I know I could tone it down, but I do have a tendency to keep my bold brush pen lines when sketching women—and it ages them.
Recently a reader wrote to commission me to do a portrait of herself and her husband. Yes, I do commissions (though I’m not taking any new ones until after the new year), but not women. I just don’t think I can have fun and at the same time do them justice.
Female subjects get really upset when you draw in their wrinkles, so I think I’ll just avoid that whole issue and stick to dogs, birds, men with beards, vegetables, and rocks. And women I will never meet, like this woman from @earthsworld.
Pentel Brush pen in a Canson 180 Sketchbook. (The paper in this sketchbook is lovely for brush pen work.)
In general, I have not sketched portraits from photos much, but this month for Inktober I am doing a portrait a day from Earthsworld’s fantastic photos, and I’m having a ball! Such great candid expressions!
Yes Earth has captured some really incredible faces (and beards!) I’m glad you are having fun with your InkTober project!
And lots of great beards!!
This woman looks fierce (not necessarily a bad thing), and not just because of the wrinkles! I think it’s the heavy pen line that accentuates the wrinkles. I do like wrinkled faces, both male and female. It’s life, right? Why not enjoy?
Even thin lines can give a sense of too much wrinkling, so even if I held back I could age someone, but for me I just love that bold stroke, the way my hand feels as it goes through the motion. I think that I like wrinkled faces because they show the person has lived, I think that’s what you’re getting at.
laughed at this Roz…I’d be honoured to be drawn by your brush pen. The strong lines are huge fun and so beautifully nuanced by your light touch.
I know what you mean about Earth’s pictures. I have a sketchbook full of gouache and brush pen portraits based on his pics.
Lots of character faces there! (I do wonder if those folk would be hurt or offended to know they have been photographed and used as models for so many illustrators and artists)
I hope I can draw you at some point—preferably from life! I’m glad you are enjoying Earth’s photos. They are really fun. Lots of characters. To me they are the next best thing to actually going to the State Fair (which I haven’t been able to do because of Covid).