Saturday, June 11, 2011

A Face from the Crowd

I have a collection of black and white street photos, with people caught at random in the images, so I can sketch even in my hotel room on trips. I haven't done one in a while - and I was never happy enough with the previous results to want to show them to anyone. But the quantity of sketching I've been doing lately, and the life drawing, seem to have moved me to a different place, and I can capture more of my impressions. I can get out of the way and let my hand do this...

So this is one face from a crowd, zoomed in. I was fascinated with the shape of his eyes and brows, the way the reflection on the glasses interferes with full connection, and the mouth and chin. There are so many interesting forms and lines in older faces.

Pencil sketch, 8.5 x 10 inches. Click the image for a larger view. This took about 45 minutes and I enjoyed every one of them.

4 comments:

susan said...

You have every reason to be pleased with this one. I've told you before you've been moving ahead by leaps and bounds so I'm delighted to see you've finally noticed it yourself. You've captured his quizzical expression perfectly and the lines and shading are very harmonious, right down to the design of his tie and the slightly crooked collar. Interestingly, you mentioned how interesting it is to draw the faces of older people; I've long had the habit of seeing the children they used to be. I can definitely see the little boy in him. Nice work, Steve.

Anonymous said...

This is beautiful. So much said so efficiently - there are any number of short stories written in your penciled lines.

I've enjoyed your work to such an extent that it was difficult for me to imagine you making significant advances, but you've certainly proven me to be short-sighted!

Kay said...

wonderful sketch! Really enjoy it.

VildesVerden said...

Wow! I always get so impressed by people who can draw:)