This Sunday the 89th Academy Awards Ceremony will be held in Hollywood. As a movie nerd, the Oscars are a big deal to me. I rarely manage to catch any of the other movie awards ceremonies but I do my level best to watch the Oscars each year and now my movie nerd kids are old enough to stay up for at least part of the ceremony too. Of course, by virtue of having kids and only making it to the cinema once or twice a year without them, these days I have rarely seen any of the movies in contention prior to awards season but I still enjoy the whole thing nevertheless.
A few weeks ago I had a lot of fun with an art journal page filled with illustrations of vintage mug shots. I was keen to repeat that experiment and thought the Oscars posed the perfect opportunity to try out the not-quite-blind-contour approach once more. Obviously once I had the basic outline and interior shapes mapped out in pencil through sideways glances, I refined and modified the sketches but only a little because I wanted to retain the looseness of my initital mark making. The results were entirely mixed when the outcome is considered – and the likenesses are actually woeful – but I had a whole lot of fun drawing these and that is actually what is more important. These were also relaxing to draw because I could work on them, using pencil and fountain pens, while tucked up on the sofa watching a movie.
Initially I was intending to work through all the nominees in all the major awards categories. However, I realised I was over-extending myself so I limited myself to the four acting categories only. The text accompanying each portrait indicates who the portraits depict – or who they are supposed to depict since the likenesses are not exactly accurate. Some are better than others, of course, but some bear no resemblance whatsoever to the actual person. I don’t think Natalie Portman or Denzel Washington are about to sue me for insulting their faces and I am not a portraitist so that’s OK .
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Laura, these are just genius. I marvel at your ability to capture faces in this manner. And, I love it that you did them in this format – very nostalgia – glamor movie star kind of way. Just fantastic.
Thanks, Claudia. Yes, thinking still of the vintage mug shots, I wanted these to look like the photos of stars that used to appear in old magazines. I am glad that translated.
WOW! Just wow! They may not be the perfect likeness and you may get sued by Denzel and Natalie (LOL!), but you should get an award yourself for achieving this! I love them so much! Great! Next 100 challenge I would love to see when you finish with the face is 100 caricatures of famous people. I think you would do brilliantly 🙂
Ha ha! If I do a series of 100 celebrity portraits, I am setting myself up for 100 libel suits. Thank you for the compliment. I am glad you enjoyed them.
Looks great. That is quite a project to take on.
Thanks, Mark. It was actually pretty easy to do as I could do the drawings while doing other things, like overseeing homework or watching a movie. I wish I had found time to at least draw the nominated directors but never mind. Maybe next year I will try the same exercise but start earlier.
These are so fun. You got Octavia’s heavy eyelids that make her look bored, and Meryl’s crow’s feet. Emma Stone looks more like Cate Blanchett to me, but hey, she’s still an Oscar winner. Ryan was easy to tell with that sideways glance. Casey’s frown is good, too. He also looks like JFK, which makes sense since they’re both from Boston. Dev is great, too.
Ha ha ha! Do all people from Boston look the same then? Yeah, the likenesses were definitely hit and miss – and mostly miss being honest – but it was still a fun exercise.
No, they’re amazing, Laura. All of them.
Aw, thank you.
Goodness Laura, this is just awesome! WOW! Amazing amazing work! LOVE each one of them. I think this is one of your best, you make caricature drawing so easy and fun!
Thank you. I’d like to get more accuracy in my drawings of actual people but, on the other hand, realistic portraiture doesn’t really interest me (to look at, yes, but not create) so I’m not sure I’m motivated enough.
This style I think comes easy for you. Might as well develop it more and see where it takes you.
Thanks. I think it’s something I will keep returning to from time to time as the mood strikes.
verry brave, nice and different styile , i like it …bravo
Thank you, Tosi!
Fun study in caricatures! Good job!
Thanks, Sue. It was such fun. I’m watching the Oscars right now. Turns out if I’d made Casey Affleck look like a scruffy Cousin It it would have been a better likeness. Ha ha!
These are just awesome!
Thank you so much!
Awesome! This is such a fun project. I actually recognised Viola Davis, Ruth Negga and Ryan Gosling immediately… Unfortunately I’m so far out of the movie loop myself that I was seeing quite a lot of these people for the first time! 😆
I’m so thrilled you could recognize a few of them!
Of course! You’re great at capturing the essence of a face – the fact I didn’t recognise more is a reflection of my film and TV watching habits!
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