Ok. Time to try out the inktense pencils properly. I had two gos at doing…
Stephen Hawking
After John Paul Jones came out so well a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to have another go at drawing a portrait with markers by concentrating on shadow and value patterns rather than on facial features. I found a black and white portrait often late Stephen Hawking that I thought might make a good subject.
So I started this all off with neutral colours and came up with a black and white portrait. Looking at that, I thought it needed a bit of colour but not excessive amounts. So I added in some flesh tones, blue on the clothes and green on the cushion. I also added some stars to the sky using a white gel pen.
The drawing was instantly recognisable as Hawking (and still is) but something wasn’t quite right. I thought it that his left jowl was a bit too baggy, so I went over part of it with a black marker and incorporated the black into the shadow on the cushion. The neutral colours do make him look pretty ill but there’s life and intelligence in those eyes. It’s a tough decision but Professor Hawking’s not going in the shop window.
Did I ever tell you I queued up behind Stephen Hawking at a cash point once? Barclays in Market Hill, Cambridge. It’s a clothes shop now.
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