In October 2020 I took part in Sktchy School’s Portrait Challenge with hosts Dylan Sara, Arto Isotalo, and Vin Ganpathy. Although I could easily do this without the prompts, somehow it’s easier committing within this frame. Each of these took between 30 minutes and an hour depending on how annoyed I was getting. Inevitably at the end of each I would wonder why I don’t do this more often.
The entries are below in no particular order, each with a short commentary. Basically whatever pops in my head as I remember the drawing, bearing in mind that;
Reflection, however, dependent as it is upon memory, and conducted after the creative act rather than during (or as close to as possible), can be an unfortunately fallible method, and often fails to offer insights into the cognitive processes of creation that are frequently the focus of PBR (Practice Based Research)
Skains, Creative Practice as Research: Discourse on Methodology
https://doi.org/10.1080/14682753.2017.1362175
Still, for a blog post I think memory is good enough, and I’ll even have a go at working with Graeme Sullivan’s 2009 model which advocates for a mix of theoretical, conceptual, and contextual approaches in order to qualify as Practice Based Research.
This was one of the very first prompts. I used paper that was far too think for ink washes and watercolour, but the chaos gave me permission to free up more 
One of the final in the series. The smoke effect was the result of pre-watering the space around those areas and then mixing it in slightly 
This was tricky to get the right perspective so I went with a slow contour observational line to feel my way around the forms in relation 
one of those where I should have spent more time pencilling the hands. some line tracing over the dried ink washes for optimal meditative effect 
another one where I put too much water down and the paper couldn’t handle it 
I’m really happy with how the upturned face resolved- glad I left it alone 
a failed attempt at suggesting trees in the background 
Fine liner around ink washes with some watercolour finishes 
This lady was tricky to draw realistically, so I went with a slightly caricatured style 
My favourite from the series 
Here I added the shirt at the end using a drop of ink on a pre-wet area. Unfortunately a part of her chest was still also wet, so the ink spread. 
Rushed the hand details- the overall shape is about right but the details are wrong. Again I’m using a watercolour back wash to distract you from the errors 
It’s often the areas that are left alone that can be most evocative of form. Her right ring finger for instance. It’s the best part of the whole portrait 
I really liked this one but Instagram likes say I’m wrong 
Using ink dropped straight onto paper and then a spray bottle 
Contrast. Thick key-lines/no other lines. Dark values against white. Pop 
Save reference as a web PNG-8 with limited colours- an alternative to squinting 
Blending colours, mixing them in, watching them interact 
