Experimenting with art materials
Throughout my creative journey, I’d painted in oils, acrylics, water color, and sketched with charcoal and pencils. Nowadays, I favor ink pens and water colors, but I still think fondly of my art supply cupboard, and how well stocked it was.
In another life, when I was acting in LA, I had to have commercial black and white headshots done. Long after I’d stopped going out on casting calls, I still had a few headshots tucked away in a scrap book. So one day I decided to use it to practice pastels.
I’d tried oil pastels, but I didn’t really get on with them, and I didn’t like the effect. But chalk pastels were great to work with because you could smudge them and manipulate the effects. I always ended up getting really messy when working with pastels, but to be honest, that was half of the fun.
This wasn’t the first serious portrait I’d attempted, my first one was Sylvester Stallone. I have no idea why I chose him, I think I just like his expression. But I have no idea what happened to that picture and I can’t find a photo of it in my collection.
I don’t think I’ll ever go back to pastels, but I wouldn’t mind dusting off some charcoal pencils and getting my smudge on again.
What has most impressed me with this image is my nose. I’ve been doing pen sketches recently and I’d love to improve my face drawing skill, but as soon as I encounter a nose (and those buggers keep showing up on faces!) the people I draw ends up looking like little piggies. But on this sketch the nose looks like a nose, and one I’d be proud to wear on my face! So it’s a good reminder to myself, that I’d captured a likeness once before, so I can do it again.
It’s just going to take a little more practice.
Why would you choose a picture of yourself to draw, and not of a stranger. Wouldn’t a stranger be easier?
Probably because it’s the face I was most familiar with it seemed like the best option. Maybe a stranger would have been easier though LOL!
Great use of white for the highlights, I love the dramatic look and feel of this sketch. well done you.
Thanks for that Duncan. I did them and instantly regretted it and hated them, but I’ve grown to love that dramatic swatch of white all over . I don’t know why I didn’t do a gentle highlight. I guess I was just experimenting.
I have always found it really hard to do a self-portrait, even though I agree with some people that it should be the easiest to draw since its the one you know best, I always seem to be more critical when drawing myself.
I think this was the last one I did, and it was years ago. I don’t know what motivated me to do it. I’d much rather sketch strangers.
That’s a beautiful portrait picture! Thank you for sharing.
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Love this amazing reading. Thank you for sharing this article.
What great article. Thank you for this beautiful portrait design.. I really like it.
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This is such a great reading for me. I really like your design. Tank you for sharing this article.
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Fabulous self portrait Jay!! I used to sketch others but never have a thought to portray myself. Simply a tremendous job done by you!