Two sketches from a photo taken by Jerry when we were in Belize last June. This man, a native Mayan from the Blue River Village, was called "Old Pedro" (he was probably about 45 or 50). He took Jerry on a nature trek up a mountain to a cave. I didn't go :)
Old Pedro had a nice face and you could tell he was well acquainted with smiling.
Jerry's photo is below. I think I captured Pedro's smile and smile lines better in the first sketch. But I didn't get the angle of the upturned head at all in the second sketch - it was hard to make the nostrils as large as I see them in the photo. I've found that I'm doing these quickly, as a sit and watch tv at the same time - and I think I need to really focus and work on these in my art room away from other distractions - and maybe measure distances on the photo vs the sketch as I go - maybe time to work larger, too. As much as I love my little Exacompta 9921 sketchbook, it's just a bit small at 5 1/2" x 8" and I could use a bit more room. So those are my excuses and time to stop making them and get serious - larger paper, more measuring and working at getting the features right - or just make generic people which is what I think a lot of artists do - you never see the photo of the person they are working on, do you? Just the finished painting.
2 comments:
I can see that you are really into portraits, Rhonda, and learning a lot. I think you got a better likeness on the first one, but both are good. You definitely need a larger sketchbook. I don't think I would use one that size for anything larger than a thumbnail sketch. :-)
Michelle
I agree, Michelle. It's difficult to get a good likeness and work with this small a sketch book - I wish I could find this type in a larger format. Might have to look online. I'll be back to watercolor portraits Monday so stay tuned...
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