BlueFrogArts

Pencil Portrait for a Hero by Deb Skinner

Over the years, people have asked about the procedure I use to do pencil portraits.  So, when a local law enforcement officer asked me to do a portrait of her husband (a New Mexico State Police officer), I took some photographs to give an idea of the process.

The pencil portraits I am most often commissioned to do are those in the style of photographic realism.  The first step is to ask the customer to bring a group of photographs they would like me to work from.  (I almost always work from photographs, as it's much more convenient than asking a novice model to hold still for hours while I draw them.)  I love to do portraits from a live model, the poses are more natural in life, and I think it is often obvious when a drawing was done from life or from a photograph.

Good photographs are absolutely essential to a strong end product.  Notice in the photo taken above there is a strong light source coming over his right shoulder.  This gives an interesting highlight on his right cheekbone, and on the folds in the fabric of his uniform.

After I have several photographs, I work to arrange them in a way that is pleasing to the eye.  Although symmetrical compositions are more formal, I prefer asymmetrical. I think they are more interesting.

If you click on the partial drawing to the left, you will see that I very lightly sketch the images on the paper until they are accurate.

I work with a mechanical pencil, because I am able to get a higher level of detail.  I use the cross-hatching technique to create the shaded areas, and refer to the photo constantly.

Sometimes, I am asked to edit the photos, or add something.  In the image to the left, I was asked to add a specific logo to the front of the shirt.  This took quite a bit of time, as the image had to undulate with the folds in the fabric of the shirt.

I always use archival papers and strongly recommend customers have the drawings framed with acid free mat board, and an acid free backer board.  Many frame shops offer glass with a UV protective coating, and I also recommend this.

Pencil is one of the most enduring mediums.  It has tremendous appeal as most people have used pencils extensively in their lives, and it seems almost like magic to see a photograph like image created from such a simple medium.

I enjoy working with pencil for many reasons, but what I love most is when it all comes together.

Deb

Beth Knotts & Deb Skinner Visit Shiprock, NM

Blue Frog artist, Beth Knotts, is shown at left sketching Shiprock Monument in Shiprock, New Mexico.  Beth's daughter and Blue Frog Founder, Debbi Skinner took Beth to visit Shiprock on a day trip from her home in the Farmington, NM area.

"I really liked the interesting shapes and forms of the plant life around the monument.  I loved the way the road wound its way up to the monument.  There was great contrast between the dark shadows and sunlit areas leading up to the monument, and between the jagged rocks and the curved globular forms of the plant life.

I was pleased with the results of the outing.  From the on-site pencil sketch, I was able to do several watercolor studies later, when I returned to Debbi's house."

About Shiprock
The Shiprock land form, located in Northwestern New Mexico, is the remnant of an explosive volcanic eruption that occurred around 30 million years ago. The main part of the landform is 600 meters high, and 500 meters in diameter. Shiprock, known as Tse Bitai, or "the winged rock" in Navajo, is a volcanic neck, or the central feeder pipe of larger volcanic landform which has since eroded away. The neck is composed of fractured volcanic rock, or breccia, crosscut by many thin veins of lava. Ship Rock is composed of an unusual, highly potassic magma composition called a "minette", thought to form by very small degrees of melting of the earth's mantle. Shiprock was probably 750 to 1,000 meters below the land surface at the time it was formed, and has since gained its prominent form due to erosion of surrounding rocks. (taken from United States Geological Society (USGS) website)."

More Adventures Coming Soon...
Check in again soon, as Debbi and Beth are planning to visit Choke Cherry Canyon in Farmington, and the Painted Desert and Sedona in Arizona next week!