a very rare smile

One of the rarest seen smiles of an icon.  I have wanted to draw this gentleman for a long time but knew the public had but one typical view of him.  So when I found this image, I knew I had to draw it,...

Even once completed I doubt you believe who this is,.. but it is him,.. smiling.
" Always make the audience suffer as much as possible."

 It is my first time working with a combination HB pencil and charcoal.  So far I am pleased,.. but I also fully understand this may be one project that is very much for me only.  Sometimes we need to do things for ourselves and this is one of them.


...

Mystery Girl - Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane Mortenson Baker)

So I finally admit,.. my mystery girl has been Marylin Monroe.   Of course as I previously mentioned I did spend some time doing some final tweaks,.. added depth and volume to her hair,.. darkened the shadows,.. and a few other minor (probably unnoticeable) improvements.

Here she is,..

I drew this from an original photograph in the Michael Ochs Archives. The original photographer is seemingly more difficult to find, but I am still looking.  It dates from March 3rd, 1956,.. as the storyline goes, Mrs. Monroe was preparing for a dinner party.  This year, on August 5th, will be 50 years since her passing.

...

Mystery Girl (solved?)

If I am any good (or even moderately descent),.. you should hopefully be able to tell who this is by now.

I had thought it would take me so very much longer, but as it turns out my better half was away for three days/two nights and simply spent all my lone time working on this project.   My normal tools were an HB pencil, hard pink eraser and soft kneading eraser. I did the majority of the smudging with my finger tips but did use a tourtilon slightly, size is 18 x 24 (practically life size) on 80 lb.

Below are detailed close ups,....


















.... finally
I believe
the eyes
are correct,...

The lips were however too challenging,.. I think they are passable but still a little off (probably because I have looked at them for hours,.. tweaking them this way and that way, draw a little, erase a little, stand back and observe,.. start over,..

I added some hand lines to create realism.























It may not need to be said, but for those of you that know me, you know I am certainly going to keep adjusting this work for as long as it is in front of me or until I move onto my next project.
...

Mystery Girl,... continued

I have continued on this project and have actually completed alot sooner than I thought I would,...

BUT for the moment I will allow myself to tease a little and post only work-in-progress images.
(rest assured you should be able to figure out who this is very soon - if I am any good I suppose).

,... peek-a-boo,...

The hand was interesting,.. i have always had a challenge with hands. They are fascinating to me but difficult for some reason, I suspect it is because I see so much in them, that I have trouble capturing their magic.
























finally,.. I think if you have not figured it out yet,.. this will hopefully the the catalyst (and don't be too concerned if you don't get it - the burden is on me).

,.. the lightly sketched left eye (her left, not yours), was truly wrong and ill placed. I moved it to the correct place to keep her nose centered.  Using the eye-width as a standard it was a good place to start.





















(Hint: her intials are njm)
...

La Maison a sa Grandmere,...

Here is the final product of my friend's grandparent's house,....

(there is still a lot I dislike about my work here, but the picture of the house I worked from gave a sense of warmth and comfort I hope I was able to convey).







I used an  HB pencil, 0.7 mechanical pencil, soft, kneaded and hard erasers and very little blending with my finger tips.  The dimensions are 9x11 on medium weighted paper.



...

mystery girl

,... this one will definitely turn out to be a very long term project. One of those that you touch every now and then, but mostly simply let happen to draw out the best you have,..  I believe she is already recognizable, but keep in touch and you will see more and more of her,...

(Hint:  it is someone we all know)

...

"la maison" in progress

A friend asked me to draw this for her and I am glad to oblige.
I am working from a 3x4 picture and have managed to pull details from the picture with a magnifying glass.  The original request of making it approximately 6x9 turned out to be too awkward and I finally rested on 9x11 with fading borders (maybe it can be cut down closer to her original requested size).

Here is the evolution,... so far,...

.....