Pen and ink portrait time lapse video

Pen & Ink portrait - timelapse from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

A 2 minute time lapse video of the creation of a pen and ink portrait form start to finish.

I'm lucky to illustrate the 20 Questions interview feature in Worth Magazine each issue. Sometimes I film myself drawing. Over time, I've streamlined the inking process, see if you can see how I "cheat" when inking portraits on a deadline.

Sole Survivor of the Yarnell Fire - illustration and sketches

Brendan McDonough for Phoenix New Times - Graham Smith

"If anyone knows why the Granite Mountain Hotshots left a safe area on top of the Weaver Mountains west of Yarnell and descended into a box canyon that became the worst death trap in the nationwide history of such crews, it's Brendan McDonough.

The only survivor of the 20-member hotshot crew that perished in the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013, McDonough, 23, is in the unique position to have heard some, if not all, of the discussions between Granite Mountain Supervisor Eric Marsh and Captain Jesse Steed in the moments before Marsh, Steed, and the others died."

Thumbnailing is the funnest part. I like to draw lots of them.

Brendan was the lookout for the Hot Shot team.

Illustration assignments for the weeklies like the Phoenix New Times come and go quickly. Art Directors and their editors like to see sketches within a day or two, and the final art a few days after that. The whole process takes about a week.

Tip: For a cover, always provide lots of extra area in the artwork (a bleed), at the top and sides of your illustration to allow the art director to room to design, and or crop the illustration to fit the layout.

Link to Yarnell Fire article by: John Dougherty in the Phoenix New Times. Art Director: Peter Storch.

The Official BBQ Tasters of the Boston Globe

How am I just finding out that this is a thing? Up until the very moment I illustrated these portraits for the Boston Globe, I thought artists had the best job. But Official BBQ taster? These folks are winning.

Brush and ink portraits by Graham Smith.

Twitter Shaming illustration for Boston Globe

Twitter Shaming - Graham Smith

The Boston Globe asked me to illustrate some current events for the Sunday Arts section. It was so much fun illustrating a bunch of awful people who have said terribly racist, or homophobic remarks in public recently, and drawing the writer that shames them via twitter wearing pink slippers, was the icing on the cake.

In case you haven't been keeping up, here's what the mounted heads said, that got them is so much trouble:        Read the article in the Boston Globe.

Donald Sterling (Clippers owner)

"It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people"

Janelle Ambrosia (Dollar store racist lady)

"I called you a n****r. You're a n****r. Nasty f*****g n****r."    Watch the video.

Justine Sacco (pr executive)

"Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!"

Clint McCance (Arkansas school board member)

"I like that fags can't procreate. I also enjoy that they often give each other AIDS and die...I would disown my kids they were gay."

Janice Daniels (former mayor of Troy Michigan)

 "I think I am going to throw away my I Love New York carrying bag now that queers can get married there." 

Cliven Bundy 

“I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro.”

Wall of Shame - illustration process from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

Pencil sketch - Graham Smith

Illustration Process: First, I sketch the idea really roughly, in pencil. Then I refine the sketch, trying to get the scribbles to look like the people I 'm drawing. That's the refined sketch above. Next step, I've been doing a little differently than the traditional old school method of tracing on a lightbox. Instead, I scan the sketch, and print it onto nicer paper. In this case, Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper. Then I ink the print, which is below, and color the illustration digitally.

ink drawing - Graham Smith

Cliven Bundy (detail) - Graham Smith

Donald Sterling (detail) - Graham Smith

Janice Daniels (detail) - Graham Smith

The Twitter shamer (detail) - Graham Smith

Twitter desk (detail) - Graham Smith

G.

John Pritzker for Worth Magazine

Drawing billionaire John Pritzker for Worth Magazine, in good ol' pen and ink.

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

G.

Draw something everyday!

Mellody Hobson portrait

Mellody Hobson is president of Ariel, an investment firm that manages over $3 billion in assets, and is one of the largest African American-owned money management companies in the United States, AND she's the chairman of Dreamworks Animation, AND she just married George Lucas. Dang!

Portrait for Worth Magazine. AD Valerie Sebring. Pen and ink, on 140lb cold pressed watercolor paper.

How to Illustrate a War Story

Beer for Data - Illustration Process from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

"It was a dark time in a long, drawn-out war. Afghanistan was festering with resentment. The Pentagon brass were desperate. It was the kind of last-ditch moment when authorities start throwing an era’s weirdest ideas at its most hopeless bureaucratic mistakes."

