Inking With Fine Tip Pens: Civil War Generals

General Joseph Hooker

"General Joseph Hooker", 8x10 inches, Felt Tip Pens and Permanent Marker on Bristol Vellum Paper, 2010

These two portraits were inked last night with a variety of disposable pens. Fine lines were created using a Permawriter II with an 07 point, and contains permanent ink similar to India ink. I also switched off to a couple of Staedtler Pigment Liners with heavier points. The black areas were filled with a Prismacolor permanent marker.

"General McClellan", 8x10 inches, Felt Tip Pens and Permanent Marker on Bristol Vellum Paper, 2010

Some important stylistic influences in these portraits are the work of illustrators like Barron Storey, Max Altekruse, and Gary Kelly. I owe much to Detroit area artist Max Altekruse, who I had the pleasure of working with at McNamara Associates from 1981 to 1995. Max is one of the great classically trained illustrators still working. He trained at the New York Artist's League more than 45 years ago and is skillful at making every corner of an illustration fascinating to look at.

The details in the faces of these illustrations are formed from abstracted shapes. The nose on General McClellan, for example, is treated like an elongated cube shape and is defined by distinct edges. Finding edges, even in the subtle contours of the cheeks, gives definition to the face and creates opportunities to accentuate the style of the strokes. This is a fundamental lesson I learned from studying the works of great illustrators like those mentioned above.

Almost anyone can render a face and create a likeness, but  top level illustrators can bring out a unique stylistic quality that makes their work easy to identify. A great example of this is the poster illustration of Drew Struzan. Visualize the Indiana Jones poster artwork and you will get an idea of what I am talking about.

Detail of line style 

Inking is the first step in the process. I plan to apply separate watercolor washes to these in Photoshop as part a series for instruction. Using the inked art as a guide I can create washes in any media on board, scan them, and create a complex color background for these renderings. The goal is to develop an antique look that matches the scratched sepia look of the old photographs.

Preparatory Sketch for General Sherman Portrait

"General Sherman", 12x14 inches, Black Prismacolor pencil on Strathmore Bristol Vellum paper

Civil War photography is exceptional for its detail. I am currently drawing a series of portraits based on historic photos from the Civil War era. This first attempt is a preparatory sketch for a potential painting coming up soon. I am thinking in terms of painting in black and white with acrylics with soom color highlights.

I am always trying to indicate the feeling of brush strokes, even in my drawing. For me, drawing should be like writing my signature: fluid, natural, and expressive of a personal style.

Emphasizing the Brush Stroke

"Harrison Ford", 8x12 inches, Acrylic Paint on Canvas Paper

Keeping things fresh is one of my primary goals. I instruct students that the brush stroke can be an expressive tool for adding character to your work. Don't hide the marks you make in creating a painting. With all the CGI imagery out there today, people want to see "real" paint. and nothing says paint better than letting your brush strokes become a prominent aspect of your work. This is true for digital painting in Photoshop and Painter as well as traditional painting.

This portrait of Harrison Ford was an exercise in bringing out the brush work. I make clear choices beforehand about what range of hues I will use in an image. Here, I chose a blue and yellow balance of colors in the background to play off the blue color of the shirt. The blue tones also provide some complimentary contrast with the orange cast of the skin tones. Yellow strokes of paint were added in the background using lemon yellow and titanium white. I added the yellow directly into the blue tones in the background with out pre-mixing the paint on my palette. This approach prevents unwanted green tones from developing. I want the yellow and blue to create sudden shifts in color that show up as distinctive brush strokes. I followed the same approach in adding in lighter blue tones to the right of his face.

Pulling some of the deeper red tones in the shadows of his face into the background to the left, helps to unify the whole painting. These tones were added near the end of the painting process because I felt the background was still too "foreign" in color range when compared to the face, meaning the two areas did not adequately relate to each other. Pulling some warm tones into cool shadows tends to enrich the color and deepen the shadow tones, while bringing a certain balance back to the painting.

Working Loose With Markers: Faster Can be Better

Earlier in 2009 I was given a chance to create a series of loosely rendered drawings for the Signature Theatre, an off broadway theatre company in New York. While these sample drawings were not ultimately used, the resulting illustrations became good demonstration pieces for creating an interpretive drawing style with markers.

"Daryl Lathon", 8x10 inches, Sharpie Marker on Beinfang Graphics 360 Layout Paper, 2009

For me, markers are merely another painting tool. In these portraits, I worked with broad tip markers like they were brushes, using a light touch and a gestural approach. Details were refined slightly using white gouache. The total effect was designed to look spontaneous and to highlight the unique quality of markers as an expressive media.

I left open spaces between the strokes. Much like a good watercolor painting, a good black and white illustration uses the white space between strokes to maintain a certain lightness to the image. Blocks of solid color can become heavy and inactive areas that weigh down the art. 

In the portrait "Daryl Lathon", I left white showing, even in the darkest areas so that the pattern of strokes would never entirely disappear. As a result, shadow areas like the neck under his chin have a directional quality that add dynamism to the illustration. A good rule of thumb is, there should be something interesting happening in every part of the image. 

