Worth Magazine: Tom Marchant

Tom Marchant by Graham Smith

I love illustrating the straight up, pen and ink portrait for the Twenty Questions interview for the beautifully designed Worth magazine.

I ink each portrait quickly, trying to maintain energy in the line while being as accurate as possible. As a result, each drawing has a life of its' own and each turn out differently.

For the Oct/Nov issue of Worth, Art Director Valerie Sebring asked me to draw Tom Marchant - "a British tech innovator whose online travel agency customizes unique travel experiences".

I inked Tom Marchant's portrait three times for this assignment, using slightly different pen nibs and brushes, adding differing amounts of detail and facial expressions in each portrait.

Above, you can see the size of the drawings in relation to my hand. I draw them about twice as big as they will print on a textured paper.

Below, is a close up detail of the finished portrait.

I rely on the blue under drawing to provide shading information difficult to draw in ink. The blue under drawing is more than a guide, it is a softer counter-balance to the hard edged ink. I like when things balance.

Tom Marchant detail: Graham Smith

For the art geeks: Hunts 513ef nib, #99 nib and  #8 round brush. India ink and blue pencil on Aquabee Super Deluxe Paper.

G.