J. David McKenney blog

Portrait of Shien Lee

Finished portrait of the beautiful Shien Lee:

india ink, red lacquer, white ink, and graphite on rough watercolor paper, 18" x 24"

photo of Shien during the sitting:

Shien is a New York City Treasure! Shien is the founder and creator of Dances of Vice, a New York night life sensation that attracts a sordidly splendid menagerie of dandies, aesthetes, and dreamers who gather in shared enthusiasm for the music, fashion, culture, and beauty of times forgotten.

If you live in New York you must check out a D.O.V event. It's always a wonderland of eye candy and decadence.

I was lucky enough to have Shien sit for me at my studio last week. She has some of the best style in town, so I left her completely in charge of her own look. I just told her to bring veils and accessories! I ADORE what she came up with! From the moment she walked into the room I knew how I wanted this portrait to look: Bold and Inky!

Process:

the sketch:

I really liked how this sketch turned out. I wanted the final piece to look just like it....only a little tighter.

I moved onto my large paper. After I had my pencil outline, I appied masking fluid to the areas I wanted to remain completely white. Then I did a really light grey wash over the entire painting. I wanted to keep the tones as stark as possible but still have highlights.

I laid down my first few layers of darker grey wash.

I put down more masking fluid and then laid down the red

then I put down the black ink

after that it was about adding a few details and subtle washes.

and then I was done!

Jessie in Boots

Jessie stirred up and swimming in hair: india ink wash, yellow ink, red ink, and graphite on rough watercolor paper, 18" x 24"

details:

Process:

I have drawn almost everything in my portfolio thus far from my imagination or memory. Now that I have a larger working space I'm beginning to combine my artistic visions with actual references (live model drawings combined with photographs).

I asked my very glamorous, very beautiful , and very kind friend Jessica to model for me at my studio last week. I threw a "Jerry Hall" wig on her, we did some live drawings, and then we took some pictures...

some of the photos:

she's stunning, no?

From the sketches and photographs I composed this rough.

And then I set to work on my final piece:

pencil

black ink wash for the boots

medium ink was for skin tone, light ink wash for hair

added yellow!

and Ta Da! Pure Glamour!

Showgirl in McQueen

shoes: Alexander McQueen Spring 2010

process:

pencil drawing

tape off background

layed down several layers of gold leaf, red ink , and black ink to create a "snake skin" effect

layers

Zodiac Girls Cancer

Cancer
June 21 -
July 22

sketch

Gaga the Gray

Gaga the Gray: india ink, red lacquer, white chalk, and graphite on rough watercolor paper, 18” x 24”

I did this image of Gaga for fun because I love Lady Gaga and I love drawing creepy fingers!

Here is my process:

sketches:

This was my first Gaga sketch that I did on an airplane. It doesn't really look like her but I was just going from memory.

These were my composition thumbnails. I wanted to focus more on her monster hands while still keeping it an angular glamor shot. (I went with the pose on top right)