Portrait drawing of Michelle

I attended the Al Hyter Portrait Group last Saturday morning. It was our model’s last day. The models pose four to five weekends in a row so you get to know the model. Michelle did an excellent job holding the pose still and was fun to talk to during breaks.

As always I got up as close as possible to the model to get as much detail as I can. There’s one thing that drove me nuts on this pose and that was the hand. Drawing hands is tough; getting them right is even harder. I feel I got it right on the larger image above. I might have sketched it too big, but I think it works well on the model when drawing from this angle.

I had a good time producing these two pieces. Plus Bruce, the coordinator, played some good tunes, and I had some good laughs with the other whimsical artists. I will miss this group when I go to NY.

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80 Minute Portrait Drawing

Here's a recent portrait drawing from the Al Hyter Portrait group. Usually I change drawing positions on every 20-minute pose, but lately I've been wanting to slow down and spend more time per drawing. Last week I sketched 40 minutes per drawing, but on this portrait I spent 80 minutes, the entire drawing session. It gave me more time to focus on all over details and building of darks and lights.

African American Woman Portrait Drawing

 

 I created some nice drawings at the Sunday morning Al Hyter portrait group. They have a new model. She's wearing a beautiful dress from Nigeria Africa.

A lot of artists attended so space was limited. I started my warmup with a side profile drawing. Then I was able to squeeze in front to draw a 3/4 profile. As always, I sat as close as possible to the model to see all the details of eye, nose, lips, ears.

I treated these drawings a little differently. Recently I finished updating my online illustration portfolio on theispot.com and noticed subtle changes in my drawing style. My older drawings seem to have more emphasis on technique: clean sketch lines, and more contrast between lights and darks.

So at this session I spent 40 minutes per drawing instead of 20 minutes. I slowed down to focus on my technique, and I kept using  sharp pencils to get nice clean dark lines in the details. I'm happy with the results. I'm looking forward to next week's session.

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Portrait Drawing Up Close

I had a good drawing session at the Saturday morning Al Hyter portrait group. Model dressed in costume with her face painted. I got up close to her so I can sketch the details on her face. I often do this. It makes a big difference in my drawings; there is so much more information on the eyes, nose, lips, chin, ears.

Bruce, the coordinator, brought in nice music. One of them is a favorite for everyone: The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews. Nice combo for drawing, had everyone humming the tunes.

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Little Bo Peep Portrait Sketch Study

Little Bo Peep modeled for the Saturday morning Al Hyter Portrait group. This is the new model for January, she has a collection of vintage clothing. It's fun and challenging to draw her portrait because of the sunhat she's wearing. I like the curves to the rim of the hat, adds a lot of depth to the drawing, and it fills the page.

Bo Peep will be modeling again at the next session. I'm looking forward to drawing another portrait.

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Drawing a Portrait With Eye Glasses

Here are two portrait studies from a recent Al Hyter Portrait drawing session. They had an excellent model, she did an excellent job holding her pose and she wore her eye glasses. I love it when portrait models wear a hat, ball caps, jewelry, a pencil on the ear, or eye glasses.  It adds so much more depth to the piece and it often makes it a bigger drawing challenge, that's what i enjoy the most. The best part for me is not the finished piece, it's the drawing process. I finish a drawing in about 20 minutes, then I'm looking forward to starting a new one from a different angle.