I started drawing portraits with ballpoint pens in 2020 and I’ve drawn one every few weeks since then. Today I finished my first sketchbook of these drawings almost exactly three years after I started it with this portrait of Jodi from the Museum by Sktchy app. It’s a wonderful sketchbook because I can see how much progress I’ve made over these three years I developing both my skills and my style.
If you’d like to see a flip through of my completed sketchbook you can view it on YouTube here.
The inspiration photo for this portrait of Natascia just cried out for an iPad drawing exercise using the symmetry tool so, of course, I decided to draw it the hard way, in my sketchbook using Copic markers and pencils.
It was a fun drawing exercise, where I was checking both on the image and my drawing to try to get some sense of symmetry but trying not to be overexercised by it. I wanted the drawing to work on its own, rather than worrying too much about it being perfectly symmetrical. And it certainly isn’t the latter but I think it works nicely as a drawing so I’m happy with it.
This is Mussu from the Museum by Sktchy app. I drew her in a Sketchbook Skool Spark Drawing Faces class. The drawing didn’t work out – I ended up with large “watermarks” from the alcohol markers on her forehead and cheeks so I decided to use the drawing in a subsequent class on touching up drawings on the iPad.
So this is the portrait after those watermarks have been touched up a little on the iPad. I’ve also cleaned up other parts of the portrait digitally and added some highlights with a digital pencil brush. Loving how I was able to turn a disaster into a used learning opportunity 😊
I bought some new 4 colour ballpoint pens by Life & Pieces; one is the usual blue/red/black/green but the other two have different colours to my usual Bics. I used all three for this portrait of Jeff from the Museum by Ktchy app.
They’re a bit blobby as you can probably tell – far more blobs of ink on this drawing than the Bics ever give me. They’re also more like gel pens, it’s not easy to work light strokes with them. But it was still fun to switch it up & use something different and I love the overall colour effect I got from them.
I drew Ellie on my iPad Pro using the Procreate app and True Grit Texture Supply Chromograph brushes.
Lots of meditative hatching for this portrait of Diey.
Would you like to draw faces with me? I’m an instructor with Sketchbook Skool’s Spark program, which offers live art classes online every single day, plus studio time, a huge library of recorded classes and an online Skoolyard where you can meet likeminded folks from all around the world who are making and sharing art daily. If this sound like something you’d like to try they have a sale on until May 2 and I have an affiliate link which will give you an extra 15% off the sale price.
To find out more about the Spark program here. If you’d like to enrol for Spark with an extra 15% off the sale price click here.
Sometimes it’s good to keep it simple.
This is Kevin from the Museum by Sktchy app. I drew Kevin in yesterday’s Sketchbook Skool Drawing Faces class.
Since I started teaching these classes last May I have become so much faster at drawing! When I first started the classes I would only get about halfway through a portrait in the 45 minutes or so drawing time. I finished this entire drawing yesterday before the class was finished and had time left over to take questions. I’ve learned to draw both faster and less to get more done in the time.
We’ve been working on tone in this week’s Sketchbook Skool Spark class and Richard’s face was such a good model to work from, offering such a good range of values.
I haven’t used my Chromagraph pencil brushes in Procreate for a while and it was definitely fun to play with them again for this portrait of Alina from Museum by Sktchy.
drawing faces 