Cocoa

So many people have requested pictures of animals, I thought I would start with this elegant horse. Isn't she gorgeous?

Cocoa, Pastel Pencil on Strathmore Paper
Size 40cm x 30cm (mount size 50cm x 40cm)
£250 / $350


The combination of textures - the velvety face and neck, the dark mane and the leather straps - were an absolute joy to work with. I love to see the 3D form take shape and I think this is particularly evident on the nose strap, neck and nose. This is a challenge I will rise to again, but next, I'm thinking a dog - and I know exactly the one to start with.

Ten Year Old Boy

Ten Year Old Boy, Pastel Pencil on Strathmore Paper
Size 40cm x 30cm (mount size 50cm x 40cm)

I took the photograph for this close to a wall away from direct sunlight. It means there are no harsh shadows (or squinting) but that the shade is harder to find. Subtle shading can be quite hard to render and if completely absent will make the features look flat. It is important to include just enough darks to give shape to the face and to include that all important shine in the hair.

Hair reflects light better than skin can, so there will always be a lot of contrast in the hair. Even in this short crop you can see how the blocking of light in the hair shapes the head. I do seem to have a bit of an obsession with hair don't I?

For more of my portraits or to commission a painting, see my website wendybooth.co.uk or keep abreast of my portraits on Facebook.

Grandma Wyn

Grandma Wyn, Pastel Pencil on Strathmore Paper
Size 40cm x 30cm (mount size 50cm x 40cm)

When drawing from a photograph, it's easy to get bogged down in the detail. If you know the person you are drawing it can make it far easier to portray the personality rather than an array of wrinkles and blemishes.

This is my husband's Grandmother. She turned 100 last year, but I've never known anyone so happy and she's so full of life! This lady really is so much fun! I hope I caught the mischief in her eyes.

Some areas of a portrait I will copy faithfully, other parts, such as wrinkles and blemishes will generally be downplayed. This is not to flatter the subject - but because I am capturing a likeness, not drawing a map. The texture of the skin can usually be hinted at without even referring to individual lines. This impressionist approach takes practice, but I love to capture something in as few strokes as possible - if nothing else, it adds a freshness and vibrancy.

Hu

Hu, Pastel Pencil on Strathmore Paper
Size 40cm x 30cm (mount size 50cm x 40cm)
£250 / $350

Honey

Honey is drawn from a picture I took of her in the studio. We experimented with all sorts of lighting. The photo I chose is this one where she took a very natural pose in a window recess between shoots. We took a flash over to her and held a reflector on the other side. This asymmetric lighting is just what I need for drawing - rather than the usual lighting you may use in a studio which eliminates all shadow. I love the way there's a natural kink to Honey's hair and I captured this with careful study of the light and dark tones, bringing in occasional single hairs to remind us of the texture.

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.

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.