Bad Boy

Well, it is the blog’s second birthday, I suppose – and, with any celebration, one should look both back and forward, old and new. That’s actor Dominic Thorburn, whom we have apparently sat in the corner to think about whatever it is he’s done. Hmm! I feel as though I should be doing the same, but, in my defence, I can say that I don’t currently have any more naked men left to share.

Currently.

He was actually quite a challenge, the angles of his legs and feet proving particularly tough; I can’t remember the last time I attempted to sketch someone sitting down and was rather caught out! It’s probably not my best facial likeness either – I keep getting a vibe of somebody else whose name I can’t place! – and some parts still look a bit off, but I thought it best to stop here lest I go the other way. A very fun subject, regardless!

Antoine de Caunes

After a rather nice comment from Cynthia at Sand Salt Moon likened my portraiture to that of the Wall Street Journal’s famous ‘Hedcut’, I thought I’d give this stippling technique some exploration, in the hope of it forcing a different outcome. The guinea pig for this experimentation is the relentlessly gorgeous Antoine de Caunes, French actor and director – having become a touch dotty about him of late, he seemed the obvious choice. Thank heavens for Eurotrash and the Fruit Pastilles advert, is all I’ll say.

I originally went full-on Hedcut ape, but indeed it soon dawned on me that I was probably using brushes too small and with not enough discipline (missing the point?) for that style to come through. Impatience overruled any inclination to start again, so I continued. You can see the orderliness drop as you venture out from the T-zone. Actually though, some of the more disarrayed areas of the portrait come off, to me, the better – I quite like the feel of the jacket – even if it’s not completely true to the reference image – and I was intrigued to find that many of the facial features came easier with dots than they often do with lines (many, not all – note the mouth, which, quite visibly, remained troublesome as ever). Knowing quite where to stop dotting though was harder than expected, meaning tonal graduation is somewhat tentative here; I’m sure I should have done more with the forehead.

As expected, this was mercilessly time-consuming (even with some Photos. Fun was had nevertheless, and it at least has given something of a departure from the increasingly stagnant norm. I’d certainly be up for another go – doubly so, if it means I’ve an excuse to draw Monsieur de Caunes again!

David Pevsner III

It’s been verging on a month since I indulged in drawing David Pevsner. What am I playing at…?

David recently uploaded this stunning photograph to his (NSFW!) blog, and I had to have a go at it, for it might be my favourite one. It’s effortless, adorable and alluring. My drawing is slightly less so, however, as I don’t think I captured the smile and inviting eyes as much as I would have liked – he looks a little stern here compared to the photo. That said, I’m still quite pleased with the outcome – it looks like him, I think! I was tempted to forego the extra elements until some point mid-way through, where I decided that it’d be fun to try and capture the folds in the pillow, and also to try and make it actually look as if David is laying against it. I was wrong in assuming that would be fun – jolly frustrating it was, and incredibly time-consuming. I still can’t decide if the shading works or if it just looks as if he’s standing in front of an elaborate backdrop.

I did a colour version too for you lucky people, thanks to Photoshop magic. It does add something I can’t quite put my finger on, but, as is usual, I prefer the black-and-white; more of that sparkle to it.

I do these now as much out of gratitude as pleasure, for David shared both of my previous efforts on his site and they seem to have gone down quite well on the Tumblr-verse, as well as bringing a tremendous number of viewers over to this very secluded corner of the interweb. Thank you, David, it’s so very much appreciated!

That’s it, then… until I succumb to the temptation once more, I suppose.

David, again

When I uploaded my first drawing of the wonderfully striking actor, writer and model David Pevsner, I didn’t for a second imagine that it would become, in but a few hours, far and away the most popular post on this entire site, nor did I expect it to come under the eye of the Twittersphere…I certainly didn’t expect David himself (!!!) to get in touch and pay it a kind compliment, much less show it on his own site – talk about making a chap’s day! That was the biggest surprise. You’ve all been tremendously generous; thank you so much to David and of course everybody else who viewed, reviewed and approved it.

I did write in that post that I couldn’t see it being long before having to do another drawing of the model, for he is such a fabulous subject. Clearly, I know myself far too well, as it took only a couple of days before I was doing this one. It’s another fantastically mesmerising pose, and the vastly different lighting has allowed me to do a far better job on his facial features as well as creating a pleasing contrast all over the body, speckling through the chest hair and emphasising those impressive muscles. As such, I’m glad I went complete on it; I was initially toying with just leaving it as you see at the top of the post. ‘Twere just as fun if not more than the first drawing, even if it did mean I had to confront, to a greater extent than before, my arch nemesis: hands. (scream!) But, happily, I think even they came off OK.

Here he is in all his glory:

I’m really proud of this one, actually – I think it one of the strongest portraits I’ve ever created. With this momentum, and the fact that there are such a number of wonderful photographs of David, I’m still not certain this will be the last we see of him here. Watch this space.

You can follow David on his Twitter or at his own (explicit!) blog here. Go say hello, he’s such a nice guy.

Nude David Pevsner

Oh, what an awful drudge I’ve inflicted upon myself. I had such a hard time drawing this.

It was probably only a matter of time before a naked man appeared somewhere. I make no apologies. This is David Pevsner of Los Angeles – actor, writer, model, and more. I must confess that, being quite removed from the goings on in LA, I’m not familiar with anything he’s done, but he’s incredibly handsome, and happily I found that he’s recently begun posting nude pictures to Tumblr. Better late then never, eh. In typical British custom, I must reassure you that this is one of the tamer ones – trust me! – and has quite a lot going for it beside the beauty, and as such I felt it would make for a better drawing.

It was genuinely great fun, and I’m actually rather pleased with the outcome. I haven’t done this sort of image since the hilariously awkward life drawing in sixth form. I did it in black and white originally, then painted the colours over the top, using Photoshop’s blending capabilities to make it appear as you see. This is one of the pros of my digital approach: I can create a black-and-white drawing first of all, then add colour, then decide which is better, without any mess or screwing up paper or generally throwing equipment around the room… I really like both here, which is why I’ve included the above colour crop, but I think the monochrome edges it:

What a fruitful evening. I’m warning you, he might reappear soon.

If this whets your appetite for more David, you can find much more on his (yes, explicit!) blog.