Portrait drawing and other art: 2012

Friday, December 28, 2012

Jeremy Brett (Sherlock Holmes) pastel on cardboard

Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes

Pastel drawing on grey cardboard by Martha Guthrie

28 december 2012

This black and white pastel I drew on the thick grey cardboard from the back of a pack Canson Bristol paper.

Using fixative on this cardboard immediately dulled the pastel tones, they 'sank' away before my eyes.

His face looks slightly twisted, but I like how the eyes turned out. Jeremy actually looks at you, something I had trouble with before.

I still prefer normal drawing pencils over the crudeness of the pastel chalks, but seeing how other artists make life like portraits with pastels, I think I should persevere. One day I'll master it :-)

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Sofie Grabol as Sarah Lund (The Killing)

Sofie Grabol as Sarah Lund in 'The Killing'

Danish actrice.

Pastel by Martha Guthrie on Bristol paper

26 december 2012

Loving the Danish detective series "The Killing", I thought I'd try the main actrice, Sofie Grabol.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Self portrait Martha (pastel)

Self portrait on sketching paper

Pastel

19 december 2012

I tried to draw a bit more expressive this time. Yes yes, you're right, I should try a little harder.

Afraid of drawing too dark, the pastel turned out far too light.

A learning process I presume.

Learning every day :-)

Monday, December 17, 2012

Jeremy Brett - Sherlock Holmes

Jeremy Brett - Sherlock Holmes

Pastel drawing on sketching paper by Martha Guthrie

17 december 2012

No doubt Jeremy Brett was the best Sherlock ever.

As you can see I've been experimenting with pastel pencils some more. This time full colour. Ah, jeez, it's hard...

I understand that this is NOT what a good pastel should look like, but I decided to place it for the record. Maybe some day we can see some progress.

I overused the fixative: with every layer I sprayed, the vibrant colours of the pastel died a little more.

Also Jeremy's eyes won't look the right way. He's supposed to look at you, but now, I have no idea where he's looking.

But it's not all entirely my fault... my camera distorted the picture. No matter how hard I try to get the settings right, or how hard I try to take a perfect 'straight from above' picture, the damn thing distorts the drawing, perspective and colour wise. Also it's hard to get it properly lit. The left side of the drawing is actually a lot darker than the right side, but in the photograph both sides seem the same. Oh well.

But I like the hat :-)

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Antony Hegarty (Antony and the Johnsons)

Antony Hegarty (Antony and the Johnsons)

Pastel on Bristol paper

Portrait by Martha Guthrie,

12 -12 -'12

My first colour drawing. I used pastel chalk pencils.

I think I'l be experimenting a bit more with colour.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Laurence Fox (second try)

Laurence Fox as DS James hathaway in 'Lewis'.

Pencil drawing on Bristol paper

Portrait by Martha Guthrie, 7 december 2012

Second try (check earlier post for first try). Slightly better. Except for the hair... I decided to leave it like it is, before I'd make a complete mess of it.

Had some trouble -as usual- scanning the picture (the scanner doesn't seem to like subtile pencil lines), so I took a photograph of it and added the black background with computer.

I've been trying to draw portraits now for about three weeks. I have to admit that Laurence Fox was a difficult one. Hardly any lines/wrinkles in his face, but yet an unmistakable shape and look. Lips full, but no pouting expression, nose appears to be 'long' but it isn't, and a slightly cheeky look in his eyes.

I hope I caught some of those expressions in this picture.

On to the next one. I think I'll go for one of my favorite singers...

Monday, December 3, 2012

Colin Dexter, writer of 'Inspector Morse'

Colin Dexter, creator/writer of 'Inspector Morse' and 'Lewis'.

Portrait by Martha Guthrie.

Bristol paper, pencil.

3 december 2012

Learn more about Colin Dexter:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Dexter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Dexter

Friday, November 30, 2012

Rebecca Front as Chief Superintendent Jean Innocent in the detective series 'Lewis'.

Pencil on bristol paper by Martha Guthrie.

30 november 2012

Rebecca Front hates me.

And if she didn't, she does now. Look what a mess I made of her.

I can't get her face right, and believe me, I tried. I broke two pencils on her (allright, just two pencil tips, but for the sake of drama), and I even bought a new pencilsharpener. A red one, well, there you go!

I thought I'd try a different approach to portrait drawing this time. I started with rather dark tones on her face, in order to erase to the highlights.

Grand idea.

So after I made her a practically black woman, I took my kneaded rubber eraser and carefully picked up the unwanted graphite. I got bored rather quickly with this extremely slow process on creating highlights, and changed to a normal eraser. Yes! There! There! And there! Away with all the pencilstrokes! Until she no longer looked like a black woman, but an albino...

I sighed and started again.

I added some dark tones where they should go, and blended them carefully with a paper stump.

I then discovered that the paper had become totally unwilling through all my phrenetic erasing actions earlier.

Rebecca's face became no more than a stain.

And the over all look of the portrait was wrong anyway; eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks, everything that makes a person that particular person. All wrong. But how to fix lines if they refuse to be erased anymore.

I left her face for what it was and hoped that the adding of her hair would make all the difference.

But when I drew a few lines, I remembered that I can't draw hair at all...

I'm sorry, Chief Superintendent Jean Innocent...

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

John Thaw as 'Morse' pencil drawing

John Thaw as Inspector Morse.

Pencildrawing on Bristol paper by Martha.

27 november 2012.

One of, if not the, best detective series ever: Inspector Morse, based on the novels by Colin Dexter.

Til this day I refuse to watch the last episode of the series, in which Morse dies.

I couldn't bare the sight of him dead and poor Lewis being all sad about it. I already cry when my dachshund Ruben wags his tail in his sleep, and that's even a happy thing...

Unfortunately John Thaw has died. But he still stars every now and again in my livingroom as Morse, Kavanagh or Detective Inspector Jack Regan in the Sweeny.