Portrait of Ingrid Bergman and Work in Progress

The bright light of our spotlight shines on this week's featured celebrity.... Ingrid Bergman.

                                     8 x 10 inches (20 x 25 cm)

                            Graphite pencil on Arches Hot Pressed
                                           Watercolor paper

Faith said that this paper seems to do wonders to her drawings. I just had to try it and see for myself. Well, I did give it a try and I can say I'm pretty pleased with the result. Yep, it really does make wonders to drawings, but I wouldn't have believed it until I've seen it with my own eyes. The paper has two surfaces with different textures - one side seems to have some pattern while the other is quite smooth with just the right amount of tooth - which is perfect for drawing.

I tried a different approach as suggested by my artist-sister -- don't finish the bust and just shape into a "v". Also, in some of my portraits, I partly use regular bathroom paper to blend the skin tones. I found it works well on Canson Grain but on Arches, this method of blending can make the paper all fuzzy. Nevertheless, it's still a nice drawing paper, even though it's more expensive than my usual Canson.

                                       (Image is from Doctormacro)

                                Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart

                                             in "Casablanca"

Here's a little about our featured celebrity: Ingrid Bergman was a Swedish actress before she made it to Hollywood. She was quite popular in the 40's in films like "Casablanca", "Gaslight", "Anastasia" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls". A versatile actress, she won multiple Academy Awards in her career. She portrayed a variety of roles like in the human drama, "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" where she played a British missionary in China. One of her most enduring films is the black and white classic "Casablanca" (with Humphrey Bogart) where the romantic song 'As Time Goes By' was originally sung. The scene where her role asked Sam, the piano player, to play the song is equally memorable.

Before I say goodbye for now, here are the few progress shots that I talked about last Sunday.

In the image above, the face is almost complete. I always start a portrait with the eyes. I don't know why, maybe because they are the central feature on the face. Somehow I feel when the eyes have been established, I can determine if I've captured the likeness.

In my earlier portraits, I draw the hair strand by strand with a mechanical pencil but now I establish each lock first and then later I add some highlights and shadows.
                                        

Here, more hair is drawn and also the bust is almost complete.
                                            

                                                                          
And here's the finished portrait.

Portrait of Ann-Margret

Our celebrity spotlight this week shines on.... Ann-Margret.

                                     8 x 10 inches (20 x 25 cm)

                                  Graphite pencil on Canson Grain

                                              
This is the first time I used a color photograph as a reference for a pencil drawing. I usually work with black and white printouts from the computer. There is something about black and white photography that I find fascinating. Maybe it's the drama of light depicted in black, gray and white. Having watched classical old movies may have given me a keen eye for black and white photos. Back to our featured celebrity portrait. It was done in 2009 but I managed to make some progress shots of the portrait which I'd like to share. I'll post them here maybe next week or as soon as I have prepared them.

                                         (Image is from Doctormacro)

                 On the set of 'Viva Las Vegas' with, of course, Elvis Presley

Here's a little about this week's featured celebrity. Ann-Margret is a Swedish-American actress who became popular in the 60's. In one of my favorite movies, 'Viva Las Vegas', she played a swimming instructor who initially doesn't want the advances of our hero. She appeared in other films like 'Bye Bye Birdie' and a remake of Rogers and Hammerstein's musical, 'State Fair' with Pat Boone and Bobby Darin.

That's it for now. I hope you enjoyed the post and will tune in again next week.

Portrait of Elizabeth Taylor

This week, the spotlight is on.... Dame Elizabeth Taylor.

 8 x 10 inches (20 x 25 cm)

Graphite pencil on Canson Grain

The portrait was done in 2008. Actually, this is the first in the series of 8x10 inch celebrity portraits that I talked about last week. When I started doing portraits, I didn't know about graphite powder yet, so I use graphite pencils for the most part. Since then, I have tried a couple of different drawing styles and techniques and also experimented with various ways for blending tones.

Several years ago, I saw my sister, Faith, also an artist, draw a portrait on a regular printing paper. I'm sure it was of a celebrity, but I've forgotten who exactly it was. I was inspired and thought maybe I could also draw portraits. Fast forward to today, I have learned, what professional people call some "tricks of the trade" largely through the internet. Speaking of the internet, I have found several artists which I just admire. James Gurney, David Kassan, Alfredo Rodriguez and Drew Struzan are just a few. I am greatly influenced by the mastery of their works to strive and work hard and do the same with my own career. 

                                           (Image is from Doctormacro)

Here's some tidbits about our 'Celebrity of the Week'. Shown above is a young Elizabeth Taylor as she appeared in the film 'National Velvet'. Earlier in her career, she starred in children oriented films like 'Lassie Come Home' and 'National Velvet'. She also took on more serious roles like in 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' with the dashing Paul Newman, the moving medieval story 'Ivanhoe' and in the title role in the historic epic 'Cleopatra', which she played along side her future husband, Richard Burton, who played Mark Antony.  

Well, that's about it for this week.

Portrait of Marilyn Monroe

Hi and welcome to my blog. Here, you will find portraits of celebrities in graphite and charcoal -- from the legends of the silver screen in the 30's; the glamorous actors and actresses and singers of the 40's and 50's, to some of today's new icons of movies and music. I hope you'll keep me company in bringing to you these personalities in the entertainment business. The first celebrity to shine in our spotlight is... Marilyn Monroe.

                                          (Image is from Doctormacro)

The image above is a publicity shot for the film 'The Seven Year Itch'. It shows Marilyn in a familiar pose standing on a subway grill. A very popular actress in the 50's ( with emphasis on very), she began her career as a photographer and artist's model before she made it big in Hollywood. She first played bit parts in such classic films as 'All About Eve' with Bette Davis and Ann Baxter and 'Love Happy' starring the hilarious Marx Brothers. Some of you might know that Marilyn Monroe is known especially for portraying blonde and sexy but somewhat dumb women, as evident in her comedies like 'The Seven Year Itch', 'How to Marry a Millionaire' and 'Some Like it Hot'.

I started doing 8x10 inch portraits of glamorous movie stars about two years ago primarily to train myself to draw portraits. I now have a handful, so I thought I'd share it with you.

                                                

 8 x 10 inches (20 x 25 cm)

Graphite pencil on Canson Grain

In my earlier drawings, I use mainly graphite pencils. But now a days, I tend to favor brushes dipped in graphite or charcoal powder to apply my tones. Marilyn Monroe is one of  my earlier celebrity portraits. For this one, I chose a picture of her in the days when she was not yet as popular as we know her today. I hope you enjoy the post and will tune in again next week.