Don Cheadle - Portrait

American actor and producer. Cheadle had an early role in Picket Fences and followed it with performances in Devil in a Blue Dress, Rosewood and Boogie Nights. He then started a collaboration with director Steven Soderbergh that resulted in the movies Out of Sight, Traffic and Ocean's Eleven. Other Cheadle films include The Rat Pack, Things Behind the Sun, Academy Award for Best Picture winner Crash, Swordfish, Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen, Reign Over Me, Talk to Me, Traitor, Iron Man 2 & Iron Man 3.

In 2004, his lead role as Rwandan hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina in the genocide drama film Hotel Rwanda, which was set during the Rwandan Genocide earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He also campaigns for the end of genocide in Darfur, Sudan, and co-authored a book concerning the issue titled Not On Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond. Along with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, David Pressman, and Jerry Weintraub, Cheadle co-founded the Not On Our Watch Project, an organization focusing global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities. In 2010, Cheadle was named U.N. Environment Program Goodwill Ambassador. He stars as Marty Kaan on the Showtime sitcom House of Lies, for which he most recently won a Golden Globe Award in 2013.



Tools:
-2H-8B, Woodless graphite 9B
-Kneaded Eraser, Mechanical Pen Eraser, Electric Eraser
-Blending stump, Makeup removal discs
-A4 (21x29,7cm) (8,25"x11,7")

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Wolves Crest

One of my most recent commissions based on a wonderful idea.

Tools:
-4H-8B
-Kneaded Eraser, Mechanical Pen Eraser, Electric Eraser
-Blending Stump, Makeup removal discs
-A4 (21x29,7cm) (8,25"x11,7")

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TERENCE McKENNA: Nature loves courage

 

I can say from personal experience that there is truth in this quote. I never believed in “The Secret”, all that talk of “if you put positive energy into the universe, the universe will reward you” or “the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward”. I thought it was new age bullshit – something Dr. Phil and other ‘life coaches’ trotted out to suckers. But honestly, my experience over the past 18 months has changed my mind. I had an impossible dream (become a web cartoonist) and I made the commitment and hurled myself into the abyss (quit my job and sold my house to fund the dream) and so far, it’s worked out better than I could have imagined. As soon as I handed in my resignation letter, good things started happening to me. Tim Ferriss contacted me about contributing to his book, my house was sold after I was super stressed that it wouldn’t, and all sorts of other small, positive things encouraged me to keep going. It did kind of feel that the universe was rewarding me for making the decision to finally act on my impossible dream.

Now I don’t want to give people a false sense of hope – that all you have to do is take the leap and everything will work out peachy. For me, ‘making the commitment’ means working my ass off, drawing these comics 6-7 days a week. But the work is satisfying and meaningful to me. So I would say that hard work, planning, skill, commitment and grit make up 90% of the equation, but maybe that last 10% is just deciding to hurl yourself into the abyss.

 Via: http://zenpencils.com/

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Will Smith - Portrait

American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood. Smith has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards, two Academy Awards, and has won four Grammy Awards.

Tools:
- 2H-8B, Woodless graphite 9B, Charcoal 3B
- Kneaded Eraser, Mechanical Pen Eraser, Electric Eraser
- Blending Stump, Makeup removal discs
- Proportional divider
- Tinted A4 (21x29,7cm) (8,25"x11,7")

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Do you want to enjoy learning how to draw? ProkoTV

About some time ago I discovered the videos and art of Stanislav Prokopenko (Proko). He is an incredible artist, art teacher and founder of ProkoTV, where you can find instructional and informative videos for artists in a useful method. 

In the channel he covers every aspect of the drawing process, all explained in such an entertaining way you'll not even realize you're learning. It's an effective approach to drawing the portrait from any angle and study the anatomy of eyes, nose, lips, and ears.

He recently launched the announcement of an additional figure series I'm sure it will not disappoint you:

http://www.proko.com/figure

Starting with gesture, then move on to the bean, transform it to the robo-bean, structure and manniquinization, landmarks, proportion, balance, exaggeration, measuring, and finally finish it off with a complete figure drawing using tone.
Don't hesitate to take a look at the series and have those pencils ready!

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Sansa Stark - Portrait (Game of Thrones)

The elder daughter of Catelyn and Eddard Stark. She has three brothers (Robb, Bran and Rickon) and a younger sister, Arya. Sansa Stark is one of the major POV Characters in the books. In the TV series, she is played by Sophie Turner.
I wanted to reproduce the nice bokeh effect like the reference.

Tools:
3H-8B, Woodless graphite 9B
Kneaded Eraser, Mechanical Pen Eraser, Electric Eraser
Blending stump, Makeup removal discs
Proportional divider
A4 (21x29,7cm) (8,25"x11,7")

Google+

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Do you want to learn oil painting for free? Then Draw Mix Paint

I've recently came across this wonderful site: http://www.drawmixpaint.com/ and I was surprised by the way realistic painter Mark Carder explains so easily and practically the steps to learn painting and creating your own supplies for the purpose. I've even made a proportional divider for myself that works perfectly, he also does great hangouts about art related topics on Google Plus if you are interested.


