Pen & Ink Portrait Lessons

[Sherry Pettey]

I draw portraits at art shows under 8 minutes, and I am known as the "quick draw" artist...a local legend in my own mind. I was asked to teach a weekend class at the local art center, and so I did. I am afraid that this was too much for some....but maybe you can benefit from the examples that I used.

[Sherry Pettey]

Yup, more...

[Sherry Pettey]

Yup, yup, more, more....(my creative writing skills are lacking right now)....

[Sherry Pettey]

You may recognize some faces out of old magazines. I prefer to draw from life, and so I did every student that was in the class....here were their reactions......

Do you feel inspired to attempt pen & ink portraits? I hope that you are inspired to try to do some, if you haven't attempted drawing people too often.

Sherry

[gakinme]

Wow, these are really neat. Thank you, Sherry. Enjoy all these expressions. I assume you use different sized pen for these portraits? Like for the shading, it's much finer pen? By any chance, are there any ink and wash in these? Or are they all pen work stroke by stroke?

[birdhs]

Wonderful! These all make perfect sense to me. I really need to start working on humans, and best place to start is from the top.

Your input is appreciated

[crbuchan]

This is really wonderful, Sherry! Thank you for sharing.

[jacquip]

Sherry this are amazing. I have tried doing studies in pen but haven't advanced to a full portrait yet. Would you mind if I used some of these to practice from?

[Sherry Pettey]

Gakinme: Because I had a larger room for the class, I did not use a regular pen, but a Sharpie so that the lines would be heavier and easier to see....no wash, all pen strokes.

Birdshs: Humans are the worse people to draw! Much due to foreshortening, symmetry, measure points, and the big challenge.... the capture of that unique spark that defines a personality. It is easier to start from what I call the colorbook platform...make it simple, and go from there.

Crbuchan: I had a choice to either watch tv, or do something like this....I think this was a much better use of time before I hit the hay and dream in black and white.

Jacquip: I hope that this will truly benefit you....please feel free to copy and then use what goes along with your comfort zone to create your own version of faces. Example: Take the drawing of the older people...and try to draw them the way you would think that they would appear 30 years ago. I use different approaches like this just so that I may feel confident drawing people in publc, (total strangers, all ages and temperments), knowing that I can improvise on irregular features, hopefully in the poser's favor...lol....

Sherry

[valchina612]

Extremely well done Sherry, and a great benefit to this forum. Thankyou for posting.

Val.

[objectivistartist]

well done - a delight in seeing this, and fine examples of a skill gained thru many many hours of work and careful observation........

[Sherry Pettey]

Val and Robert: I am equally awed by your work....I need to find the time to sit and relish all the work that I have missed out on for so many months....a son deployed to Afghanistan, the Joplin tornado...you know, things that keep one's mind under stress and inability to "socialize" on a great site such as this! I am proud to say that my son just got back to Hawaii, and Joplin, MO is recovering.


I have a couple more things to add, and I am certainly willing to assist with answering questions of problems that some of you may face when doing portrait work. I feel, as Robert has mentioned, that my years of observation has given me the confidence to help other artists who struggle with drawing the face....one of the most difficult things that can be drawn with confidence. I asked the students to study the very basic outline of the human face, in relation to the skull. I have a technique that I call facial geography, which shows the direction of the pen strokes that follow the CONTOURS of the face. You owe it to yourself to study the "map" of the face above towards the beginning of my thread, so that your pen strokes actually do a 2-D "carving" of features that pose difficulty in freehand drawing.

I suggest that a basic template could be used as the base for a drawing, and I keep it simple by a direct frontal portrait. I ask that the students use tracing paper and draw the form several times to "take in" proportions of key features on an almost intuitive level. From there, it is a matter of using live models, if possible, and increase skill level by placing your model in different positions, all the while, keeping the drawing itself simple. Details can be added later.

All this wind...here is the basic templates that you are free to use. Also, back in the day, this poster was printed in 1982 when I was in my artistic prime and before family duties required my departure from art. It is entitled "Fellow Americans", and measures 33" x 21". It is my signature piece and still wows people who usually don't seem interested in pen & inks. It certainly draws attention to my 8 minute pen & ink portraits...sign shown below after the detail collage example found in "Fellow Americans".

Sherry

[Drumm014]

Under 8 minutes! Wow! Thanks for posting these images. I love pen and ink portraits.

[Hazartist]

Sherry, what wonderful work!!! I don't "have it" when it comes to drawing people. You sure do! Love your work!

[Sherry Pettey]

Drumm014: If you ever come to the Artwalks in my area, and see me working, I will give you a free protrait, and thank you!

Hazartist: I don't think I "have it" all the time, and sometimes, I only have half. If I have only half of what half that I have, I will have a panic attack, but let's just keep that in the house....lol...and thank you!

Sherry