Portrait of Elvis Presley

This Sunday, the celebrity spotlight is on.... Elvis Presley. You may remember that he made a cameo appearance two weeks ago, when Ann-Margret was our featured celebrity.

                       

 8 x 10 inches (20 x 25 cm)

Graphite and charcoal on Canson Grain

I like to put in as much detail as possible, especially when drawing the face whether I am using graphite or charcoal. I like to use charcoal for the skin tones because it seems to have the texture of real skin. On the other hand, I like to give the eyes more detail. I tried to draw the eyes and other features using graphite pencils while charcoal is used for the skin tones.

Above is the result of the experiment. This portrait was done last year. The downside is that the glare on the eyes really stands out when viewed at certain angles which I find quite annoying. Also, when viewed in certain lighting conditions, the portrait ended up looking ghostly. I think I'm going back to the traditional principle of working with one medium for an artwork.

                                  (Image is from Doctormacro)

 A shot of Elvis' famous rock and roll dance number in the film

                 "Jailhouse Rock"              

Elvis Presley is one of the music industry's legendary performers. He also crossed over to the movie industry with as much success. His movies are mostly musically oriented, although his first film, "Love Me Tender" has a more serious note than many of his later and more popular ones. The well known song of the same title was only used as its theme, not sung the usual way in front of an audience like in "Blue Hawaii" and "Viva Las Vegas". The largest portion of Elvis' films is quite light in terms of plot. They primarily serve to present our featured celebrity's rock and roll prowess. Nevertheless, they are really well worth watching.   

Portrait of Hedy Lamarr

This week, we give the spotlight to.... Hedy Lamarr. I know, she is not as popular as the others featured here, but I've watched a few of her films and I think she was a great actress.

                                     8 x 10 inches (20 x 25 cm)

                                Graphite pencil on Canson Grain

I had a hard time drawing the hair, resulting in several erasures. Hmm... in the end, I'm still not pleased with the outcome of the hair. But I'm quite satisfied with the face. I really need more practice on the hair - like they said 'practice makes perfect'.

                                      (Image is from Doctormacro)              
       Hedy Lamarr in "Tortilla Flat" with Spencer Tracy (Not shown in photo)

Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian actress before making it to Hollywood. She starred in films opposite big stars like James Stewart and Spencer Tracy among others. I think that's about it, as I said I've only watched a few of her films so I only know a little about her movie appearances.

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.