Check out the complete course on how to paint realism with oil, I'm sure it will not disappoint you:

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Grasshopper - Drawing Tutorial - Graphite powder

The grasshopper is an insect of the suborder Caelifera in the order Orthoptera. To distinguish it from bush crickets or katydids, it is sometimes referred to as the short-horned grasshopper. Species that change colour and behaviour at high population densities are called locusts.

Tools:
-5H-8B, Graphite Powder 6B
-Kneaded Eraser, Mechanical Pen Eraser, Electric Eraser
-Blending Stump, Makeup removal discs
-Brushes
-A4 (21x29,7cm) (8,25"x11,7")

Turn for graphite powder, I mostly use it for large areas and backgrounds, in this case I wanted a soft gradient, slightly more clear near the grasshopper's face.

First of all make sure the surface is clean, there aren't unwanted finger prints, otherwise you can smudge the piece easily, sometimes they can magically appear once you pass the brush and we don't want that.
I highly recommend to use a test paper till you acquire a good feeling with the strokes, If you tried dry-brush oil before it's a similar principle:

- Clean the surface.
- Pick your brush and take a bit of graphite powder.
- Delete with the help of a test paper or tissue the roughest powder excess till the point there is almost no powder left on the brush.
- Apply with soft strokes on the surface, since all the powder has the same value level, there will be a point of saturation where it can't be darker, and it will remain homogeneous.

Take a look at the video so you can make a better idea:



Don't be shy try testing the different materials (pencils, graphite, charcoals, papers...) it's amazing the surprising and diverse results you can achieve modifying and combining them.

Usually, nothing worthwhile is easy... Keep Drawing!

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Robin Hood (Russell Crowe) - Portrait Tutorial - Skin Tones & Blending

Heroic outlaw in English folklore, a highly skilled archer and swordsman. Although not part of his original character, since the beginning of the 19th century he has become known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor" and became a popular folk figure in the medieval period continuing through to modern literature, films and television, portrayed in 2010 film by Russell Crowe.

Tools:
- 3H-7B, Willow Charcoal
- Kneaded Eraser, Mechanical Pen Eraser, Electric Eraser
- Blending Stump, Makeup removal discs

I've received a lot of questions about how to achieve skin tones and blending, specially using makeup removal discs. Finally, I've decided to make a small tutorial about how I do it.

I'm going to start assuming you are familiar with the different concepts of values and materials in a drawing.

- First of all, try to detect in your mind the darkest and the clearest zones of your reference and drawing, everything else will be a point in between. When I'm talking about detecting I'm in fact telling that you have to actually see and think about the lights and shadows that conform the structure , this is a more important step of your drawing than it seems.

- Try shadowing, making loose strokes starting from dark to light in the drawing zone.

- Once we have the graduation of values, we can normally see the rougher strokes of the pencil.

- Apply the makeup removal discs in direction, from darkest to clearest without fear. You are not going to achieve a perfect value and tone directly.

- Check the reference:

• If blending added too much dark to a lighter zone use carefully the kneaded eraser.
•  If you erased and added too much light in a darker zone use the blending stump or a pencil carefully in order to correct the values.
• If you want to smooth the shadowing use the makeup removal disc again. 

 At this point, you might think that you messed up the piece, don't worry take a deep breath, keep calm and don't be disappointed if the result is not exactly what you expected to be, making mistakes and finding the way to solve them is the key of learning. I've passed through that point a lot of times, congratulations you are not perfect.

- Keep doing the steps again until the piece resembles as close as possible the reference.

Take a look at the video as example so you can make a better idea, it covers the following steps for the face:

- Full value / Dark accents

- Halftones and Highlights

 

 Make sure to have the notes enabled in Youtube so you can see the tool I'm using at each moment.

Charcoal and willlow charcoal is easier and quicker to apply but more volatile if you don't use a fixative on your piece.

I'll try to explain how to apply graphite powder soon.

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113. VINCENT VAN GOGH: In spite of everything

Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) was a Dutch Post-impressionist painter. Although he had a passion for art since a child, Van Gogh’s first career choice was to become a minister. After studying for a year, Van Gogh failed his entrance exam to a theology school in Amsterdam and later a missionary school in Brussels. Unable to join the Church, Van Gogh decided he would devote himself to art. Although his work was exhibited in his later years, he received no recognition for his work during his life, lived in constant poverty and died having only sold ONE of his paintings. Today he is considered one of the most important artists in history and his vibrant, powerful and expressive paintings sell for millions of dollars. http://zenpencils.com/


“The work is an absolute necessity for me. I can’t put it off, I don’t care for anything but the work; that is to say, the pleasure in something else ceases at once and I become melancholy when I can’t go on with my work. Then I feel like a weaver who sees that his threads are tangled, and the pattern he had on the loom is gone to hell, and all his thought and exertion is lost.”

