1931

In 1931, a somewhat young (I'm more familiar with his later stuff, like "You Can't Take it With You", or more famously "It's a Wonderful Life") Lionel Barrymore won Best Actor for his portrayal of Stephen Ashe in "A Free Soul".

It was weird drawing him younger. I'm used to him having much longer eyebrows.

Politicians

New spots for FDU Alumni Magazine! Newark Mayor Corey Booker (top) and former New Jersey Governor and current New Jersey Senate member Richard Codey.

1929 and 1930 and 2012?

In 1929 (top), Warner Baxter won best actor for his portrayal of The Cisco Kid in "In Old Arizona". And he apparently wore an ENORMOUS hat.

In 1930 (bottom), George Arliss won best actor for playing Bejamin Disraeli in "Disraeli".

I broke my own pact by not posting last week, but in my own defense, I spent most of last week away from my studio for the holidays! Lame excuse. As a result, there'll be another post this week. There has to be anyways, because I have another few small spots for FDU coming up very quickly, but I'd also like to get another actor or two in.

Here's to an excellent, illustration-filled 2012!! Picture making for the win!!

Oscar Project

I've decided that I need a new, enormous, long term personal project. I really liked my presidents, so I figured I'd do a new collection of black and white portraits. The trick with this kind of thing, though, is that I need decent reference, and it has to be relatively easily accessible. Also, I'd like it to be somewhere within my realm of interest. So as it happens, I love watching movies, and I really, really love watching the Oscars -- I know it's completely ridiculous, but it's so much fun! I can't help myself every year!

So, my new project is to draw every single Best Actor winner since the beginning. If it goes well, it will be followed by every single best Actress winner since the beginning. Since the oscars are in their 84 year this year, that's.... a lot of drawings. But if I finish at least one a week, I should finish sometime next year! Like the presidents project, it will be a great way for me to keep my drawing fresh, and I'll have a nifty little thing in the end. With the presidents, I knew what they all looked like, so I think it was easier. With many of the first actors, I am not going to be familiar with their looks in advance, making for a really fun challenge.

I'm going to try to draw each actor in costume for the film in which they won. First up: Emil Jannings, for "The Last Command" (In 1927).

Two

So, I don't usually post my final drawings, but it strikes me that that's a shame. This is the piece that came out of the studies I was working on last week. It's part of a bunch of contributions to drum up excitement for the second issue of gratuitous type, a small Brooklyn magazine. The wonderful AD, Elana Schlenker, asked only that the art embody the concept of the number two. I tried to push things a bit -- the concept isn't incredibly obvious, but it's there. I really want to try and force people to look.

I always go this far with my drawings, and then I paint right on top of them. I am definitely more of a draftsman than a painter, and I am always either working with that or fighting it. I do scan all of the drawings for each piece before I throw color down, for my own records. I am planning a subtle color palette for this piece, but I also really just like it simply in black and whites.

Also, I don't usually include animals, and I'm really pleased with the way the fox turned out.

Hunters

Some studies for a new project. I was doing a lot of facial hair, and then somehow Daniel Day-Lewis snuck on in there. He does that.

I think I like the guy on the top right with the mustache, but I'm going to keep at it.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I'm enjoying the holiday spirit that began to saturate the air the instant we finished eating the turkey.

Plato

Small spot of Plato for FDU's Alumni Mag. Even though it's tiny, I totally agonized over this... the final version is like the 5th one. I'm really happy (and relieved) with the way it ended up coming out though.