Pacific Standard hired me to illustrate an article about the war in Afghanistan, and a bunch of "Burners" lead by Dr. David Warner, the called the Synergy Strike Force. They succeeded in trying to "hack the war", only miles from the treacherous Tora Bora Mountains, from the only bar in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

This story begins in Wartime Afghanistan, with a few smart guys building schools and installing solar generators. It ends with the burning of Koran's at Bagram Airforce base by US soldiers, and the riots that erupted afterwards.

Once stateside, the story is returns to another burning, a bittersweet ceremony where the Burning Man's Temple was razed, deep in Nevada's Black Rock desert. Goodbyes were said to those lost in the war.

Their story, by Brian Calvert is heroic and amazing. Read the Article.

Illustrating a reality based series about the war is a great responsibility, and a super fun project!

But where to start? How do you know what to draw? What is the illustration process?

Research: Illustrations are based on written descriptions from the article, and reference photos culled from the interwebs. It is helpful to research the objects in a reality based illustration. I read the manuscript and highlight the descriptive passages, then list all the objects to be illustrated, and Google them.

Ideas: Draw thumbnails: The goal is to put your thoughts on paper, and to generate ideas by letting facts, graphic themes, and subconscious ideas link from one little drawing to the next - evolving as they go. This is a really fun part of the process, where any idea, no matter what, gets drawn in a little box.

Edit: The best thumbnails are enlarged, and refined into bigger pencil sketches. They are reviewed by the art and editorial staff, and placed into temporary layouts to get a sense of how the illustrations will live inside the design.

Refine: Sketches are usually developed with anything handy, and fast. In this case, graphite. The rough pencil sketches are used as a guide for the more carefully done ink drawing.

Draw: On approval, the chosen sketch is redrawn with ink on a separate piece of translucent vellum or paper. A quill pen, and india ink are used to draw each illustration.

Finish: Color, and mono-printed textures are are added digitally in Photoshop, as is the final  resizing, and preparation for printing. The final print ready, Photoshop files are delivered via internet.

While I'm drawing, I'm also filming.

An iPhone camera captures time-lapse footage while attached to a overhead desk lamp. Between each drawing, I reposition my low end DSLR, (Canon T4i /650D) to film a different angle, setting the exposure, and depth of field, before resuming to draw. The footage is knocked together in iMovie.

Drawing the CEO of Audi

Drawing Scott Keogh from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

Scott Keogh, CEO Audi America. Worth Magazine. 

Art Director: Valerie Sebring. Illustrator: Graham Smith

Drawing Petra Nĕmcová

Drawing Petra Nĕmcová from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

I illustrated the stunning Czech entrepreneur and model, Petra Nĕmcová for Worth magazine's 20 Questions interview. I setup my camera to film the drawing process, cranked up the studio sound system with some old time Ska, and sharpened up a blue pencil. It's time to draw a supermodel!

Take a peek inside the studio, while I get down to some drawing and filming.

The sketch phase is where all the real drawing is done, where the mistakes are made, then improved. The facial structure is figured out in this step, the dark areas are planned, and how the lines follow the planes of the subject's face are decided. The blue pencil gets a real workout in the sketch phase.

Ink: Inking is a performance, the pencil sketch is the rehearsal.

I like to follow the sketch closely to maintain the likeness, but a degree of spontaneity is required for the line to have life. There is a balance to be negotiated. So, with a strong underdrawing in place, I can free skate over the sketch, reinterpreting it in ink. That way, I don't have to figure out what things looks like, only how to finesse what's already in the sketch.

Interpretation is the key, not slavishly tracing. Inking is a balance between craft, and pure drawing.

Petra Nĕmcová was injured in Thailand during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and has since founded BE THE LIGHT, New York by Petra Nemcova a home decór lifestyle brand. 

Drawing: Petra's portrait was illustrated on Strathmore 140 lb cold press watercolor paper, using a Hunt's 513ef quill pen and india ink, and sketched on 80lb Strathmore drawing paper, using a General's Color-Tex Lt Blue pencil. 

Video: shot on iPhone 4S, and Canon 650D, with a 50mm f1.8 lens. I put it together in iMovie. Timelapse with Stop Motion Recorder. Music: Cut Manno by Prince Buster.

Pen and ink portraits

MARKS: Volume One

MARKS: Volume One

Size: 8.75" x 12.25"
Price: $25
Pages: 48. Full color
Signed.

