Hu, Pastel Pencil on Strathmore Paper
Size 40cm x 30cm (mount size 50cm x 40cm)
£250 / $350
Showing posts with label Asian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asian. Show all posts
Monday, 11 April 2016
Saturday, 9 April 2016
Waiting
Drawing eyes can be a challenge but hugely rewarding.
Waiting, Pastel Pencil on Strathmore Paper
Size 40cm x 30cm (mount size 50cm x 40cm)
£250 / $350
The iris is a disc inside a reflective, transparent sphere. In eyes with little pigment, such as blue eyes, the obvious thing to concentrate on is the patterns in the iris. There are many techniques I use in this case, but it's important to remember not to follow a set procedure as each eye is different. Even so, we can make some stunning drawings where, even with a sanguine pencil on grey paper, the eyes can be made to 'glow'.
Dark eyes are different. Sometimes the irises are so dark they are indistinguishable from the pupils - as with this little girl. The eyes are so huge that I really had to make a feature of them - they are the first thing we see in the girl's face, the photograph and inevitably the drawing. So, what to do when there is nothing to see within the eye - as far as I could see the irises are featureless? What we can see however, which is often overlooked in lighter eyes, are the reflections. Young children's eyes sparkle and these huge marbles reflected so much light I could almost see exactly what the girl sees - the sky, the sun, the landscape.
Waiting, Pastel Pencil on Strathmore Paper
Size 40cm x 30cm (mount size 50cm x 40cm)
£250 / $350
The iris is a disc inside a reflective, transparent sphere. In eyes with little pigment, such as blue eyes, the obvious thing to concentrate on is the patterns in the iris. There are many techniques I use in this case, but it's important to remember not to follow a set procedure as each eye is different. Even so, we can make some stunning drawings where, even with a sanguine pencil on grey paper, the eyes can be made to 'glow'.
Dark eyes are different. Sometimes the irises are so dark they are indistinguishable from the pupils - as with this little girl. The eyes are so huge that I really had to make a feature of them - they are the first thing we see in the girl's face, the photograph and inevitably the drawing. So, what to do when there is nothing to see within the eye - as far as I could see the irises are featureless? What we can see however, which is often overlooked in lighter eyes, are the reflections. Young children's eyes sparkle and these huge marbles reflected so much light I could almost see exactly what the girl sees - the sky, the sun, the landscape.
Thursday, 7 April 2016
Hu's Hair
I love drawing every part of the human head - there isn't a part I dread or dislike. But, if I was FORCED to pick a favourite part, it would be the hair. Everybody's hair is different and betrays a huge part of their personality. Even with Hu's hair tied back, there is still so much to work with - the tendrils that frame her small face, the texture of those scraped back sides and of course - the huge fringe (bangs).
Hu, Pastel Pencil on Strathmore Paper
Size 40cm x 30cm (mount size 50cm x 40cm)
£250 / $350
The gloss of a person's hair describes the shape of their head. Perhaps it's not something we think about before we begin to study art, but the play of light on the hair shows you the curve and imperfections in their cranium. This is one of the most satisfying ways I find of showing volume and Hu's dark smooth hair is a great example of this.
In my pastel pencil drawings, I work from top to bottom - see this Demonstration for a description of my technique. This means I almost always draw the hair first (at least the top part of it). I'm a saving-the-best-til-last kind of person so this goes against the grain slightly, but getting the hair in does give me great pleasure and gets the whole portrait off on the right foot. For Hu's head I started with the scraped back sides and the fluffy flyaways. This gives her character straight away and gives a great contrast to the perfectly smooth fringe which covers almost half of her head.
The fringe itself has three distinct areas - the dark at the top, the light sheen across the middle and the dark at the bottom which tells us the curve of the hair. Each 'block' gives way gently to the other and none are a perfectly smooth transition - this is hair after all, not silk. I have hinted at the texture of the hair by slicing in individual hairs and chunks of hair. I would never draw each and every hair - but just hint at them by drawing (for instance) dark hairs towards the edges of the sheen. In this way I am cutting into that smooth texture and we can almost see where the comb has separated Hu's fringe.
Lastly, the tendrils, which may look like accident but are vital part of the composition. Each side curves differently and the left one comes right down and points us to the lace of her collar. We follow the collar and then our own is drawn back up the hair on the other side. I studied the texture of these hairs carefully and as you'll see even though they take only a small fraction of space on the page, their importance is not to be understated.
I loved drawing Hu. To see a full sized image or to commission a portrait of your own, please see my website.
Hu, Pastel Pencil on Strathmore Paper
Size 40cm x 30cm (mount size 50cm x 40cm)
£250 / $350
The gloss of a person's hair describes the shape of their head. Perhaps it's not something we think about before we begin to study art, but the play of light on the hair shows you the curve and imperfections in their cranium. This is one of the most satisfying ways I find of showing volume and Hu's dark smooth hair is a great example of this.
In my pastel pencil drawings, I work from top to bottom - see this Demonstration for a description of my technique. This means I almost always draw the hair first (at least the top part of it). I'm a saving-the-best-til-last kind of person so this goes against the grain slightly, but getting the hair in does give me great pleasure and gets the whole portrait off on the right foot. For Hu's head I started with the scraped back sides and the fluffy flyaways. This gives her character straight away and gives a great contrast to the perfectly smooth fringe which covers almost half of her head.
The fringe itself has three distinct areas - the dark at the top, the light sheen across the middle and the dark at the bottom which tells us the curve of the hair. Each 'block' gives way gently to the other and none are a perfectly smooth transition - this is hair after all, not silk. I have hinted at the texture of the hair by slicing in individual hairs and chunks of hair. I would never draw each and every hair - but just hint at them by drawing (for instance) dark hairs towards the edges of the sheen. In this way I am cutting into that smooth texture and we can almost see where the comb has separated Hu's fringe.
Lastly, the tendrils, which may look like accident but are vital part of the composition. Each side curves differently and the left one comes right down and points us to the lace of her collar. We follow the collar and then our own is drawn back up the hair on the other side. I studied the texture of these hairs carefully and as you'll see even though they take only a small fraction of space on the page, their importance is not to be understated.
I loved drawing Hu. To see a full sized image or to commission a portrait of your own, please see my website.
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