Tuesday 19 January 2010

Young Elvis Portrait, WIP 1. Just for practice!



Approx. 6" x 8".  Polychromos Pencils in Brown paper sketchbook.

I'm not really into doing Celebrity portraits but I'm on a bit of an Elvis 'trip' at the moment, having recently watched a TV documentary series on his life as told by the Presley family.  I've been a fan of his since the age of 9 or 10 and I've drawn many portraits of him over the years - this is the first one for a long while though. 

This is one of my favourite shots of him - it is a more informal one, different from all those other iconic pics we're all so used to seeing.  He was just 22 here and this picture was one of a series of casual shots snapped whilst he was filming Jailhouse Rock in 1957.  For all you purists out there yeah I know, it's not my photo - I'll probably burn in Hell now won't I?!

Anyway, I'm so glad to be back using my Polychromos - they are so gorgeous!  I'm using all the lovely Browns - Walnut Brown, Nougat, Bistre, Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna, Dark Sepia and more.  I'm also using Ivory for the lighter tones, such a great colour - there is no equivalent, in my opinion, in any of the other brands I have.

This scan is a pretty accurate representation of the drawing at the moment.  It looks rather monochromatic and monotone (is that a word?) right now but I'll be putting some more contrast in there.  This piece is giving me lots of practice (I need it!) in rendering hair, getting features correctly proportioned and getting a likeness.  I don't want to overdo it though.  We'll see.

7 comments:

Carolina said...

Oh, Janet, I'm loving it already (wasn't he cute?)Great choice!
Best regards,
Carolina

Alison Staite said...

Oh... i really like it as it is - don't do too much more!

Sjamesportraiture said...

I watched that, so good, did you see the jamming sessions he did as well? Looking forward to seeing how this goes

Janet Pantry said...

Thanks everyone.
Alison, I'll try not to!
Sarah, yes, it was so good. The jamming sessions on the '68 Special are just magical - I have it all on DVD ;)

Felicity Grace said...

It's looking great! I love the composition and the textured jumper. Looking forward to seeing it progress!

Unknown said...

It's looking great Janet. You have really captured him . Love the jumper texture.
Look forward to seeing updates on this. although it does look finished to me ...so it will be interesting to see what you add to it.

Richard Klekociuk said...

Real, true character is so hard to obtain in portraiture Janet, but you've nailed it. Well done!

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