Enticing Eleventh Issue

 

Fauvistic Females (& Other things)

Female portraits in a variety of sizes and styles. Some are in extreme colour, some are not.

Anoush Anou (Ink Sketch)

The first picture I attempted after completing the Eric Clapton picture of the previous post, this was an exercise in drawing hair mostly (as are most of the pictures on here). I did a chalk underlay for this, although I discarded it, as I preferred this version, and I had already spent two months complicating my drawings in an attempt to drive myself insane. Sometimes basic works best.

Rosa Brighid (Skin tone/Photoshop brush experiment)

A relatively simple sketch portrait attempting to create a more naturalistic skin tone than my previous work, as well as attempting something new. I used watercolour brushes for the basic colour background, then blended it and overdubbed (so to speak) the details for the face and hair. It's incomplete obviously, as you can see where I stopped detailing the hair, I like the effect though.

Rosa Brighid Portrait

This was taken from a black and white photograph and was an attempt at creating something different from a straight recreation. A part of the reason I don't really draw many photographic things, lies in the fact that the photo exists already and works perfectly well as a picture capturing a moment. 

This then, was an attempt at photo realism with classic 19th century art portraits, sounds pretentious I know. I first drew the pencil outline, then completed the greyscale highlights before attempting to create the finished piece. I went through numerous attempts in order to find the right feeling for the picture, first natural skin tone (the photo being black and white) as a traditional portrait. I didn't like it. Then a more abstract colour version, not exactly fauvism, but more in the style of the following picture. This too did not work. 

Then I realised the effect I wanted was already there, I just had to blend the greyscale layer and draw the eyes and mouth in the same style as the Anoush Anou hair sketch, then overlay the pencil outline and erase certain parts of it. I was going to add more detail to the hair, then decided it worked perfectly well as is, so put it aside while I moved onto other things.

Anoush Anou Sketch #2

A drawing I worked on at the same time as the Rosa Brighid portrait above, this was an attempt to create a picture in the same style as the Jane Morris sketches of Rossetti. 

The original sketch is in blue as I randomly chose a colour and began drawing after completing the pencil structures. Once completed I deleted the structure layers and left a outline layer, which I overlaid on a purple and green blurred background. I then completed the skin tone on another layer, combined all three and changed the brightness and vibrance to give the green/blue 2nd version. 

The final version was the completed sketch, with the original outline changed from blue to brown, the background layer changed so the vibrance was at maximum while the brightness was darkened (giving the picture a glow-like effect). This, combined with the Rosa Brighid grey portrait, led to the next drawings.

Colour Experiment #1 (Taken from a unknown model photograph)

My first attempt at the style I am currently using, this was an attempt to combine photographic realism, abstract expressionism (sort-of) and the work of the Fauvists from the late 19th/early 20th Century. It's incomplete as it's an experiment, obviously, and not really intended for showing, however, in comparison with the following pictures (especially the next one) it stands as the beginning of my current (pretentious) attempts to create something different. I am intending to draw this again.

Dane Halo Portrait (Fury In Red)

The second version of this picture, enlarged and worked upon from a sketch I completed in about 4 hours from start to finish. It is obviously an attempt to recreate the feeling of the previous picture, although I tried to be less exact in terms of detail. The hair was more an attempt at clashing colours, while the face was more an attempt at drawing in the style of Gustav Klimt. I did intend to change the arms, hands and shoulder although I think it works well as is in regards to the attitude and emotion behind it.

Anoush Anou Portrait (The Lady In Blue)

A companion piece of sorts to the previous picture, this was an attempt at creating a more melancholy tone than the previous two pictures. It's slightly more considered than Fury In Red, being more a combination of that work and the previous drawings of Anoush Anou I had attempted. 

Originally this was going to be all in turqouise green and blue, although I changed the lips to red in a homage to the iconic opening credits of the Rocky Horror Picture Show from 1975.

The second picture is an effect version, with the picture blended and blurred with a near transparent layer overlay and maximum vibrance and extreme darkening in relation to the brightness. I wasn't sure if this version worked, although considering it for a few days, I think it portrays the mood I was in when I was drawing it. 

Colourful Sumi-e?

Portrait of the life-model Hérodiade. It's a more tranquil and relaxed type of picture I think, although I am basing the painting style on Picasso's Crying Woman, which is not tranquil at all.