Milton Glaser on Drawing

"Milton Glaser talks about drawing and how it makes you look at things more closely.

He also talks about the importance of learning to draw accurately before you can draw expressively. These days art schools (at least in the UK) have their students draw less as they advance through their years of study. During my time at University our drawing classes ended half way through our third year and I noticed a huge difference in my sketches. The less we were made to draw accurately the more basic my sketches became.

If you’re at uni do you still have drawing or life drawing classes in your senior years? How do you feel about getting your ideas down on paper first before you get started on screen? For all the illustrators and artists reading this the answer might seem obvious, I suppose."

MILTON GLASER DRAWS & LECTURES from C. Coy on Vimeo.

Birthday Portrait

Recently completed this drawing for a friend for his sister's 21st birthday. It's not easy working from a small photograph but I counteracted this by keeping the portrait quite small itself and then using the roses and scroll to frame it and give it the size it needed.

'Mad About Music' Exhibition

I've spent that last few weeks preparing 3 pieces for the 'Mad About Music' exhibition that is currently taking place at The Gallery, Clayton Square in Liverpool city centre. The Gallery will be exhibiting the work of local artists based on the theme of music and will also have live music entertainment to compliment it all.
It's my first time entering my drawings into an exhibition and I have been fortunate enough for them to be selected for the show, and even appear in the gallery's front window. Surprisingly my work seems to be the only pencil based art in the exhibition - the majority of work being paint - but I quite enjoy having something to offer that is different to everything else.
See Madelainartz for more information on the Gallery and it's current exhibition.

I chose The Beatles, Bob Marley and Elvis Presley as my subjects.
I will be posting pictures from the exhibition soon!

Johnny Depp Fineliner Portrait

As demonstrated in my previous post I occasionally like to give the pencil a rest and work using ink Fineliners. It can be a lot quicker to create something just as effective as a pencil drawing. I also enjoy the precision that can be gained with Fineliners, using nibs as thin as 0.05 mm. I've only ever attempted one portrait using these technical pens (seen here). This portrait measured 6 X 4".

Eagle Vs Snake

Ink illustration.

Tribute

In late 2009 I produced a piece in remembrance of my Grandad. I incorporated elements of tattoo design into it to make it feel more like a tribute rather than just another portrait. The two roses with the leaves forming a heart at the bottom and the scroll reading 'Husband - Dad - Grandad' frame the picture perfectly. This is probably my favourite drawing to date. I plan on doing some more tattoo inspired work like this in the future.

Gillian Goldstein

Art by tattooist Gillian Goldstein.

"My artwork has been recently quite a bit influenced by tattooing. Now that my studies are more focused in that direction, I try to incorporate elements of tattoo that I think will complement the piece. I feel like tattooing has enriched my drawings and painting ability as well as made me more enthusiastic about my personal work."

Top Left: 'Mother' - Mixed-media pen, watercolour ink and acrylic on paper.

Top Right: 'Trophy Wife' - Mixed-media pen, watercolour ink and acrylic on paper.

Bottom: 'I'm Screwed, You're Fucked' - Mixed-media pen, watercolour ink and acrylic on paper.

Portrait

Portrait drawing from 2006. Measures 7 X 5 in.

Barnickel Design

Nice piece by Barnickel Design.

The combination of traditional drawing and vector shapes gives the piece a contemporary feel.

David Oxtoby

English artist David Oxtoby is known for capturing the aural and visual excitement of rock 'n' roll and its performers. His images are brilliant and passionate and share a certain quality with those of my own. His art is showcased in the book 'Rock Visions'. Below are a couple of my favourite pieces taken from the book. I am particularly fond of his pencil drawings with the dramatic hint of colour used (shown below). I'm thinking of doing something similar having seen how well it works.

Below Left: Howlin' Wolf, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles: Blues and Roots (Pencil and coloured pencil, each 20 X 21.5 in.)

Below Right: Bruce Springsteen: U.S. Ahead (Coloured Pencil and watercolour, 26 X 26 in.)

Light Panel

I have decided to invest in a light panel to help out with my drawing. The slimline acrylic light panel from Orchard is a personal favorite so far in my search. For the A3 size, the price is £187! I didn't want to spend that much but I think it will be a worthwhile investment having looked at the spec and quality of the product. Apparently it was also featured in London Ink so it can't be bad!

Bob Dylan & Jim Morrison

Each of these drawings measure 8" x 8". Just waiting on the client to decide on the third and final piece for the series.

Music Legends

Musicians, particularly those of the past, seem to be a popular subject matter for artwork. In late 2009 I completed two (of three) seperete portraits of Bob Dylan and Jim Morrison of The Doors. As this was a three-piece series, each portrait was the same square format housed in a 14" x 19" frame with identical custom-made typography for the icons name. The image here shows a detailed section from the Dylan portrait. It's always nice to be able to include objects in a drawing, whether that be a pair of sunglasses (in the case of Ray Charles) or something a bit more complex, such as the microphone and harmonica in this example.

Bob Dylan / The Beatles / Jimi Hendrix

As mentioned in my previous post, this piece was one of the most challenging I have done to date but the outcome made it all worthwhile. I was originally given a list of about 6 bands/musicians and was asked to incorporate them all into the one drawing. I knew this would be a problem (because of the detail) unless it was done on a much larger scale so came up with a few different compositions, using only a select few of the musicians the client wanted. They were more than pleased with the outcome and it now sits proudly on their living room wall. This was completed back in 2008 and measures 23" x 8".

Ray Charles

I was recently asked to draw a portrait of the music legend Ray Charles. Here is what I came up with.
Mounted and framed (14.5" x 10.5"), the piece is being sold for £70.
This is the second piece I have done for this client. The first was one of the more challenging and time consuming drawings I have done to date - combining Bob Dylan, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix all into the one canvas. I'll post images of this next.