Portrait: Happy Charlie (Hunnam)

By the end of April, having finished my 28-day realistic drawing challenge, I was excited to keep improving my portrait and realistic drawing abilities. So, when I found a great black and white photo of Charlie Hunnam, one of my favorite actors, I decided to give it a go. Read more about the development of my first real portrait (not counting Elvis in the Sketchbook 😅).

After initially starting in April, I had to put Charlie on hold for a while, because we were occupied selling our bar in Moraira and establishing Villa Cuisine as a separate business.

By June, I was finally ready to dive in... So, let´s go!

First steps...

outlining his proportions

done after about 5 hours...

To achieve a realistic result, the outlining must be precise, which takes some considerable time and asks a lot of my patience... And in this case, I get to re-test my math skills as well, as I am upscaling from my A4 size source image to an A3 size drawing block... (Maths wasn´t my strongest subject in High School 😅, but I think I managed 😉(see foto´s 2 & 3).

Layering & Blending

Fase 1... so far so good.

The following phase -Layering & Blending- gives more life to the portrait as I add shading in multiple layers.

However, when I began with the first layer, I noticed that my paper wasn't smooth white Bristol - which is usually reccommended for graphite drawings- but rather recycled paper, which means the texture is still visible... Hmm... 🤔

I've never used this type of paper before, but maybe it gives an extra dimension to the drawing... Let's see how it progresses with the next layer(s).

Even though the paper behaves differently than my A4 Sketchbook, I'm quite pleased with the result so far. He's starting to look recognizable, isn't he? 😊

I´m liking it 😃

And here he is !

Next, I refine the shadows and soften the harsh lines on his face, adding those little details like the tiny hairs in his beard. He is almost done!

The paper works well, giving great texture to his skin.

The next day, I add the finishing touches...

I’m really excited about how Happy Charlie turned out!😃😎

For now, I´ll keep working on portraits, since I have some more fun projects laying around that are waiting to be finished!

So, stay tuned!!