Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Art Director Craig Edwards


Craig Edwards by Graham Smith

I illustrated this portrait of Art Director Craig Edwards for an article in St. Louis Magazine about his successful redesign of their magazine.

As an art director, Craig was not happy with how his existing head shots fit the layout, and asked me to draw a more flattering version for the article. I gave his portrait the "rockstar" treatment, punched up his faux hawk and gave him Burt Reynold's eyebrows. To make the portrait a bit more engaging, I changed the direction of his eyes to look directly at the viewer.

# 2 round brush and pen with india ink. EF 513 nib on Aquabee super deluxe paper. 5.5 x 8.5 inches.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Life Drawing Workshop: experiments on washed paper

Ian
Ian struck a slouchy, laid back pose at the life drawing workshop Meetup last night.

Afterwards, we all hit a new noodle shop in Mission Hills, San Diego. Izakaya Masa. We coudn't get to that little hole-in-the-wall fast enough after the workshop, we were all starving! All the artists were delighted to learn they use the old school, wavy style noodles in a super delicious pork broth. Oh yeah. Had to get the deep fried squid and chicken with spicy mayo too.

Sherman
Sherman (the Shermanator) posed for the Life Drawing Workshop I host at Sony. Between helping the artists refine their drawings, I was able to chisel out a drawing of my own. "The Shermanator" got his name from his amazing ability to stand perfectly, absolutely still.

Lizz
Cadi
Lizz is one of the top life drawings models in the San Diego and always a crowd favorite to draw. I'd like to note, her feet are not actually gigantic, I just draw them that way. Also, she has a real left hand, not a catchers mitt as indicated in the drawing. That night, it was all about the spicy squid. The best place to get spicy squid, especially late at night, is China Max. Actually, all the food is great there.

We drew Cadi at the Life Drawing Workshop Meetup, at Art Institute a few Wednesday's back. I laid the drawing out quickly, in the first 20 minutes. When the pose reset for the next 20 minutes, the models chair slid off the stage, scaring everyone in the room. Mostly Cadi. (Not hurt. All cool.) Later that night, we all went out for Japanese noodles at Tajima.

I learned it's better to start your drawing over, than try to fix a slightly moved pose. Annnd, don't put the models chair near the edge of the stage. It's considered "very bad luck" if you damage the models!


Terracotta, scarlet red, burnt umber, indian red, delta blue and white charcoal pencils on 18 x 24 inch, 80 pound Strathmore Premium Recycled drawing paper, with a raw sienna acrylic wash.




Monday, April 4, 2011

Howard Schultz - CEO of Starbucks

Howard Schultz CEO of Starbucks:  Graham Smith

Art Director Dean Sebring of Worth Magazine, showed me a really great looking layout for their Twenty Questions feature, and asked if I would illustrate an ink portrait of Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, for this months issue. Worth magazine is beautifully designed and chock full of great illustrations. I jumped on the chance to illustrate that page.

These ink portraits are drawn quickly, straight off the pen. I usually draw a few portraits and choose the nicest one. Maybe I should have drawn Howard Schultz using coffee, instead of ink for this one?

Worth Magazine with original ink illustrations in the background.

Contributors blurb by Lynsey Santimays.
Lynsey Santimays, associate editor, called me up to do a quick blurb interview for their contributors section. We were just chatting away, but after 16 questions, I ask how many words the blurb was supposed to be. "150. I like to get as much as a can. You never know." she responded.
 
"I draw a bunch and choose the nicest one." Graham Smith
I illustrate these with a quill pen, the kind you dip in ink. The thing is, the portraits come out a little differently each time. If I spill ink, drip on the page, or the final result doesn't look this the subject,  I have to start over. There is no erasing in ink drawing! I love the challenge drawing with this unforgiving medium.

Art Direction:Dean Sebring.  Portrait: Graham Smith

See More >> Worth #2: Aby Rosen
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