The portrait "William Inge", is even more aggressive in its use of "active" strokes in the shadow under his chin. This is actually a second attempt at rendering this subject. In the first version, not pictured here, I blocked in the neck with too much black and spent too much time trying to refine the details of the face. The result was a less lively illustration that I ultimately threw in the trash. The second attempt was rendered more rapidly to create a quick sketched quality as though drawn from life. The portrait was actually developed from a photograph.

"William Inge", 7x12 inches, Sharpie Marker on Beinfang Graphics 360 Layout Paper, 2009

To create the final art, I added color to each of the drawings in Photoshop as shown below. The line art was scanned at 300 dpi and imported into Photoshop as a transparent layer. A heavily textured acrylic painted background was also imported into Photoshop, along with fragments of images and a wallpaper pattern.

"Daryl Lathon", 8x10 inches, Markers and Acrylic Paint

"William Inge", 7x12 inches, Markers and Acrylic Paint

Finding Abstract Shapes: 1956 Buick 88

"1956 Buick 88", 8x7 inches, Black Prismacolor pencil on Strathmore Bristol Vellum paper, 2007

"1956 Buick 88", detail

I try to find interesting shapes in every subject. The chrome on this 1956 Buick was hard to resist. Drawing the constantly changing forms in the chrome was fun and allowed me to be more interpretive with my drawing. I picked up on this idea by treating the figures and trees in the background as abstract shapes.

Its all about finding the points of interest and interpreting these elements as aspects of an abstract composition. Contrasts between areas of intense detail are balanced against broad open spaces. The subject is merely a vehicle (I know this is a very bad pun) for creating an interesting image.

Working With Markers: Jimi Hendrix Portrait

"What is Cool?", 11x20 inches, Permanent marker stick and Gouache on Strathmore Medium Drawing Paper, 2009

Permanent markers are great tools for creating expressive black and white images. They can provide deep true blacks as rich as India Ink or fine line details. My goal on this illustration was to use only a broad tip marker to create almost all of the details. Gouache (Titanium White) was used to carve out more delicate details around the face and hands. For this work I used a No. 3. round sable brush.

"What is Cool?", detail

As you can see in this detail of the illustration, I like to be inventive with the strokes I make using markers. The series of straight and swirling strokes along the right collar were designed to create a separation between the white highlight on the shirt and the white background. The fun part was coming up with a way to accomplish this without simply adding an outline. Being inventive leads to creative ways of solving basic problems. The total impact of the illustration will be more vibrant and interesting if you can avoid boring solutions to common issues in your image making.


When is it effective to "block in" an area? 
I found it better to create large totally black areas in parts of this illustration. The reason for this was the high amount of complex textures in the photo. Too much information tires the eye and creates an overall busy appearance. Dropping out some areas like the shadow on the neck was a good idea here. However, the hair still has diagonal shards of white that I left intentionally to break up this shape. 


Why the two different approaches? 
The mass of the hair was too large a shape to simply render in solid black. Plus, the hair needs to appear light and "frizzy" as it is in the photo. My solution was to give the whole image more dynamic thrust by leaving diagonal areas of white in the hair and on darker shadow portions of the body, as well as the background. This becomes a unifying stylistic theme that pulls the whole illustration together. The verticality of these strokes makes the figure look more animated, always a good quality when trying to create a lifelike portrait.

Translating Your Drawing Style Into Paint

"Duke Ellington", 8x8 inches, Acrylic Paint and graphite in Canvas Paper

Trying to maintain the loose quality established in the drawing while moving into paint is not always easy. I have had many efforts turn into exercises in overworking an illustration. More recently, I have found that allowing myself to use only larger brushes to complete the entire painting, forces me to avoid becoming overly involved in rendering out fine details. The result has been a fresher looking and more painterly style. I used nothing smaller than a half inch flat brush on this painting. I was amazed at how much detail could be rendered using the corners of a larger brush.

It also helps to block in the entire painted area with large strokes to establish the basic tones and hues. This painting was created from black and white photo reference. I was able to choose a palette of yellow and green for the sweater and background. These colors provide a bit of complimentary contrast with the magenta in the shirt and the skin tones. The illustration is treated as a vignette at the edges to allow the original drawing to show through.

As you can see in the detail above the pencil sketch still shows through in places. This is the result of a conscious decision to work in a semi-transparent mode throughout the painting. I used very little water in mixing my paints and relied on matte medium instead. I thinned the paint to the consistency of melting butter, working up from a base of raw sienna by adding basic shadows first and finishing with semi opaque tones for highlights.  


Detailed work in the face required switching down to a quarter inch flat brush. This is the smallest size brush I allowed myself to use, and I refused to use any rounds for portrait. Why avoid rounds? I find that these pointed brushes lure me into rendering details too soon and tend to cause me to tighten up as I paint. The whole point is to stay loose from beginning to end, while finding ways to hint at details rather than render them out.

