In the background, I was listening to the Escape from Illustration Island Podcast. The podcast is geared towards freelance illustrators and I’m not quite used to all the lingo they use, but I have gotten a lot out of the discussions. Some of my favorite artists are/were also illustrators.
Sometimes I prefer listening to podcasts over music in my studio. It feels a little less lonely to hear the conversations go back and forth (and I can only stand so much NPR). I especially liked the latest podcast with Stephanie Levy. I knew she was an American living in Germany, but for some reason I always thought of her as having more of a Chicago, not a Tennessee accent.
Some time ago I wrote that I was working on a “secret drawing” and that I was scanning it in as I worked. It has taken me longer than I had anticipated because of all the other things I have going on right now. I then lost the will to keep it a secret so I showed it to the person that I meant it for as a gift. I knew he was going to like it either way though. This is the first scan, representing about two hours of work on and off. I have temporarily stopped working on it, but will resume as soon as I get set up in my new studio.
This was a fun drawing I made of NCMallory for Julia Kay’s Portrait Party. It was a relaxing portrait that I drew after work one day when I had the house to myself. I highly recommend his photostream as he is very talented and an all-around interesting guy. You can see all the artists’ interpretations of him here. He is very prolific and active in the group, so I’m sure he will draw you if you join up.
This was a drawing that I made recently for Julia Kay’s Portrait Party of Felipe. I did it really fast using pitt pens (see below). Lately I have been trying to make faster drawings, which means that it is easier to mess things up in portraits especially when drawing in ink. That said, I do think it’s a good experiment with getting looser and more confident when drawing.
Speaking of ink, I recently ordered some new pens and I had some thoughts to share with you in case you were in the pen shopping mood.
I have been using these pens for ages and I have both the regular pens, as well as the colored markers. I have never tried the big brush pens but I’m not too interested in something that big. What I bought was the XS size of the black pens. The XS size is something new that I haven’t seen before. My only real complaint about these pens is that the S (superfine) size was too big compared to the F (fine) size, and with use the S tip became even less crisp. That’s why I am so excited about the XS size, which is really perfect for the work I like to do. I also see that they adjusted their packages of 4 pens to include the XS size instead of the S and they also came out with a seperate set of four black fineliner pens (XS, S, F and M). What I don’t like is that Dick Blick does not sell the XS size separately for the sepia and sanguine colors, but I haven’t looked around to see if anyone else sells them.
I tried these on more of a whim, but I must say that I am not impressed with these pens. There are two colors: black and sepia, and two sizes: 1 and 2 mm. The black is available in both sizes and the sepia is available only in the 1 mm. These are disposable fountain pens, with metal nibs. The main reason why I don’t care for them is because the ink doesn’t flow smoothly and you have to hold it at an awkward angle so the ink doesn’t stop altogether. Also, the sepia color is too light for me and doesn’t have much contrast on white paper. These aren’t waterproof, so you can’t use them with watercolor (which isn’t a huge deal to me though), although I don’t have any of the copic markers, so I don’t know how they work with those. Also, there is a warning on the pen that says, “Do not shake hard and drop. Ink may leak.” This sort of worries me, because I have had some bad experiences with leaking pens. The description said they were new so I don’t know how long these have been on the market. Let me know if you like these pens, as I’d love your opinion. The one thing that I do like about the pens is that I’m sure that the tip won’t become damaged and change over time, as it is metal and the line is crisp when the ink is actually flowing.
In an effort to practice my portrait skills, I have joined Julia Kay’s Portrait Party group on flickr. Above you can see drawings I made of Anita Davies and croquisdenico. It is such a great opportunity to gain lots of practice with all kinds of different faces, as well as meet new artists on flickr. Plus, seeing all the portraits people make of you is really fun. You can see all the portraits of me here.
I get a lot of questions about my last name and whether or not I am related to the “Chicago Pappases” or some random Dr. Pappas. (If you are ever tempted to ask me that, the answer is always “no relation.”) However, I do tend to pay attention when I come across someone else with my same last name, as is the case with artist Billy Pappas.
He creates extremely detailed graphite drawings. His method includes drawing at a ninety degree angle, using magnification glasses (loupes) and an additional handheld magnifier. He stands in a “body lock” position where he even controls his breathing to avoid unnecessary movement. His most notable drawing is a portrait of Marilyn Monroe that took him nine years to complete. Although it was based on photos, he didn’t copy directly. Instead, he used live models and even applied eye makeup and lipstick to himself to use as a reference. The drawing was the subject of the film Waiting for Hockney, which is about how he tries to get David Hockney to come see his drawing. You can see a clip about the movie here. A thought provoking, though negative, review can be read here.
You have to admire this guy’s dedication and technique even if his style is not your own. Personally, creating something so detailed and painstaking would feel like an exercise in futility. I would get bored spending so long working on a single piece and would want to see a finished product sooner. I also want to eventually have a large body of work which means I wouldn’t be able to spend thousands of hours working on only one 14 x 17 inch drawing.
My own work can be very detailed at times, and I used to do pointillist pen and ink drawings using a magnifying glass. However, I have come to find that too much detail can be a negative thing. Recently I have become more drawn to representational artwork that is not photorealistic, but where the artist portrays the subject in a slightly abstracted manner.
I decided to make some practice baby sketches from some photos on flickr before undertaking the drawing that I want to make. I thought it would be easier to draw some random stranger’s baby before I make an attempt at a baby I actually know. It worked well for this practice sketch. I think it felt a little easier because I wasn’t emotionally connected to the outcome of the drawing.
There’s no denying that portraits are a tricky business, but after practicing for many years now, I feel that I have mastered the basics. Fine tuning is always necessary, but I rarely make drawings that are so bad I have to tear them up anymore. I have a new challenge coming up though – a portrait of a baby – something I have never done before. Drawing children is a whole new thing for me, so I’ll be looking through my art books and doing a lot of practice sketches.
I haven’t done any portraits in a number of months, so I wanted to get some practice in the other day as a sort of warm up exercise. This is a self portrait with wet hair, done in graphite in my craft paper sketchbook. I can see a lot of problems with it, but my boyfriend immediately recognized it as me, which is always a good sign.
I am always looking for artists who do great portraits. Many of them hone their skills by sketching people on the subways and trains. Here are a couple of artists that do great portrait work. Leave a comment with a link if you come across any others.
Yesterday I had a bad fall when I was walking my mother’s German Shepherd. The leash got tangled around my thumb and she started running after some sort of small vermin, leaving me flat on my face, with bruised ribs and sprained wrists.
I spent all day in bed with wrist splints on, not doing much of anything. I was a little afraid of having a major problem with my hands again, and there were multiple “what if” situations going through my head. After some time I realized that this will clear up within a few days, and my thoughts settled on other subjects, like financial, relationship and career matters. I feel I am starting to formulate an actual strategy for the first time in my life, so this fall might have been a blessing in disguise.
It has been ages since I have tried sketching a portrait from life, so I took the opportunity to draw my boyfriend (twice) while he was playing video games last weekend. He was staying pretty still which was an advantage, and I was behind him so he didn’t even notice me drawing him for quite awhile. One of the things I love about him is that he encourages me to draw and doesn’t mind if I spend time on it. And I don’t mind if he plays video games either.
