Wistful Redux

3/13/14 Koh-I-Noor Tri-Tone pencils, Stillman & Birn
Alpha sketchbook

I’ve tried many times to sketch this photo of my mother when she was a teenager, and even when I sort of manage to capture a likeness, what eludes me is the innocent, wistful expression. In this version, she does look somewhat like my mom, but somehow older.

As I did yesterday, I used Koh-I-Noor Tri-Tone pencils, and I again tried to shade in the shapes of the tones first before refining the details. I resisted the urge to define the shape of her face with a contour line and instead put the green background in behind it.

I’m really liking the subtle changes in colors these pencils make. Since the three hues are mixed together in the lead, you can’t really control which color you get at any particular time. I like the continual surprise.