She Wolf Experiments
The last two days I’ve experimented with new art supplies. I bought a new Kuretake watercolor palette. It took a month to get here from Japan. So, I was anxious to try out the colors. I decided to use a portrait reference from the Julia Kay Portrait Party group on Flickr. I did a quick pen sketch and used the new palette to color it.
She Wolf Sketch
I also wanted to try tempera paint sticks and brush markers on a portrait. So, today I did a more carefully measured ink drawing and colored it with paint sticks and markers.
She Wolf Portrait
Strathmore 400 Series Watercolor paper 4×4.5 inches (11.5×12 cm), Platinum Plaisir Fine nib fountain pen with Platinum Carbon Black ink, Mod Paint sticks, Arteza Real Brush colored pens, Arteza flat waterbrush, Molotow 2mm empty pump marker filled with Dr. Ph. Martin’s Pen White ink.
These two sketches made me think, “What makes a good portrait”? I assume most people would say the second one is the better of the two as it is more flattering, but accuracy does not always make a great portrait. Just look at Picasso’s portraits of his mistress. However, it really isn’t fair to judge the two because a quick sketch serves a very different purpose from a finished drawing. Both sketches served my purpose which was to test out materials. You see the finished product. I see the process.
Jim