Developing Spontaneity in Your Drawing

"Oldsmobile 88", digital photo

"Oldsmobile 88", 9x7 inches, Black Prismacolor pencil on Strathmore Bristol Vellum, 2007

Looking at this drawing, you might notice it contains many continuous lines that flow through shapes without a break. This was intentional. I wanted to create a drawing using something close to a single continuous line. I also avoided using an eraser. The idea is to force myself to not to over think or over work the drawing. Once a line is drawn, it must remain in place. Applying this discipline to the drawing gives the work more freshness and spontaneity, allowing me to discover shapes as I create the illustration.

Classic cars like this Oldsmobile 88 can sometimes offer great opportunities to develop abstract forms in your drawing. You can see that I chose to shoot the car from an angle that emphasized the huge flat plane of the trunk and hood. Except for the windows and roof, the car is one large horizontal slab of sheet metal decorated with chrome. This fact suggested a very abstract approach to the drawing.

"Oldsmobile 88", detail

By simplifying the horizontal lines of the buildings in the background, I managed to create a very rectangular division of the picture plane. I was thinking of the landscape paintings of Richard Deibenkorn as I created this drawing. Referencing this artist helped me see how I might use the repetition of horizontal lines in the car to make an interesting visual statement. A good illustration should be a good work of art. Using basic compositional techniques to make a more interesting image only enhances the impact of the illustration. This drawing could make a very successful painting using flat tones and a highly restricted color palette.

Developing an Interpretive Drawing Style: Continued

Photo of 427 Cobra, 2007 Woodward Dream Cruise

"427 Cobra", 7x9 inches, Black Prismacolor pencil on Strathmore Bristol Vellum paper, 2007

I have a particular love of drawing cars. I was trained in this skill set during the closing days of the old commercial studio system in Detroit--roughly 1981 to 1991. Having spent many years refining these skills, it should be no surprise that I return to this subject frequently when drawing for my own pleasure. This drawing of a 427 Cobra was created on Strathmore 400 Series Bristol Vellum paper using a Staedtler B graphite pencil. I drew almost every line freehand, with the exception of the edge of the open hood. For this I used a sweep, otherwise referred to by draftsman as a ship curve.

For smaller drawings like the 427 Cobra, I backlight an Epson color print of the photograph, by laying the drawing paper over the image and taping both from one side onto a thick plexiglass sheet. The illumination is provided by a standard fluorescent studio lamp tilted upside down on my drawing board and slipped under the plexiglass sheet which is supported by a custom ledge added to the bottom edge of my drawing board.

This technique is a carry over from pre-computer days when Photostats of cars were backlit to create accurate drawings of cars on thin translucent vellum or tracing paper. These drawings were then transfered onto illustration board using a graphite sheet. The process was time consuming, due to the need to re-trace the drawing on board. Today, I prefer to create my drawings as finished illustrations on 2-ply cold press paper mounted on board with gesso, which allows me to draw the image once.

Developing an Interpretive Drawing Style: Loose is Better

"Ferrari Saleen", 9x9 inches, Black Prismacolor pencil on Strathmore Bristol Vellum paper, 2007

"Loosen up" This is a mantra that I keep in the back of my mind as I practice my drawing skills. After 15 years working at refining my skills as a product illustrator, I have embarked on a program to loosen up my drawing. My earlier professional work focused on clean airbrushed painting and technically accurate rendering. With the explosion of CGI imaging these skills are now out of favor in traditional illustration. I had to adapt by embracing my past as a fine artist--a goal that actually is leading to more rewarding illustration projects.

This drawing of a Ferrari Saleen was developed from a series of reference photos at the 2007 Woodward Dream Cruise. Going from tight rendering to a more interpretive approach was harder than it seemed at first. It took a major re-thinking of the drawing process to move away from a mechanical approach to drawing, toward a more expressive style.

"Ferrari Saleen", detail

I reviewed the work of major illustrators whose drawing I admired. Two favorites are Bernie Fuches and Robert Heindel. Both these artists spent their early years working in Detroit on auto accounts and gradually emerged as nationally respected artists working in highly distinctive styles. What attracted me to their work was the fluid drawing styles they developed as their skills evolved. The use of continuous pencil lines and loose shading in their portrait work informs my own work.

The Mission

This blog is created for all those who share a love of drawing and are enticed by the potential of a blank piece of paper, canvas, or board to create a unique work of art. This space is dedicated to the open sharing of information and experiences concerning drawing. Included here are tutorials on drawing and rendering a variety of subjects in easily accessible media.

Why the Beautiful Line? As a long time professional illustrator, artist, and instructor, I still believe that the most powerful tool for image making is the simple pencil, pen, or brush. In an era of fantastic advances in digital arts with the power to create new worlds of amazing realism, the pencil drawing remains an exquisitely elegant tool for expressing thoughts and ideas. With this in mind, I view it as a personal mission as an instructor to encourage students to draw their ideas first, before developing concepts within a software program.