Really

I was pleased with how these people look like they could be real, but they're just imagined. I can theoretically still draw that city scene—with people in the background!—in that comic book I imagine I will still draw someday!

Tableau des Raconteurs

I did this as a preliminary sketch of a tableau of men the other day, but last night I watched Harris Dickinson's new movie on Netflix, Postcards from London. It was a strange film that reminded me of 90s photography by David LaChapelle, but it had a cast of beautiful young men who inspired me to revisit this sketch in their image. Not that I did much, but, well: young men.

Memories of Danilo Franco

Danilo Franco was to Manila what Antonio or Gruau were to the rest of the world: the foremost fashion illustrator of his day in Manila in the 70s and 80s. He drew mostly in pen because of the reproduction methods in Philippine printing back in the day, but I loved his work. It had so much flow and life, and he often drew his women walking and smiling. An online artist friend of mine asked me how I would draw people smiling in a fashion illustration, and this was an attempt at recreating that image of Franco in my head. I hear he passed away already, RIP.

btw, tis is terrible. I tried to sketch the new MaxMara coats straight off the runway, but with the smile and the short hairstyle, it just looks dated and ugly. Blech. Danny Franco would have cringed.

Courtesy

I was at my fave magazine store, Casa News in West Village, and I got this image in my head after scouring the magazines for inspiration. I couldn't get it out of my head until I drew it. So here's part of it for preview.

Oscars Fashion Sketch

The sketch has nothing to do with The Oscars, just the fact that I decided to doodle it during the show, and on an old sketchpad with actual pencils no less! I felt inclined to do something glamorous but I nticed I was holding back, for fear of making it look bad. I didn't doodle like I didn't care...

Russ

Went to a morning session of GayArtNYC in the West Village again and got to draw a model I was chatting with over a year ago, someone I was scheduled to draw but who ghosted on me at the last minute. He was good to sketch here finally so now I cna check him off my list...

Fashion Sketch 2019 3

I started another sketch in the same file as the previous one and it just didn't even get off the ground.

Fashion Sketch 2019 2

I wanted to develop this and see if I can actually forge a new style of my own, but it doesn't help that I haven't really been interested in women's fashion for a long time.

Fashion Sketch 2019

I no longer have an innate style for women's fashion, if I ever did. I once wanted to only be an Antonio acolyte, but as I've spent over the last decade actively practicing and pursuing my artwork (no matter how lazily), I've actually wondered what my own style really is, versus emulating the work of the illustration heroes I aspired to all my life. I've come to a point where I think I've gone past what I originally wanted to do, and now I don't know what the goal or direction is. And I thought about what my fashion illustration would look like if I drew women still, and this sketch immediately reminds me of a current fashion hero, David Downton. And while I want to rise his level of style and skill, I want to do it in my own way. Yet, I'm not sure what that way is...

Ego Man, Done

I had to fix his eyes and nose, and how I rendered the mouth. But he's been posted on Instagram already, so he done.

Ego Man 2

I got into that frame of mind where it was now a piece and needed to be perfect. Plus the face that emerged was nothing I had planned, and I was trying to deal with his unexpected Hemsworth chin and jawline...So, tweaking is the name of the game.

Ego Man

I decided o participate in an Instagram challenge my online friend Ego put forth, to do a drawing based on his drawing, but in your own style. This was a first draft. I thought I'd do one of my more abstract inks:

But then as I tried to fill in the form more, he ended up becoming more comic-book style:

Mike's Jumpsuit

My friend Mike remarked on Facebook how he wanted a leather jumpsuit, so instead of replying with photos, I just sketched one for him. After one revision, he posted that this was his vision for his jumpsuit, lol

Bonnet 2

I decided I didn't like the retro-modern bonnet on this already retro face style. Her features are very 60s to me, and the bonnet was an odd mix, so I went full 60s, inspired by Sweet Charity and a bit of Guido Palau in mind (he's probably my favorite hairstylist in the world right now, look him up in Instagram if you're unfamiliar).

Happy Valentine's Day 2019

I decided to do a sketchy love-themed Valentine's Day sketch for Instagram today.

Bonnet

This is another "make-up" sketch that was done on the 15th but posted for the 13th through the miracles of Blogger timestamping. I kept thinking that this face type reminded me a lot of the faces that our old sculptor, Bela Szanto, kept doing over and over again for D.G.Williams, and then later on for Goldsmith. And now I can appreciate the type just for variety...

Love Tatt

I got an idea for Valentine's Day, which I drew on the day itself. This was the beginnings of it, but since numerically I want the actual finished Sketch to be 4300 (I number my post sketches and yeah, we're up to that!) then this becomes a catchup drawing as 4301—even if I finished it first!

JKA

This kid from Instagram that I met briefly while he was visiting NY, posed for a few pics in hopes of my drawing him. This is the beginnings of what I hope will be a quickly-done portrait!

Suggestive Suggestions

My friend Ernesto wanted to have a photoshoot with me again and wanted to see suggestions for poses. I quickly sketched up a few.

Erik 4

 

Funny thing is, I don't even really like this sketch as a drawing, but I think the body is better while the face is a better likeness of Erik's profile, but I'm not as keen on that face as a sketch compared to the previous iterations. But that's the wonder—and pain—of digital work: you can have too many options.

Face Study 2

As I kept tinkering the shut eyes weren't looking as good, so I tried a few other options and his face has evolved. Not sure I love where its going, but I like some details like the chin and mouth. Dunno about that nose.

Face Study

I always draw faces when I don't know what to draw. I never like them at first, but it's always how they develop that determines whether I flesh them out or not.

Willem

I had a brief chat with the model who opened my friend Robby's show, so I thought I'd draw him since he was so friendly.

Erik 3

And trying even some more (plus a bigger portrait). He's not as easy to sketch as I thought he might be. Then again, none of them ever are in the beginning. Anyhow, I stretched out the proportions of teh figure to be more fashion illustration-y.

Erik 2

I'm trying to get a likeness despite the minimal linework. Not sure I'm getting it, nor the right technique for a fashion illo in a digital gouache.

Erik

One of the more popular male models today, I was surprised to see Erik v G in one of the smaller shows at New York Men's Day. I took a few shots of him planning on drawing a more realized portrait/sketch. Except the outfit he was in was super boring...

Sneer 17

I'm trying to build the body in what I heard was the Flemish way of painting, but I ended up going for chunky color splotches, even if this will ultimately all be smoothed out.

A View To A Thrill

Seems like a popular POV in photography lately. I know I always loved an upshot from this angle for faces (my first self portrait in he 80s was this way) but with the focus on a crotch it becomes especially sexy. Funny how the first sketch on the left side looks so much better to me than the one on the right, where I tried to flesh out the pose more (albeit without references so I might be wronging it up).