ART FROM ALICE
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Charcoal Portraits

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Drawing portraits is a wonderful way to enjoy other people's unique beauties. At the same time, it is often difficult to faithfully draw their likeness.it usually takes me much longer to draw a portrait than in 10-15 minutes.  Portraits are very personal--people often don't like the way they look, do not see  themselves as others see them or like how the camera defines them. I draw portraits because I see inspiration in someone's eyes like windows into their hearts or I admire the way their lips curve, or the tilt of their head. You will find that most of these portraits depended on a classroom structure for the models; most faces are drawn in 10-15 minutes. Facial features are often sacrificed because class models & visitors can only hold a pose for a short time. Some portraits were drawn between 20-30 minutes, esp. from manikins or celebrity photographs. Most of these are charcoal drawings on 9" x 12" grey paper but a few are drawn with crayons or felt markers on construction paper, just for spontaneity, variety & quick sketching. Freebies: If you spot yourself in one of these portraits & would like to have it, please let me know on the contact page. Thanks. 
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Two veiled manikins
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Elsa Razo, my lovely friend & "little sister", using conte crayon, after Diego Rivera's woman & calla lilies
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Bev, a very dear friend, full of light, sweetness & enthusiasm
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Beginning drawing--not quite finished
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 Side-view of maniken with dark, wavy hair
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Two manikins with hats
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One of the instructors--her drawn mouth may be too wide
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Drawing from a celebrity magazine picture
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A Class mate modeled for us--maybe I used a little colored pencil
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Class mate model
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This is Yours truly, while looking in a mirror too seriously--no smile, looks quite sad--concentrating too hard 
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Class mate model
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Two manikens again
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Another maniken---we were hard up for real people to pose for us
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I especially liked drawing this model & her glasses
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Very rough & quick sketch on green construction paper
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More manikins--wow, were we desperate!
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I took photos of a friend but struggled to get her likeness--she is much prettier & more vibrant than this drawing
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This woman was a lovely visitor to our class--we were fortunate to get people to pose so we could practice
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I began this portrait many times & couldn't seem to get it right--she is a woman with huge beautiful eyes.--I will keep trying.
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One of our instructors volunteered a few times to pose--she has a pretty face.
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This man was sweet enough to pose for us & we appreciated him
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Ditto for this lovely man with his impressive cheekbones
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I liked the dark hair & beard--this was fun to do.
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I think she was a visitor--I liked her kind eyes & smile
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She had an interesting face & veil arrangement--fun to draw
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This male model was very generous with his time--I like drawing beards
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I think this was one of our instructors--she had a gentle face to draw
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This may have been Rose--I'm not sure but we appreciated that she took time to model for us.
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Working on a bright colored paper has some advantages; getting the image to show up can be a problem
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This was certainly one of those very quick sketches--wish I had had more time.
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The steadfastness in this woman's face was remarkable--I like drawing her hat too 
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I liked including the hand but there wasn't much time to do much with it because just doing the portrait takes all of the few minutes you have available to draw.
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Drawing the hand simplified is what you have to do is you are going to draw the whole portrait as well
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I liked the joyful look in this woman's eyes--it was sheer pleasure to draw her
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I like the head bending down so that the face is foreshortened--this is challenging to draw & good practice.
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I wish I had had a lot more time to develop this portrait--15 minutes is not enough time to complete a face.
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I liked the character in this woman's face--her hat & hair were fun to do too.
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Maybe this was also Rose's lovely face--I only wish we had had more time to finish
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This woman may have been a visitor--she had kindly eyes.
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This woman's eyes were very intense--I liked her gaze
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This man was one of our visitors with a very distinguished face
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This man looked good in magenta for some reason--he posed for us often
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The shadow on her upper lip was a little intense--I should have drawn it in light green to go with the other shadows on her face. Oh well. I still like how I drew the glasses
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Again, I liked this woman's glasses & long hair.
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Glasses again--perfect! I think she was resting her eyes.
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Our instructor modeled again for us.
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I enjoyed using passes for this portrait--it's way fun!
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Resting one's eyes is a good idea--it give us artists another perspective.
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Wished I had had more time to develop this woman's face--it had a lot of potential for interesting lines.
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It would have been lovely if this man had come to model again--he had an interesting face.
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Getting her face to show up on this bright green paper was a challenge but it felt worth it.
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Manikins again--at least  we  didn't tire them out with "more minutes please?"
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This was one of our classmates--I'm sorry she only posed twice.
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Visitor model
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Visitor model
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A drawing after one of Vincent Van Gogh's images
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Maniken with sunglasses
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After a drawing of Kathy Kollowitz using conte crayon
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Visitor Model
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Class mate model
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Another manikin with hat & glasses
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Portrait of a Classmate

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Portrait of a Classmate
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Portrait of a Classmate
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Gini's Friend
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Drawing from a Celebrity's Photo.
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This was one more maniken in a hat & glasses; she was a female.
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Karuna, a dear friend of mine
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  • Home
  • Galleries
    • Abstract
    • Alcohol Inks
    • Animals and Mixed Media
    • Flowers and Plants
    • **NEW** Inspirational Quote Cards
    • Large Size Paintings
    • Nudes
    • People >
      • Charcoal Portraits
    • Remembering Robert
    • Retrospective
    • Trees and Landscapes
  • Contact