Advice on drawing portraits by Genie Monday 10 October, 2011

Things that I have learnt about faces and from drawing lots of portraits.

In our minds eye we think that we know what our dearest friends and family look like, but once you put pencil to paper the inaccuracy of our visual memories become apparent. It is almost like we see people from all angles at once in our thoughts, in a way the cubists expressed most accurately what our memories look like, by pulling faces apart and reassembling them in facets from different angles.

I have been trying to draw honest portraits of family, and I have found that due to the sheer size of the portraits, it has been hard for me to neutralize people’s features.  It is the closest that I have come to drawing the people that I love accurately.

To all those drawing portraits I can give the following advice:

- Faces are not symmetrical at all, and age takes a huge toll on symmetry.

- Mouths do not have lines around them; they are merely folds of flesh.

- Eyes and mouths are smaller, and noses are generally shorter than you think, however if you do portraits on commission clients will almost always ask you to make the eyes of their child/horse/dog/cat bigger.

- The features of the face are not only defines by the eyes, nose and mouth, spend as much time contemplating the shape of the face and the lines of the rest of the face.

- The lightest point in the face is the highlight in the eye, it is the only thing that is truly white.

- If you are unsure of where to start, start with the line in the middle of the mouth, this is usually the darkest and hardest line in the face and can be reworked later when you are more comfortable if necessary.

To all those wanting to have their portrait drawn, please do so, it is an amazing experience to see how people interpret you.  Looking at a photograph of yourself comes with so much predetermined ideas about yourself and what you look like. It is almost a therapeutic process to see what you look like to others and what they capture about you.

Nike Colour by Genie Wednesday 05 October, 2011

I often wondered if I could develop an illustration style based on my drawings. I scanned in one of the drawings that I did for NIKE’s head offices in Joburg and started treating it with colours and textures in Photoshop. I must say that I am quite pleased with the result, and I cant wait to take this style even further.

Nike Process by Genie Wednesday 05 October, 2011

The portraits for NIKE have been quite an interesting undertaking and I learnt allot from the process.

Firstly I had round stencils laser cut at the exact sizes that I needed them at the Cape Craft and Design Institute. This is an amazing organization that offers equipment and consultation on all industrial design processes.  It is well worth paying them a visit.

Secondly it was a challenge for me to work as expressively on a small scale as I usually do in my larger drawings. I made several drawings of Caster Semenya, before I eventually loosened up sufficiently and applied the style to Oscar Pistorius.

Then I also experimented with drawing with charcoal powder and sponges. I like this idea and will definitely use it in the further abstraction of my big drawings. 

Nike by Genie Wednesday 05 October, 2011

I was approached by Trigger/Isobar to do portraits for NIKE’s new head offices in Joburg. The portraits are of the talented African athletes Caster Semenya, Oscar Pistorius, Didier Drogba, Siphiwe Tshabalala and Stephen Muzinghi.

The portraits are all done in charcoal on fabriano paper, and are going to be framed in round frames in the shape of medallions.

Thanks to Trigger/Isobar for the opportunity to work with you on this amazing project.

Community by Genie Monday 29 August, 2011

Things have not been boring at the studio.

My studio mate Ben Ludik has completed the music for “Skoonheid” which has caused quite a stir in South Africa. Whatever your reaction to the film might be, the music came out beautifully. It is worth noting that Ben wrote the classical music as well as all the electronic music in the club scenes. Check out his portfolio here.

The junior of the studio Amy Jean Prentice just got a great new job and sadly had to leave us. She is a talented young designer and illustrator with a bright future ahead of her. We will miss you Amy Jean!  

In the meantime Albert Viljoen is mastering the art of juggling his musical and medical careers. He is on track to start his own botox clinic, and is developing an impressive brand that offers everything from vocal training, composing and beauty treatments.

Our neighbours Black Dog Studios, a photographic resources studio is also doing well. Micheala and Sally have set up a beautiful large studio space for hire and a fully functioning dark room.

I have been splitting my time between the studio and the Trigger/Isobar offices, where I am working predominantly on Woolworth’s online campaigns.  It has been great to be involved with such a big agency again and it has been a privilege to learn from good creative directors like Gustav Greffrath and Roelof van Wyk. It keeps me on my toes.

Rudi by Genie Wednesday 06 July, 2011

In my attempt to keep my eye trained and my hand loose, I did a portrait of my good friend Rudi. Check out his illustrations here.

Orchids by Genie Friday 01 July, 2011

I feel like I am constantly trying to get on form again so that I can take my drawings a step further, but every time I finish something months go by before I get to drawing again.

This is one of the first warm up drawings that I started at the beginning of my sabbatical. I finally finished it and I am quite pleased with the result.

I included a (slightly creepy) picture of myself posing with the drawing to help indicate scale.

Celebration! by Genie Tuesday 21 June, 2011

Very rarely do I do work for free, but in some cases it is only a pleasure.

I designed this wedding invitation for my good friends Carien and Lafras. They are a wonderfully unconventional couple that fell in love while doing their postgraduate degrees in Engineering at Stellenbosch University.  I thought that a technical rather than a floral or decorative invite would suit their characters well.

Thanks for all the friendship and free meals guys! 

Challenges by Genie Monday 04 April, 2011

One of the biggest challenges of working part time as a designer and switching over to art after that, is that my brain makes the switch VERY slowly. I have been finding it hard dealing with the constant interruptions of working life while trying to become a creative dreamer again.

The first steps that I have taken in my attempt to reach a deeper level of concentration was to switch off all the notification sounds on my Skype and Tweetdec, but my FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is unbelievably strong!

In the meantime my fix of "flow" is evading me. Flow is "the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity."

Check out this Ted Talk where Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi explains the concept of flow. You are likely to reach flow when your challenge and skills are higher than usual.

Is that not just the sweetest drug for creatives? Why else do we create but for this fleeting feeling of immersion and loss of physical reality? The only other instances that I can think of that has the same immersive effect are taking drugs and having sex, but neither of those are particularly productive or sustainable.

Unplugging for now folks. Let's see if I can get my fix.

Studio Fun by Genie Friday 18 March, 2011

We recently had a studio party and invited some of our creative friends for an evening of madness and fun. We were divided into teams of 10. Each team had creative materials and props with which we had to create a civilization. The civilizations then had to compete against each other through various creative challenges.

It was an evening of madness and creativity, both expressive and visually so.

It was allot of fun! Thanks to my studio mates Albert and Lisa Marie for organizing everything.