Portrait: Walter Mondale

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

When I brought in the mail earlier this month I kept looking at the cover with this face on it. In today's political environment, Walter Mondale's persona seems to have acquired greater honor in this era of reality television and fake news. Yet Mr. Mondale's face is unmistakeable to anyone who has lived long enough to be aware of Walter's background.

People saw this drawing and knew exactly who it was. There seems to be a strong relationship between the eyes, nose and mouth that is unmistakable to all humans.

This pencil drawing was inspired by a photograph on the cover of Macalester Today by David J. Turner.

Portrait: Elie Wiesel

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

The other evening I was watching the television show Scorpion, with my wife.  Often, late in the evening, while the television is on, I search for something or someone to draw. Now that I have a comfortable reclining chair perfect for drawing, it easier to get in a mindset for drawing.

Since I am always searching for faces to capture, I have learned that older people or at least people weathered by some particular environment, offer greater character to convey, than others. It is amazing the subtleties of light across the face that you can pick up on when you pay attention.

The subject is Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, who was a noted author, teacher and activist. The credit for the photograph that inspired this sketch goes to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. I just couldn't resist sketching his interesting facial features. I do not know that I captured his essence, but I had fun doing it.

Claude Monet

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

Last weekend I saw this documentary, I, Claude Monet at our local movie venue called the Latchis theater. Claude Monet(1840-1926) is considered by many to be the founder of French Impressionistic painting.

This documentary on Monet was well done, however I found it a bit dreary, which ultimately was the strength of the film. I say that because the film was narrated from Monet's point of view as there was no other dialogue or at least that I recall. He talks his way through difficult times in his life such as his ailing and ultimately dying first wife and his struggle to pay his bills as well as his approach to his painting process. 

The primary reason I saw this film was because someone threw a new, weekly, newspaper, all wet onto our driveway, two days before it's showing. The grainy photograph of Monet in the art and film section peaked my interest as I have always been curious about his house and garden in Giverny, France. The grainy photograph was the source for this pencil drawing.

Speak No Evil

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

I have done a lot of drawing lately. Recently, I rediscovered a large sketchbook that I had with many unused pages. I like the large size (12" x 16.5") and the soft surface, which seems to absorb pencil marks without the scratchy quality of other sketchbooks. 

Since the New Year I have been searching for subjects to draw that include interesting faces and expressive hands in the same composition. Artists often say that hands are the hardest thing to get right, but they can convey so much in a picture. Hands say a great deal about an individual, whether you work outside and have weathered skin or have pale, smooth characteristics. They also suggest something about your posture and place in society.

Last year when I was at the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., many of the presidential portraits excluded the subject's hands, downplayed them, or left them incomplete.

My depiction of hands is progressing, but I am not yet proficient. I have a tendency to draw hands that are undersized, perhaps inspired by the current president. It is one thing to draw a pair of hands on their own, but when you add a face with them, the scale of the drawing becomes critical. 

Sketchbook drawing

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

I have been drawing in my sketchbook quite a bit lately. There is something about picking up a pencil and doing a drawing of a person or a landscape. When I am finished it is quite satisfying to look at the drawing and critique it on many levels. Does it look anything like the person? Did I capture the character traits of the individual? How did I do in conveying their expression? How would I do it differently next time? 

Overtime, I do believe there has been improvement in capturing the human form. Naturally, the proportions of the face from the nose to ears and eyes, I have become better acquainted with. Along the way I have experimented with all kinds of drawing papers and a range of pencils. I prefer to use artist pencils such as Cretacolor or Staedtler and even woodless graphite wood pencils simply because the tips will not break as easily as a Ticonderoga-type school pencil. They do not smear as readily either. I do not want to be caught working on a drawing outside where I need to sharpen a pencil. As far as drawing paper I prefer thicker weighted sheets such as 65lb or 80lb sheets with some tooth, over a smooth surface. Strathmore artist papers is one reliable paper manufacturer that can be found at your local art store that I like.

One other thing. I prefer to use an eraser as little as possible. Often I intentionally do not even bring an eraser with me so that t does not become a crutch. 

Hopefully, my experience in using some of these materials can be an aid to someone reading this blog.

The New Minority Whip

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro.
Photo credit: Marco Grob

Drawing the human face and figure is endlessly fascinating for me. The range of expressions, postures and individual characteristics from the color of the eyes to the shape of our noses is so varied. 

As much as I like to draw the human face, I also enjoy experimenting with various papers and pencils. I find myself wanting to draw on a larger scale all the time. I have drawn faces in pencil, charcoal, crayon, conte' and watercolor.

This drawing was done in my new reclining leather chair while watching the latest Sherlock Holmes episode on PBS. With new faces on the scene in a new administration, whether we like it or not, there will be new subjects to discover in pencil. 

This drawing was inspired from a photograph in a Time magazine issue we have had sitting in our living room. When I recycle magazines, I periodically cut out photographs of interesting faces as a resource.