Copic multiliner – drawing faces

Coco

Coco’s portrait is my entry for this week’s Old School Sktchy wax challenge on the theme “literature”, referencing the novel ” Memoirs of a Geisha” by Arthur Golden. It was a really difficult draw because the heavy face makeup means there are so few skintones to work with – and that’s where I focus most of my energy. So I had to concentrate more on the hair decoration, the clothing and the parasol, which aren’t really my strengths. So it was a good challenge for me.

I drew this in a Moleskine sketchbook with Copic markers and coloured pencils.

Luna

Luna has the perfect face for me to draw. Rosy cheeks, shiny hair, freckles and gorgeous skin tones, she’s right in my Copic comfort zone. And those hair buns were so much fun to draw.

I drew this in my A4 Moleskine sketchbook with an 01 Copic multiliner and Copic markers.

Muffin

Drawing dogs is always so much fun. It’s important to get the eyes and nose right, but the rest is fairly straightforward. Sktchy muse Muffin is soaking up the sun so it was important to get the closed eyes and the shadows more or less right and to capture something of his handsomeness – is that a word? Anyway I’m happy with how it turned out – he looks like a contented doggy.

I drew this in my Moleskine sketchbook with Copic multiliners and markers.

George

This is my very beautiful friend Georgina, aka George. I first met George 3+ years ago when I was just beginning to draw faces. She has seen my portraiture develop on Instagram and a few weeks ago she messaged to ask if she could be one of my daily faces. I jumped at the chance of having a live model and we had a lovely time chatting while I sketched yesterday. I thought the portrait was a bit of a disaster when I started to add colour to it this morning but suddenly, after about an hour, George appeared on the page in front of me.

Drawing someone you know is always a little more anxiety-inducing than drawing a Sktchy face because capturing a likeness feels so much more important – so once I could see a likeness I was happy. I don’t need to have a perfect likeness but I do want to capture the essence of a person and I feel like I’ve done that here. There is something very “George” about this portrait.

I drew this on Bristol paper with an HB pencil, Copic multiliners and Copic markers and finished it with Prismacolor coloured pencils.

Jennie

There are some Sktchy muses who are almost iconic- every Sktchy artist has to draw them at least once! Jennie is one of those muses (and she’s also an artist). She’s known for her huge range of inspiration photos and her willingness to experiment with poses, makeup and cosplay. This portrait is drawn from an awesome series of photos featuring “Good Omens” cosplay.

I drew this in an A4 Moleskine Sketchbook with Copic multiliners and markers.

Riley

Back in my Copic comfort zone I enjoyed drawing Sktchy muse Riley so much. For what I think is the first time ever I also remembered to take photos of my work in progress so I’ve added a collage photo of those below, so you can see how I build up my layers of colour as I’m drawing. I worked with Copic multiliners and markers in an A4 Moleskine sketchbook.

Klara

Another patterned portrait, this time with watercolour and coloured pencils. In Klara’s Sktchy photo she was posing in front of some fabulous rhododendron bushes so I took my inspiration for the floral background pattern from those flowers.

I drew this portrait in a Laloran sketchbook with a Copic multiliner, painted it with Zecchi watercolours and finished it with Prismacolor coloured pencils.