Young Woman and Guitar, Art School

 

Here's a portrait drawing from the Saturday morning portrait group I attend. They have a new model; she's dressed 60s theme. I like the pose because she's wearing glasses, head scarf, fluffy coat and has her hand on a cool little guitar. It's great for drawing.

Drawing the portrait is fun but it's more fun and challenging when the model wears interesting clothing and items. I'm looking forward to next Saturday's session. I'll try from a different angle to get more of the guitar in the pose.

This past week I visited New York City and Philadelphia. I was accepted at the schools I applied to, so now I have to make a decision. It's not easy.  I visited the New York Academy of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and Studio Incamminati.  Incredibly impressive art schools. I was hoping to return home with an easy decision but not the case, hopefully soon one will feel right.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Portrait Sketch, Elderly Man & White Beard

This past Saturday, I attended the Al Hyter Portrait art session in Toledo, Ohio. They have a new model for the next four Saturdays. This model has a white beard, which is great for portrait drawing. The beard adds more shapes and depth to the face. I have to be careful not to get caught up in drawing the hair from the beard, instead focus on the shape of the beard, as if the model had smashed potatoes on the chin.

When I draw portraits I'm constantly looking and drawing the shapes on the face: The shapes of the eyes, the nose, lips, head, ears, collar, forehead, hair. Believe it or not, I just draw shapes and when I'm done the viewer sees a portrait.

I had fun drawing this model, looking forward to sketching him again on next Saturday's portrait session.

Portrait of Restaurant Owner: The Budapest

I attended the Al Hyter Portrait Group on Saturday morning and created these two portraits. The model's name is Robert and he is the owner of the restaurant, The Budapest, on Monroe Street in Toledo, Ohio.

Seems like creating art or in this case drawing portraits always has an adventure and a journey. Every month the Al Hyter group has two new models and we, the artists, get to meet and learn about interesting and unique people that we probably never would come across or have met on our own.

Meeting Robert was interesting to me because I pass the Budapest restaurant when I go to my Wednesday night figure drawing sessions. The restaurant is in an old brick building. It’s a diner style restaurant, and always has a warm and cozy glow when I pass in the evenings. So whenever I pass by I’m intrigued and often think about someday visiting. Well I made a portrait of Robert, got to know him and felt it was fate, I had to visit his restaurant. I had lunch at the Budapest and really enjoyed the food, the environment and the company; the place has a lot of character. I highly recommend visiting the Budapest.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Portrait of Young Woman

I attend Saturday morning Al Hyter portrait group in Toledo, Ohio. They have two new models, but since it’s a two-hour session I focused on drawing one model. I first created the ¾ view then created the profile. It was cold in the room so my arms and hands felt a little stiff but I still had a good time drawing these two nice pieces.

I feel all my recent drawing is paying off because I felt comfortable drawing these portraits. I was confident creating the cross hatch texture, proportions, sighting, and composition. It’s a good feeling for me. I’m looking forward to next Saturday’s portrait session; I’ll focus on drawing the 2^nd model.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Profile Sketch of Heather

I attended the Saturday morning Al Hyter portrait drawing/painting session. It was the model's 2nd of four sessions, her name is Heather and she did a great job holding her pose and maintaining a smile which is not easy. I created several portrait drawings of Heather and the profile sketch I am posting here is the last one I created. I feel this is the best one of the batch; it has a nice loose sketch feel. I captured her character and out of the portrait drawings I created of Heather for the 2nd session, this is the drawing that is closest to her appearance.

Seems like my first drawing is always my warm-up drawing. I loosen up and get in my drawing mood. Usually my first drawing never looks as loose or as nice as my 2nd or 3rd drawing, but sometimes my 2nd or 3rd drawings don't come out well either. This is when I need to remember that I also draw to improve my drawing skills. I say this because it can be frustrating when that 1st and sometimes that 2nd drawing aren't looking good. I do believe that every drawing is a learning experience and always makes my drawing skills better for future drawings.

Portrait sketch & drawing of my friend Adrian

I attended the Saturday morning drawing group and my friend AJ was modeling again. This time I feel I created a nice drawing that captures AJ's true likeness. It's never 100% exact but it's what I try to achieve with my drawing style.

I made a couple drawings and I picked these three to post. The drawing on the left took me about 40 minutes to create. Then I created the two quick sketches on the right, about 8-10 minutes each. I wish I had more time to complete these but I like them because you can see my method for drawing a portrait. I quickly sketch the light lines that are horizontal and vertical to help me align features of the face to slowly achieve the likeness I'm looking for.

You can also see circles or ovals, I use them as short cuts to add tone or highlights. I sketch the ovals to quickly block in areas of the portrait that change in gradation. The lamp that provides the light is coming from above so I may quickly sketch an oval on the highlighted area and not add any tone. On the side of the face and bottom, the tone is changing so I'll quickly add ovals with crosshatch lines as tone to block in those areas.

I also add ovals to create a surface plane, giving a feeling of depth. Notice ovals are different from top to bottom, I try to draw them in perspective.

I'm happy with these drawings, I had a good session. A lot of artist showed up, and the jukebox played good music: James Taylor, and Irish fiddle music, which always takes me back to the Pacific North West :).

Portrait Drawing Young African American Man

This portrait drawing is of my friend AJ. He's modeling at the Saturday portrait drawing session for a couple weeks. Drawing AJ's portrait has been difficult.

These two drawings I'm posting do look good but compared to the model there are subtleties that I missed. Drawing portraits are difficult and it's the main reason I attend these sessions--for the challenge, and for practice.

I have attended many portrait drawing sessions and I believe they have made me a more skilled artist. AJ will be back next Saturday, hopefully I can draw one that captures his true likeness.