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Some Famous Mugs

MARCH 15, 2010
Director Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon
Portraiture and likenesses are relatively new to me. I've been slinging ink for a while now (first gig was in 1990 or thereabouts. I flubbed it. Ancient history) so I've had to provide a likeness here or there, natch. But it's been an infrequent request on the part of my (lovely,talented and remarkably good-looking) clientele. A while back I decided - full disclosure, I'd lost my third monthly gig and was a bit panicked - to concentrate on likenesses. I did a bunch, put 'em out there and let the people say what they would. Mostly what they said was nice, but the enthusiasm wasn't exactly blowing my wig back.
Director Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Don't know how or why, but at some point it kinda clicked. I started seeing the bigger picture; the broader shapes. I could compare my drawings to the subject and see where I'd made mistakes. Obviously some people are easier to draw than others (hello, Marty Scorsese and his Marty Scorsese eyebrows) and beautiful women are amongst the hardest to draw as they all essentially look exactly alike, all smiles and eyes and flowing hair. But I think I'm getting better at it and if you don't agree, please keep it to yourself. Remember, it's nice to be important but it's important to be nice.
 
Director Tim Burton and fedora enthusiast Johnny Depp
Thanks to Dale Stephanos, who took time out from pumping out his leaky basement to snap a pic. Wotta guy!
These drawings ran yesterday in the venerable news daily the Boston Globe. The AD was Jane Martin. Drawing pictures for a living a pretty good racket, but some jobs are just fun. This was one of them; I actually caught myself chuckling a bit while working on these.
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