untamedartists

We did the obligatory camel trek into the desert, down at Aswan. It was 45°C and I had a nice old sweat rash somewhere I won't talk about --- put it this way, I was saddle sore very quickly. Still, I stuck it out and relished being in the desert in this extreme heat. Our camel herder looked very shifty, though not as shifty as the kids who looked after the camels or the guy with the gun (there always seems to be one)! I caught him in a candid moment so I've put together this WIP of a 16" x 18" portrait in pastels. I went for a colourful background simply because I tend to keep it earthy normally and I wanted to break out of that for a change. Once I finished, my wife said "With those colours, all you need now is the marijuana leaf and it'll be complete".

So knowing me, I guess there'll be a camel to come soon, but here's the camel herder.

First the finished portrait. Note the shifty eyes - and they really were, but he was also happy because he was earning money that day.



And the WIP, on Art Spectrum Colourfix, Aubergine colour, 16" x 18". His head is about one and a half times as big as my head - never done a head this size before.

Initial grid and drawing, and starting to find the darks and lights



Now I'm going for the colour to determine how I approach the rest. Since these colours weren't in my references, I need to reflect them in his face and I'll have to work out how to do that.



Some modelling of the face and the teeth done



and the final stage before the finish with work on the hair started and much of the 'tightening up' done. I normally don't blend the pastel with my fingers much but in this case, his skin was fairly shiny so I really got stuck into it

Another awesome job Patrick. I thought on first look that the size of the forehead was a bit bigger than it should be but upon reading your post I think you've done a bang up job on this. You should start advertising portrait commissions based upon the past few works. I think you'd do really well out of it!

Thanks Leigh. I'm really enjoying portraits at the moment. Also the large format alternates well with my minis in keeping me fresh.

I've just spent the morning taking photos for a portrait of a great friend of mine who has been on TV a lot in the past. I'll post the WIP later when I get around to it. We'll see if you recognise him from his TV work.

Hey there Patrick, long time no speak eh? Had to look at this one since we had a shifty looking dude with the camels at the pyramids - wish we could've got down to Aswan, too, it must have been awesome.

As for your portrait, it's great! You've captured such a look on this man and a lot of personality. Although (of course) I haven't met him, it seems his essence is shining through. Love those gappy old teeth!

Hey there Patrick, long time no speak eh? Had to look at this one since we had a shifty looking dude with the camels at the pyramids - wish we could've got down to Aswan, too, it must have been awesome.

As for your portrait, it's great! You've captured such a look on this man and a lot of personality. Although (of course) I haven't met him, it seems his essence is shining through. Love those gappy old teeth!

Ali, great to hear from you. Thanks. Aswan was probably my favourite area though it was consistently 45 degrees C, but we got used to that and then simply enjoyed things.

Hope to see some of your recent stuff. I've been Ali-starved!!

You're a sweety Patrick (although you probably hate being called that! hehehe). I'll try to post something soon...

LoL. Hey, I'll take sweetie anytime - big brute that I am - NOT