Daily Lunch Special

Here is another drawing that I did during my lunch hour. Aside from being a great man, Fredrick Douglas had great hair. It was definitely something to be admired. I think I'm envious.

Old Photos

Finding old photos to draw from are like finding buried treasure. They are like gold because they poses so much character. This makes it a lot easier for me to exaggerate the drawing. This drawing was an attempt to push the features of a female and still try to maintain their feminine. Easier said than done.

When I'm Old

I'm not sure who this is, but I loved the lighting and the blank expression on the man's face. I also find drawing older people more interesting, the topography on their face make for great shapes. I hope I look this cool when I'm old.

Gotta Love The Chops

I would have to say that the mid to late 1800's were the best time in this nation's history for male hairdos. Men wore sideburns, had neck beards and their hair had character. If I ever get bold enough I might just grow a set of chops like these.

I thought I should dust off the cob webs, I haven't done a character study like this in awhile. Maybe, I might even add some color one of these days. 8"x6" in Pencil, total time -45 mins.

Rembrandt Copy Update

Here is an update of the Rembrandt painting that I am copying.

Museum Copies

Spent some time copying paintings at BYU Museum of Art. This is a great exercise in studying tonal patterns, design and composition. Here are the results. Ball point pen.

Etching

Etching is a skill that I have been wanting to learn for a while, but having found time for it. This is an attempt to copy a etching that Anders Zorn did. I did mine in ball point pen. I took liberties with the copy and tried to make it my own given the limitations of ball point pen. Size: about 3"x4", time: 30 mins.

A Tall Order

I decided a couple of weeks to copy a Rembrandt painting in oil. While I would have loved to paint it from the original at the Met, I will have to settle for painting from a photo that I took while I visited the Met. The photo does not show the impasto in the lights. If I get around to it I'll photograph a detail of it. I have about 10 hours invested so far with plenty more to follow. I'll post a photo the painting when I'm finished.

In Progress

Painting update on Riley. Working on painting the smaller shapes. I have to constantly remind myself to paint shapes of color and to proceed from the largest shape to the smallest. My teach er would say start with a broom and end with needle. For those interested I am painting this is Photoshop and I am only using the Airbrush Pen Opacity Flow Brush to paint and the heal brush to blend.

For Those Interested

Here is the progress I'm making on painting Riley. If I haven't mentioned already I am painting this from a photo. Total time: 40 mins.

Improvements

After talking with my art director* I made some much need improvements.


*My art director is my wife.

Something Different

Chester loves ballons.

Riley: Establishing the Darks

Focusing on painting shapes. In this case the shapes of the darkest darks firsts then stating the shapes of the lighter darks. I'm not so sure I'm satisfied with the color and richness of the shadows. I'll have to reevaluate it next time. Total time: 40 mins.

Riley 2nd Pass

This is the second drawing. I'm drawing with a darker color and a smaller brush. The canvas size is the same as the image size, which is about 12x8 @ 240 dpi. Total time: 50 mins.

Riley 1st Pass

This is an attempt to paint a portrait of my daughter. This is the 1st pass drawing, which is done with a value that is only slightly darker than the background value. Total time - 30 mins.

Lines and Colors

My thanks to Charley Parker at Lines and Colors for being today's feature on his website. The web address is: http://www.linesandcolors.com, the address to the feature is: http://www.linesandcolors.com/2007/05/25/jamin-lefave/. For those who haven't checked out the site before it is a great website that features a wide variety of artists from fine art, to illustration, to concept art.

Almost There

Still hacking away at it. Almost done.

Self Portrait - A Work In Progress

I've been working on this for a while. I am in the process of finishing it before I take up the installments I've previously posted. As a side note - flipping the image horizontally is a great way to see drawing mistakes.

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

I have been working on this one for a while. I had to restrain myself from posting it prematurely just for the sake of posting something. This is a variation of a painting that got excepted in to the Society of Illustrators Student Exhibition in 2005. I would like to think that this the better of the two.

Jared

This is a portrait of my friend Jared Miller. His is a great friend and a great artist. I am think of posting a tutorial about realistic observational drawing. It may take a while, but I am sure it will be useful to someone, even if that someone is myself.