The Figure and the head. Part 4. Project 6 The Head.Exercise 3. Portrait from memory or the imagination. Reflection.

…..use your imagination and the skills you have learned to draw someone you’ve seen momentarily- or not at all…….

I was watching, well sort of, The Chase on TV the other day and briefly saw this man, (I only saw him briefly as I was walking in and out of the room) I grabbed a Sharpie pen and some paper and did this very quick line sketch of him.

Man from the telly drawn in pen.

It’s not a profound drawing full of textures and colour, but my quick line drawing is, well a cartoon.

Reflection

What made me draw him ? What is a portrait?

Well many reasons. He had a marvelous beard, round glasses, pierced ears with lobes that had big holes, a very smart suit, he was well coiffured, well had a clean and shiny bald head, and he made some amazing facial expressions. Considering my glimpse of him was quick, I think I captured quite a lot of his characteristics. And perhaps this is what makes a portrait. To draw or paint a portrait requires the artist to really see the person. In my case this man caught my eye because of his striking appearance, his confidence on the screen and it felt like someone who probably spent quite a bit of his time in front of a mirror.

Drawing my man in a cartoon style was important to me, as it allowed me to animate his head, it was from the TV, so he was sort of moving, never still, as answering questions made him sway and twitch. I tried to make him look like he was thinking, cartoon lines are simple and it’s how the individual elements are drawn that give expression to the face. The eyebrows slightly raised give the idea of surprise or worry, a small curvy line for a mouth may indicate speech and staring eyes are looking at the camera.

Pierre Bonnard (1967-1947) did this with his figure paintings, expressing a moment in time. He often painted and drew from memory, hence he had ‘movement’ in his work. But his work is not ‘cartoon’ like. He created glimpses into the world of his interiors and nudes by using colour and light.  A cartoon is sort of light, but with line. My drawing is only a moment in time, very fleeting, quick and fast which sort of reflects what TV is about too, fast pace and action packed, easy seen then forgotten.