Drawing Caruso - pen and ink tips

Caruso for Worth Magazine by Graham Smith

Drawing Caruso from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

I'm super lucky to illustrate the 20 Questions interview portrait for Worth Magazine, Art Directed by Valerie Sebring. 

Always trying to improve the illustration process, I've tried many different ways to ink these portraits.

I've inked directly over the blue pencil sketch in Drawing Petra Nemcova - a totally traditional approach, used a light box to draw the ink over a blue pencil sketch in Inking Duncan Quinn- adding a common studio technique, and inked on vellum in Beer for Data, trying to switch up the medium. 

This time, I try a new trick-of-the-trade, printing the pencil sketch on watercolor paper, and inking over that. It works really well, so I thought I'd share the technique with my inky friends on the interwebs. You can see a quick example in the video Drawing Caruso.

The funny thing is, all these techniques result in the same look, an inked portrait over a blue line sketch. There are so many ways to achieve the same effect.

Do you have any tricks-of-the-trade you'd like to share? Let me know in the comments below.

Ink detail - 140lb cold pressed watercolor paper

Pencil sketch on Strathmore paper

Pencil sketch detail

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Draw something everyday!

Ohio's Top 7 Influential Leaders portraits

Cover illustration detail

Inside Business Magazine just published their Top 100 Most Influential Leaders in the state of Ohio this month, and asked me to illustrate the cover and interior portraits for the feature story.

Combining bold graphic shapes that contrast the delicate penmanship creates a look that balances between traditional and modern. 

Art Director: Chris Valantasis Illustrator: Graham Smith

Cover design by: Art Director Chris Valantasis. Illustration: Graham Smith  

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Pen and ink on Strathmore drawing paper. Digital color.

5 Bostonians Changing the World

Deb O’Hara-Rusckowski, critical care nurse setting up nursing school in Haiti

It was pretty fun combining scratchy pen and ink drawings with bold graphic shapes while drawing these portraits of Bostonians Who Are Changing the World. You may gaze upon their portraits while imagining their amazing deeds, or you may read about these influential folks in Boston Globe Sunday Magazine online. 

Dr. David Hertzog, eating disorders Doctor at MGH

Glen Shor, director of Massachusetts Health Connector

Sonia Chokshi, Tufts student and co-founder of Kip Solutions social media company

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Worth: A Year of Portraits

Over the last year, I've been lucky enough to illustrate portraits for Worth magazine's 20 Questions feature, Art Directed by Valerie Sebring.

It is an honor to be a part of this award winning magazines year. In celebration, I've collected all the 20 Questions portraits together. Here they are, in no particular order.

Worth Magazine's 20 Questions portraits: Illustrated by Graham Smith.

Aby Rosen - Real Estate Mogul - Read More

Tom Marchant - Hi Tech Travel Agent - Read More

Mindy Grossman - CEO Home Shopping Network

Blake Mycoskie - Gives away shoes

Duncan Quinn - Fashion Designer - Video

Howard Schultz - CEO of Starbucks - Read More

Willam C. Paley - Tycoon

Micahel Mina - Chef

Pen and ink. Hunts nib #: 513ef, 99 

Corporate portraits in graphic style

 I rocked some portraits of the business executives at Dow Corning for T. Rowe Price financial planning magazine PlanLink. I worked closely with Art Director Jon Zerivitz and developed this clean, limited pallette, retro, graphic style to illustrate these portraits for their current issue.

Dow Corning executive portrait for T. Rowe Price by Graham Smith

I develop a new portrait style for each issue, have a peek how I illustrated the portraits in the last issue of PlanLink.

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Dr. Wright Lassiter cover portrait

Dr.Wright Lassiter for HealthLeader's magazine by Graham Smith

 Sometimes you just get lucky. Art Director Doug Ponte assigned me a famous Doctor to draw. It turns out, he looks like a rock star! Thank you, illustration gods.

Illustrating portraits is so much easier when the subject has a great face - and Dr. Wright Lassiter has a really great face to draw. The HealthLeaders magazine cover article probably won't mention that. I think, Dr. Wright Lassiter is famous for building and administering next generation hospitals. All I know is I could keep drawing this guy forever!

Detail: Dr. Wright Lassiter

The fat lines are made with a #8 round brush and the skinny lines are quill pen - the kind you dip in ink. The background textures are India ink, rolled onto paper with a brayer.

I drew the sketch at about 150% of print size, on Strathmore 50lb sketch paper with an ebony pencil. Drawing geeks like to know that kind of stuff.

Anyways, this guy was so fun to draw, I hope he gets even more famous, so I can draw him again.

Detail: pencil sketch of Wright Lassiter by Graham Smith

Pencil sketch of Wright Lassiter : Graham Smith

 Dr. Wright Lassiter looks so good, all I had to do was leave room at the top for the name of the magazine!

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PlanSponsor: Patrick Groenendijk

 I illustrated a portrait of Patrick Groenendijk for PlanSponsor Europe. Patrick is the CIO of a Dutch co-operative private road transport pension scheme Pensioenfonds Vervoer. Read the article online.

Patrick Groenendijk by Graham Smith

The article's theme is change, and how this investment officer adapts. Art Director, SooJin Buzelli chose a sketch with dramatic clouds blowing ahead of a storm to represent the interview.

"Everything needs to change in order for things to remain the same." Patrick Groenendijk

Following the theme myself, I changed the way I usually illustrate portraits and inked this one at almost triple the print size. See how big the original inking is next to the magazine and my sketchbook? It was fun to draw that big.

 

Above are some details from the illustration. I create the backgrounds by any means possible, using  ink, acrylic paint, brayers, brushes and different types of paper and printing techniques. To me, changing the way things are created each time, keeps things fresh and in discovery mode.

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HealthLeaders: Portraits of the Editors

Ed Pruitt - Editor of Healthleaders

Jim Molpus - Interim Editor of Healthleaders

 Ed Pruitt and Jim Molpus are the Editor and Interim Editor at Healthleaders magazine. I was commissioned to illustrate their portraits for the Editor's Letter page by award winning Art Director Doug Ponte.

You can see the size of the drawing and the kind of pen nib I use to draw with. The bigger thick to thin strokes are drawn with the pen nib in the standard position. The really thin lines are drawn with the pen nib held upside down, using the thin, forward edge of the nib's foot.

Each person is drawn quite a few times until the portrait is figured out. I spread the inked portraits out on my desk to decide which best suits the assignment.

The Editor's portraits were destined to print small, so I illustrated the portraits about twice the print size, which was still pretty small. I have to be "hold-my-breath" careful when drawing small portraits, where the thickness of the line makes a big difference.

Sometimes, I think my nose is going to touch the paper, I get so close to the work. This is what the drawings looks like from that perspective!

Ed Pruitt: Detail, Black Cat India ink and General's non-repro blue pencil: Graham Smith.

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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.

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