Grace Hightower Di Nero

I'll never forget thinking, if this portrait of Grace Hightower, for Worth Magazine doesn't come out right, I could get whacked! Not only is Grace Hightower drop dead gorgeous and fun to draw, she is a socialite, a philanthropist, and is married to the actor, Robert Di Nero. I illustrated 2 versions, just to be on the safe side.

"Are you looking at me?" 

"Ummm, I was looking at your wife.... Oh! That's worse, isn't it?"

For the art nerds:  These ink portraits are illustrated at about twice the size they print. I use an old school quill pen, with a #99 nib and a EF 513 nib, a generals non repro blue pencil. Sometimes I fill in details with my trusty Lamy Safari fountain pen. The india ink I use is general purpose stuff, nothing fancy. If I remember correctly, these were drawn on Strathmore drawing paper, which has a bit of a yellowish tone that must be color corrected in Photoshop.

G.

Sophia on Brown Paper

Sophia: Graham Smith

I've been having a great time drawing on brown paper bags from the grocery store. The paper is "free" and turning them into little artworks, is my contribution to the recycling effort. To prepare the surface, I gesso the center roughly, leaving a bit of a border surrounding the page.

These are quick studies of the model Sophia, done in 20, 10, and 2 minutes each, drawn at the Life Drawing Workshop I teach at Sony. 

I use conté crayon, and or black and red colored pencils to capture the model's expressive poses quickly.

2 minute warm up drawings

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Zombies!

Zombies invaded the art studio at Sony's Life Drawing Workshop this week, complete with fresh dripping (theatrical) blood, horrifying silicone prosthetic masks, and a chopped off leg.

We sharpened every pencil we had, and drew quickly. This drawing series was done on brown paper bags dry brushed with gesso. I used colored pencils and charcoal to create these 20 minute drawings.