working on a portrait most days, but I may work on a single portrait over several days to give me the time to experiment more and to allow me the time to work on other projects. So keep visiting because I’ll be posting, just perhaps not every day.

I drew Loke’s portrait with a variety of ballpoint pens in a Moleskine sketchbook.

Iliriana

I’m beginning to feel comfortable drawing with coloured pencils. I feel like I’ve found a process that suits me now and preserves my style so that the portraits I produce are still recognisably mine. I probably still need to build enough confidence with this style to add more layers of colour but I do at least feel like I’m going in the right direction now.

I drew Iliriana’s portrait in my HannehmĂĽhle Nostalgie sketchbook with Prismacolor coloured pencils.