The King Is Here,..

Elvis Aaron Presley,.. very few people in our human history are known by simply one name but when you here Elvis, you immediately know who it is. I have no doubt we could come up with a hundred single named individuals that left a indelible memory but compared to the +100 billion people whom have come and gone in our history,.. I think it is still impressive.

I could write about Elvis for days and never have to look for new information or anecdotes,..  however, instead I will write a few words about this drawing and my process.  The original photograph is of a 21 year old Elvis, (some 56 years ago), jumping up on stage at the Olympia Theater in Miami.

In the original photograph his
left arm is down
behind him
but I thought it
would be better
to be out and up,
with his usual
pointing to the sky.

I have major issues
with that hand,.. it
has gone through
many iterations and
still is not quite right
to me but I do not
regret taking the
artistic liberty of
adding it.

All in all I think the
this piece in its
entirety is good
enough for me to
show it now.








Now details are the devils toys and that darn horned meany sure likes to play with me,.. so,..

Face/Head

 




First sketch sure does
look like my aunt Gina
but hopefully it does
get better,...

..... finally it starts
to look like someone
I might not be related
to, maybe even an
Elvis impersonator.

I'll freely admit it is
not there yet, but in
the context of the
entire piece I think
it works.











.... the right foot/shoe,...

Although the left shoe
seems ok, when I thin
it out a little (see below)
it looks much better.

Finally, some of my favorite parts of this project. Doesn't mean they were easy and doesn't mean they were difficult, just that I enjoy the final product, appreciated the process and learned something new.

(shading and blending)































 (shadow and detail)














(light direction)













HB pencil, a hard eraser and soft kneading eraser, most of the blending was done with a tortillon and the final size is 18 x 24 on 80 lb paper.

...
..
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