First Portrait Of 2018

Say hi to Jimmy. He is the first portrait I sketched for 2018. The reference photo for this portrait was taken from the famous Roy Schatt's "Torn Sweater" series that was shot for Life magazine in 1954. They never appeared in the magazine though.

I am a big fan of James Dean since my high school days. I have read several of his autobiographies and memoirs written by his close friends and lovers. I watched his 3 movies, the only ones he made in the span of his tragically short-lived career. All of his films were shot within 18 months before his death. He was exceptional in all 3 movies but my favorite is his first - East of Eden, because Jimmy basically played himself in this movie. His character Cal had some daddy issues and so did Jimmy who was abandoned by his dad when his mom died when Jim was nine. He was sent home to Indiana to live with relatives with his mother's coffin on the train from their home in Santa Monica, California, back to Marion where she was buried. How cruel is that? Who on earth would send a grieving child on board a train with his mom's coffin on the same train?

Prior to Hollywood, Jimmy was just a broke wanna-be actor in NYC where he met Liz Sheridan (Seinfield's mom. Yeah, her) and had an affair with her. No one knew the details of their love story until she wrote a memoir 40 years after his death. I read it and was in tears for many days. It was so beautifully written and gave his fans a glimpse of a complex man-boy before stardom found him. I wished she made it into a movie. She thought about that but she didn't. Somehow I am glad she didn't. A movie would probably ruin the magic of their story.

I sketched this portrait because I wanted to put it up on my wall, right above my notice board. Seriously. So whenever I work late at night I have Jimmy to watch over me LOL.

This is the first A3 portrait I sketched using graphite aquarelle. It was quite challenging and I made several glaring mistakes. Instead of abandoning it and start all over again I decided to go ahead and finished it. I am glad I did. I managed to rectify some major mistakes and in the process I learned which pencil grade to use to create appropriate contrasts. Graphite aquarelle is unforgiving media. Unlike normal graphite pencils whereby you can erase your mistakes, not so with graphite aquarelle.

And here are the progress photos...