Left: Sketch of Raymon Burr in "Perry Mason." Dry Stabilo All (orange) on Richeson Recycled watercolor paper, 8.5 x 11 inches. Click on the image to view an enlargement.
OK, it's not "paint-by-numbers" but it looks like the canvases for those kits doesn't it?
I drew this image of Raymond Burr when I had been fighting a killer headache all day (but really wanted to sketch something).
I had been working in brush pen and NO ONE was looking like themselves. Dick came in after his swim to chat. I whined quite a bit about the sorry state of affairs. He shook his head and went to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich.
I put down my pen and picked up an orange Stabilo All pencil. Since I hadn't been getting anywhere with the brush pen it was time for a change. I stopped the TV when Perry turned to look at Della…
I started with the right eye (on the viewer's left) and worked out from there, more slowly than I usually work, though the sketch was done in less than 10 minutes.
It's essentially a contour drawing of all the different planes in his face. I worked very deliberately rechecking spatial distance before I put a line down. (I had to lower the chin after I drew it, but there is a plane of shadow there too, so that doesn't bother me.)
Black and white TV from this time period is fantastic for this. Everything was lit for drama. (I also put in the shape of his cast shadow on the wall.) (You can see an earlier sketch of Raymond Burr done with the Aquash Brush Pen here and read about my fascination with the TV show.)
Part of me wanted to paint this right away. Part of me couldn't bear to cover up the lines. That second part of me won and I decided to keep it this way. It makes me smile. Which is a great result on a day like this.
Also slowing myself down and being so deliberate had the effect of breaking the headache up. I was able to get 5 hours of computer work done as if nothing had happened. Enough work that I felt it perfectly reasonable to go and sketch some more (this time peppers from the fridge).
But this sketch still makes me laugh.
