We went to Cracker Barrel earlier this week. There was an old sepia portrait hanging nearby that looked like it had been at least partially done in pencil. I was intrigued, and before we even left I was digging through Ancestry looking for old photos to see if I could duplicate the effect. This is what I came up with. This lady is an ancestor of mine. She was in her eighties when she passed away in 1934, so I’m guessing that the original tintype photo was taken in the late 1800s. This piece was more of a challenge than I’d anticipated. The reference photo was only about an inch tall and the resolution was poor at best, and , so it was difficult to draw her features as accurately as I wanted. It was a good experiment, though, and I learned a lot.
Pencil portrait, 300# Bristol. April 2020.
Pencil portrait on 300# Bristol. April 2020.
Pencil Portrait (commission piece) on 300# Bristol. April 2020.
This pencil portrait is of Travis Fimmel, who portrayed the legendary Ragnar Lothbrok in the History Channel program Vikings. The image was created with pencil on 300# Bristol. April 2020.
This is a pencil portrait of now-retired American actress Carol Baker, who reached the height of her popularity of the 1950s and 1960s. The drawing was created from a publicity photo taken by Peter Basch which is now in the public domain. Pencil on 300# Bristol, May 2020.
Pencil portrait (commission,) 300# Bristol. April 2020.