Portraitpractice - Blog Posts

Morckin’ about is the only thing to do on Sundays. 📷 References from Netflix and @pleasereadmeok on Insta 📷

Quick tonal study of MG (tried very hard to stick to 2.5hr time limit over two days). He’s such an obliging subject with all those beautiful lines and angles 😍 and perfect for practising with 🩶🖤🤍 I love the expression in the reference photo and the fact it’s in profile. I tried to capture his understated-but-OMG-smile and butterfly-inducing vibe, whilst trying very hard not to envy the person he’s looking at like that.

In terms of my learning journey, I started by trying to identify the different values in the reference (pop art style), played with some filters, then had a whale of a time with the smudging tool and then, for the detail, I tried to use techniques I’d read about in Laura H. Rubin’s brilliant book ‘Of Strokes and Shades’, as well as experimented with some of her texture brushes. Tried hard not to overfaff with it, as that way madness lies… but it’s difficult to walk away when there are lots of bits that need work. Ah well, perfect excuse to find my next piece of inspiration!

📷 Original edit I used as a reference is posted above (which I found on the feed of the legendary @pleasereadmeok - I think?! if I can add further details, please let me know as now I can’t find the original link and can’t read the print in my screenshot - sorry). 📷