I drew these pictures quickly, not in order to get an exact likeness, but in order to follow the lines of the photographs I was looking at fairly closely. I didn't do blind contour drawing, where you don't look at your paper as you're drawing, though those are fun to do because there are invariably distortions in the face and figure. These drawing also contain distortions, though not as pronounced as some. Using a marker on paper without an underdrawing is like going on a small adventure: you have to let go and follow different paths, stopping here and starting there, keeping this and leaving out that.
3 comments:
Wow, you are good. I'm a self-taught artist, but when I draw I use a pencil and an eraser. And sometimes the paper gets thin from all the erasing I do!
I once did a portrait (in oil pastel) of my best friend. Her parents were upset because I didn't make her more glamorous. I drew what I saw. She isn't a pretty woman, but she has a lot of character. The framer made a comment to me that he sees a lot of portraits, but this one really spoke to him.
Have you ever had a client say, "Make me more beautiful" or do you try to make the image of the person as beautiful as they can be?
My father is a professionally trained artist and every time he paints his wife (only three times now in his career) he paints her like a hag. I mean he emphasizes bags under her eyes, he uses ugly green light - it is astonishing because he is so proud of her for being a pretty woman! One snapshot he used was of her first thing in the morning before coffee, before make-up, with her eyes half open from sleep. They do ballroom dancing together, you know, with sparkly gowns, and she is tiny and petite. It is obvious to me - she wants to be beautiful! Now she has banned him from using her as a painting subject.
I've done studies of my husband nude while we were dating - it was fun. When I finally did a full figure portrait I added wings to him and made him (Michael) into the archangel Michael. I had him give with his hand the Roman symbol for life. It is a thumbs down gesture. That meant in the gladiator ring for the gladiator to put the sword down and spare the other contestant's life. Thumbs up (this gesture was being made by the crowd) meant to take the sword and thrust it up under the ribcage and into the gladiator's heart, killing him. Over the millennium the thumbs up or down changed meaning, it reversed itself in terms of good or bad luck.
Hope you are well Kate, just wanted you to know that your drawings were seen and appreciated.
-Karen Sorensen
Kate,
I love these drawings...so expressive with so few lines!!!
xo,
Nancy
p.s. thinking of working on Elation over the summer...lots of work to do...
Glad to see you're drawing and trying new things with your artistic talent, Kate! I know sometimes it's harder to feel inspired than other times, but you seem to have been on a creative roll for some time lately. Good for you!
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