Sunday, January 25, 2015

Me Vs. Hans Baldung Grien

This is a copy of "The Head of Saturn" by Hans Baldung Grien, done with charcoal pencil in my oatmeal sketchbook. I was really struck by how tightly controlled the original drawing was, with every line placed perfectly while still maintaining a sense of life and motion. I think I managed to capture a bit of that, although I feel like I missed something with the expression around the eyes and mouth. The face in the original drawing really conveys God-like power scowling at the folly of lesser beings, whereas mine kind of looks like a guy who is annoyed because he can't find his car keys.

Sunday, January 4, 2015

A Chimp Named Frodo

Once again, I'm digging into the photo selections on the National Geographic web site for source material. This worried-looking fellow is a chimpanzee who, according to the caption, is named Frodo. I suppose I would be concerned too if I had to carry the ring all the way to Mordor. This was done in my oatmeal sketchbook using a charcoal pencil.