June Portrait Challenge

Hello everyone! Its been a while since I last posted, a million apologies for neglecting this platform. A lot of things have happened since my last post. I've graduated from graduate school (Minneapolis College of Art and Design) and have my MFA in visual studies in painting and drawing. It's been a whirlwind since graduating which is the reason why I've been absent from posting so much. 

After graduating I was burned out from all the hard work with my thesis (I will post my thesis paintings on the next one). I hadn't drawn much through my thesis and only painted for the most part. I wanted to get back to drawing and was thinking of ways to do it other than just doodling in my sketchbook. I decided to set a challenge for myself, one that I didn't think would be possible, to draw thirty portraits in the month of June all done in ballpoint pen. Essentially drawing one portrait a day, no matter how bad it was by the end of the day I had to be done and ready to post it. I asked all my followers from my social media community to submit their pictures, from there I was able to start the challenge. I wanted to get to know my online community better and see how this challenge brought us closer. It's a step in the right direction post-thesis work, I want to see how far I can push this idea of an online community and how we can know each other better rather than just clicking a thumbs up button. Still a work in progress but I have the wheels turning and that's important.

The drawings you see in this post is from all the portraits I completed in the month of June. Again completed only using a ballpoint pen in sketchbook paper. This challenge has taught me so much, I challenge everyone who reads this to push yourself with your work. Create challenges to make you feel uncomfortable, it's a very good thing to not feel sure what the hell you're doing. I can go on and on and on about everything I learned and why you should set goals for yourself, I think the work speaks for itself. 

Thanks for stopping by and viewing my work!

Leonardo

Leonardo

2018

Ball Point Pen on Paper

4" x 5"

Hi everyone! I've been super busy with being a new dad and a second/final year of graduate school. It's been a wild ride but one that I've enjoyed more than I would have expected. I have been posting more on Instagram, you can follow my account by clicking here. I have this ballpoint pen drawing up for sale. You can bid on it by leaving a comment on the post. Bidding will end on 2/22 at 5pm CST.  You guys can also see new paintings I have been working on that talks about identity and the Latin community.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Poseidon

Click here to purchase through my Etsy store

"Poseidon"

3 x 3 in

Ball Point Pen Drawing

The last time I was in Miami, FL I went with my wife, sister in law and her fiancee to a museum that had this sculpture. The lighting of it and design really grabbed me. The light hitting it was so natural and dramatic. I also loved the design of the face and beard, I knew when I saw it I had to draw it. This drawing is not an alla prima painting or drawing, it was definitely not done in one sitting. 

With this drawing I tried a different approach in the beginning stages. I started with placing the important markings of the subject stating each height and width to each section. I keep the lines light since I'll render over the lines and do not want them to show in later stages. Here is where the change comes in with the process, I start stating all the values at once very lightly and keeping the edges soft. What this does it shows me how the final value scheme will look, also it gives me a clearer path to take each section to a finished look. Then I take the top half of the portrait to a finish. I do the same with the bottom half.

Thank you for stopping by, happy Holidays everyone!

"Rubens" Ball Point Pen

Rubens Copy

3 x 5 in

Ball Point Pen

This drawing started as an experiment to try out a new sketchbook I bought.  I used a heavy weight drawing paper sketchbook by Bee Paper Company Professional Series. It was tough trying to get textures with the drawing because the paper was not as smooth as I usually draw on. I welcomed the challenge and enjoyed deciphering it.  I was not to fond of the graininess in the beginning but ended really liking how it meshed with the drawing in the later stages. This drawing is after Peter Paul Rubens "Two Satyrs". The expression Rubens created with this portrait is amazing. He definitely is one of my all time favorite painters I look up to and inspire to paint/draw like.

 Thank you for stopping by!

Rupert Brooke

Sold

"Rupert Brooke"

9 x 11 in

Ball Point Pen 

I wanted to thank you all for your nice comments from my last post, I really did not expect all your responses. Especially being gone for so long, thank you again everyone!

I did this Ball Point Pen drawing of Rupert Brooke, a famous English poet known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War. Rupert Brooke was not photographed often and there are rare photos of him. He was an amazing poet for his time and even till today. I can't imagine if he would of lived beyond the age of 27 what other masterpieces he would of produced. I usually do ball point pen drawings in a really small format, but this was way out of the ordinary. I wanted to try something different by going bigger. I'm glad I did but it was a lot of work. When building up layers with ball point pen you have to be very careful by not pressing to hard with the pen or you'll get blobs of ink. It was a challenge to build up these subtle layers in such a large format.  I had a lot of fun with this one, not sure if I wanna go this big again but won't turn it down if it came my way.

Drawing and painting are relative, if you know how to draw then you can paint. I approach a painting the same way I do with a ball point pen. Always think about form, and how light wraps around the form.

"Bacchante & Satyr"

"Bacchante & Satyr"

9 x 6 in

Ball Point Pen

This is a ball point pen drawing I've been working for a while now, its from the collection of the M.I.A.  I usually don't draw multi-figures with ball point pen but loved the challenge of it, especially since I wanted to capture the texture from the marble with ink.  The draw back is that I did not have enough space on my paper to get the right side of the satyr's thigh, but that is the price I pay for drawing directly on with ink without any preparation.  With all my ball point pen drawings that's how I start with light short lines indicating where shapes will be placed.  I'm working on another piece right now and taking process photos, I've been getting a lot of questions on my process with these ball point pen drawings and hope with the process photos you can get a better idea of how I execute them.  Thanks for stopping by and viewing! 

If you notice the yellow tint on the right side of the drawing, that's oils from my hand another lesson to put something between your hand and the drawing.