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

I just finished designing "MARKS Volume One"- a 48 page, hard cover art book, containing a collection of life drawings, illustrations, and sketchbook experiments I have created over the last 2 years.

Graham Smith's MARKS Volume One, contains private life drawings, sketchbook experiments, and includes examples of my professional illustration work. The common thread throughout the work are my expressive mark making techniques, regardless of the media. I'm in love with the line! MARKS Vol. One, is my love letter to drawing the figure.

Graham Smith's marks Vol. 1 - book trailer from Graham Smith on Vimeo.



The infamous, Alberto Ruiz noticed my life drawings last Comic Con, and being a sucker for old school figure drawing, offered to publish a small run of them. He gave me 2 months to design a book, and deliver it to Xupuy Edicionés, his publishing company in Quito, Ecuador.

The Process:

I learned a lot about making a book. The biggest technical hurdle was improving the way I photograph artwork. After of years of fiddling around, I asked a professional to trouble shoot my DIY photo studio. Long story short, with some simple photography gear, common sense, and some fancy photographic diffusion plastic, an artist can photograph their artwork in-house.

To design the book, Xupuy Edcionés provides 2 Photoshop templates, 1 for a single page, and another for a 2 page spread. It is the artists job to fill those 48 pages with the best they have. Carte Blanche. Alberto Ruiz, the publisher,  takes care of the rest, supervising the books design, production and printing, in order to be "The Best Publisher of Essential Eye Candy The World Has Ever Known!"

How do you find the time to draw stuff?

A little bit at a time. Once a week, I'd venture out of my studio to brush up on my life drawing for a 3 hour session. Every week I would draw a few more, until I had a little pile going. After a couple years, the pile was pretty big.  I selected a few of my favorite drawings to put in the book. It's amazing what you can accomplish in only 3 hours per week!

I love drawing in my sketchbook, everyday. I even make my own sketchbooks, now. Inside their pages is where I invent color combinations, draw from my imagination, collect notes, and do drawing experiments. No one ever sees those sketchbooks, so I sorted through and a few, and selected some painting and drawing experiments to show you, in the book. Here is a sneak peak!

Want to see more?

Video:   Unboxing:   The night a giant pallet of boxes arrived.

Video:   Book Signing Party:     Friends, models, artists, beer and music.

Review:

Got an autographed copy of "Mark", what a collection of best work done by famous artist Graham Smith! All drawings, either in BW charcoal or colorful mixed medias, are carefully structured and rendered/painted. I saw how Graham drew figures in studio. He always wanted to have a good drawing angle and composition. Sometime he had to change his seat frequently in order to find a better angle. Besides all nice layouts, his line quality is what a professional artist should learn and master. Very dynamic and full of energy.The book contains figure drawings and illustrations in various styles that are inspirational to young artists for thinking outside of the box. The last, but not least, is the anatomy knowledge showed in the book. Graham fully controlled every inch of his figure drawings and demonstrated how anatomy knowledge should be used to depict muscle shapes, body rhythms, and figure poses. This is a five-star book an artist must have! 

Dr. Wei Xu  - Writer, Teacher, Scientist, Mathematician, Artist 

Let's Draw! Video

Graham Smith - Sizzle Reel from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

Let's Draw! A video portfolio of illustration, life drawings, and sketchbook experiments by illustrator Graham Smith.

Art Book by Graham Smith - Coming Soon!

Graham Smith's marks Vol. 1 - book trailer from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

Woo hoo! I just finished illustrating, and designing my first art book, AND it was published by the coolest of cats, Alberto Ruiz of Xupuy Edicionés! I was so happy about it, I made this book trailer video containing sneak peaks at the book's artwork being made.

"Graham Smith's mark's Volume One" is expected to debut March 30th, 2013. I will let you know when signed copies are available.

This full color, hardcover book is a beautifully printed 48 pages of personal work, life drawings, sketchbook experiments, and illustrations - all created over the last 2 years.

Signed copies will be for sale on this blog.    Stay Tuned!  
Cover Model: Briana

Senator Arlen Specter - RIP

Arlen Spector - February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012

Arlen Spector was a moderate US Senator from Pennsylvania, who made a run for the Presidency in 199.

He switched back and forth between the Democratic and Republican parties more than once. First, from Democrat to Republican, in 1965, switching back to the Democrats again in 2009.

Arlen Spector was a highly esteemed Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, teaching a course between the relationship Congress and the US Supreme Court.

He died of Non-Hodgkins lymphoma on October, 14th, 2012.