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.