Push-Up Video
I just finished editing my first video! Shot one evening while in Miami, it is a collection of some of my favorite variations on a classic upper body exercise: The Push-Up.
This video was a lot of fun to make. Too bad I ran out of daylight… I only went through about half the demonstrations I had in mind. Perhaps I’ll get to them in a sequel. For now, enjoy the video. There really is no limit to what can be done with body-weight conditioning.
Finished. This portrait took 25 hours of work. It measures 24 inches wide and 18 inches tall (matted) and was done with a combination of acrylic, pencil and charcoal on Strathmore illustration board. I consider this a “medium-sized” piece which is a good scale for illustration board. I like that it accepts paint and graphite pencil equally well. What I like most about this project is the capture of personality.
Finished. Total Hours: 25
The further I go, the slower progress is made. In the beginning steps, my pencil is carefree and bouncing along, throwing spontaneous lassoes around general shapes. As the work goes on, my attention becomes focused on details and my hand slows down. I’m processing the same amount of “information” but at a smaller and smaller scale. Toward the end, it can take an hour to cover a few inches.
Hour: 20
Switching from eraser to pencil now. I like to start with the eyes because they are so important. If the eyes are not done successfully, then the whole portrait is a loss so I get them done right in the beginning. I might “warm up” a little on some obscure area of the drawing but not for long. The challenge is always to get the eye to look wet and glassy. Somehow rendering the eyes gives me the strange feeling of the portrait looking back at me. Suddenly it begins to feel “alive”!
From the eyes, I work outward to other areas of the face and eventually get to my next favorite (and most time-consuming) area: the hair. Drawing hair realistically requires some mental gymnastics. The temptation is to draw each hair but this must be resisted. Instead I look for the shapes that hair creates and try to capture those cues in the drawing.
Hours: 17
Next step is to pull out some highlights. Basically, I am erasing out some of the tone I had put down in order to lighten up the bright spots. This part of the process is rough and messy but the results look bright and clean. This is also where I start adding the first hints of texture. Things are beginning to slow down now and it’s time to think more about details and accuracy.
Hours: 10
