Sketchbook Skool are holding a 12 hour Drawathon today and I’ve been participating for the past 3 hours (and was the host for one of those hours). Doing the whole 12 hours just isn’t realistic for me because I have a number of chronic illnesses but I’m happy to have done three – and I finished this portrait of Scott from Museum by Sktchy during that time. It was also very cool to be in a virtual space drawing along with a couple of hundred sketchers from all over the world!
I had a lot of fun with this portrait of Mahoo from Museum by Sktchy winking. I drew him with my Bic 4-colour ballpoint pens in a Life Noble Note Plain notebook.
A little bit of ballpoint pen action for this drawing of Letitia from Museum by Sktchy.
I love how portraits go through an ugly phase before resolving themselves. There’s always a point when I’m drawing when I wonder if the portrait is going to be a complete disaster or if it is going to work out OK and I have no idea what the answer will be. All I can do is keep working and hope that I will find a way to make it work. Ninety per cent of the time I do, but to be honest it doesn’t really matter. Obviously it’s great to have a portrait I like at the end of the process, but it’s the process that matters, working on my drawing to try to get past the ugly stage to make it less ugly, to resolve it and make something that feels at least partly complete.
This portrait of Fary was especially difficult and was very ugly about half way through. I left it and came back to it a couple of days later, worked on it for another hour and resolved it. It doesn’t have much of a likeness but it’s not ugly any more and I’m very happy with it.
This is Neshama from the Museum by Sktchy app. I decided to stop drawing her T this point because I really like the expression I’ve caught on her face and I have a tendency to overwork ballpoint pen drawings. I didn’t want to overwork this one.
It’s taken me more than a week to finish this portrait. I got stuck on the hair for some reason and now it feels either over or under done. I suppose I mean that I think I should have either left it alone sooner or I think I need to work on it more, but I don’t have the time or motivation so I’m leaving it here and moving on.
The face is the Alina from Museum by Sktchy, who I’ve drawn before, and I used my usual Bic 4 colour ballpoint pens.
As time passes ballpoint pens are increasingly becoming my comfort zone but, if you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you’ll have noticed that I’m gradually adopting a “less is more” approach. I like my ballpoint pen portraits best when they are simple and not too heavily worked.
I always work my first layer in blue and the hardest decision is always whether to add any more colour once I’ve done that initial blue layer. I loved how this looked with just a single layer of blue and I honestly can’t say if it’s better or worse with more colour added but I’m pretty happy with how it’s turned out.
I used 3 different Bic 4 colour ballpoint pens in a Life Noble Note Plain notebook and the muse is Vazha from the Museum by Sktchy app.
A very quick draw of Jenny from the Museum by Sktchy app with my Bic 4 colour pens.
There’s no question that drawing lines with a ballpoint pen is the most therapeutic kind of drawing for me. It’s just so simple and straightforward and I’m simply building up the image layer by layer with each colour. I’m still on sick leave at the moment and right now this is the kind of drawing that I find the most soothing.
The model is Kate from the Museum by Sktchy app and I used Bic 4 colour ballpoint pens in a Life Noble Note Plain Notebook.
I’ve gone back to Bics for my first portrait of 2022. This is Mahdiar from the Museum by Sktchy app (of course) drawn with my usual Bic 4-colour biros in a Life Noble Note Plain sketchbook. I’ve made him look a bit moodier than he is in the inspiration photo – he’s looking much happier in that but I lost his smile along the way.
I’d like to wish all my followers a very happy new year. I hope that 2022 brings you everything you would wish for yourself and your family, and I seriously hope it sees the beginning of the end of the Covid pandemic for all of us.
drawing faces 