Via: http://zenpencils.com/

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Indiana Jones - Portrait

Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr. usually nicknamed as "Indy" for short, is the title character and protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise and most famously played by Harrison Ford. George Lucas created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials. The character first appeared in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, to be followed by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles from 1992 to 1996, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008. Alongside the more widely known films and television programs, the character is also featured in novels, comics, video games, and other media.

Tools:
-3H-7B
-Kneaded Eraser, Mechanical Pen Eraser, Electric Eraser
-Blending Stump, Makeup removal discs
-A4 (21x29,7cm) (8,25"x11,7")

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DibujarBien.com por Marcos Raya Delgado

Recientemente he descubierto un interesante proyecto web:

http://dibujarbien.com/ 

Creada por Marcos Raya Delgado artista conceptual, ilustrador y escultor digital. En ella se nos explica mediante vídeos, ejemplos y ejercicios de una manera muy práctica y amena como dibujar bien y aprender a usar Photoshop desde cero. Adjunto una lista de reproducción con los episodios creados hasta ahora, seguro que aprendéis. Totalmente recomendable, como Marcos dice:

Gracias por dibujar bien!

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Lara Croft - Tomb Raider Reborn Contest entry, wips, sketches and discarded ideas

Final entry for the official contest hosted by deviantart

 Tools:

- 3H-7B, 9B graphite powder
- Kneaded Eraser, Mechanical Pen Eraser, Electric Eraser
- Blending Stump, Makeup removal discs
- A3 (29,7x42cm) (11,7"x16,64")

Lara Croft is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Square Enix video game series Tomb Raider. She is presented as a beautiful, intelligent, and athletic English archaeologist-adventuress who ventures into ancient, hazardous tombs and ruins around the world.

In this case I saved some previous ideas and I thought that why not to share part of the process and evolution til the final result.

 

 

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Eyes in the Sky - Drawing

Tools:
-2H-6B, 9B woodless graphite
-Kneaded Eraser, Mechanical Pen Eraser, Electric Eraser
-Blending Stump, Makeup removal discs
-A3

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100. CARL SAGAN: Pale blue dot

The Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of Earth (click here to see it) taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft at a distance of 3.7 billion miles away. The spacecraft had completed its primary mission and was passing Saturn, hurtling through space at 40,000 mph. Carl Sagan requested that the spacecraft turn around and take a photo of Earth, not for any scientific purpose, but as a sobering reminder of our planet’s insignificance. The resulting image inspired Sagan to write this now famous and breathtaking passage.

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Gandalf - Drawing

Character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. He appears as a wizard, member of the order known as the Istari, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West. In The Lord of the Rings, he is initially known as Gandalf the Grey, but returns from death as Gandalf the White. Sir Ian McKellen wonderfully portrayed Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

I wanted to try a challenging hair in a new paper but I think I picked the wrong beard in not the best realist paper, though not disappointed with the result.




Tools:
- 2H-7B, Willow charcoal
- Kneaded Eraser, Mechanical Pen Eraser, Electric Eraser
- Blending Stump, Makeup removal discs
- (21,6x29,72cm) (8,5x11,7")

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Louie Schwartzberg: Nature. Beauty. Gratitude

Nature’s beauty can be easily missed -- but not through Louie Schwartzberg’s lens. His stunning time-lapse photography, accompanied by powerful words from Benedictine monk Brother David Steindl-Rast, serves as a meditation on being grateful for every day.
Louie Schwartzberg is an award-winning cinematographer, director and producer who captures breathtaking images that celebrate life -- revealing connections, universal rhythms, patterns and beauty.

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98. ALAN WATTS: What if money was no object?

(1915-1973) was an English philosopher and writer who played a large part in popularising Zen Buddhism in the west. He gained a wide following after moving to the United States where he published numerous books on Zen and Eastern philosophy. During the 60s and 70s he toured extensively on the college lecture circuit and became a celebrity among the growing youth movement. Watts had over 25 books published and recorded over 400 lectures, many of which have found a new audience on YouTube.

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Bonsai - Drawing

Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers. The purposes of bonsai are primarily contemplation (for the viewer) and the pleasant exercise of effort and ingenuity (for the grower). By contrast with other plant cultivation practices, bonsai is not intended for production of food, for medicine, or for creating yard-size or park-size gardens or landscapes. Instead, bonsai practice focuses on long-term cultivation and shaping of one or more small trees growing in a container.

Tools:
 2H, HB, B, 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B, 6B
 Kneaded Eraser, Mechanical Pen Eraser, Electric Eraser
 Blending Stump
 A3 (29,7x42cm) (11,7"x16,64")

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