Digital Doodles

Many mornings as I click through several online newsfeeds and newspapers a face or figure catches my eye. Given the ferment in politics, world affairs, and the personal lives of many people the expression on a face or the gesture of a figure strikes my interest. It might be someone at the center of a quirky news story or a politician in the midst of yet another political battle. Regardless, human expressions are fascinating.

Because digital methods for drawing are so fast, easily accessible, and require no cleanup, digital sketching is a natural way to quickly capture an impression of a face or body. These are a few digital drawings or sketches from the past few months. The majority of these were made using a Wacom tablet and Sketchbook.

The first is a drawing of a young man with a rather disgusted look. Although I can't remember the specific reference, it struck me that like many in his generation, he might believe that the baby boomers he might believe have made a lot of mistakes, perhaps retreated from principles stated with such conviction during youth. He might even believe that Boomers made things worse for the country. Hence the caption.


The next was from one of a blizzard of news stories about the U.S. Congress. Mr. Ryan, the Speaker of the House, has had a difficult time in that position and has faced enormous criticism from both sides of the aisle. This particular sketch was done during one of the fights over repeal of the Affordable Healthcare Act ("Obamacare") that failed. Unfortunately for Mr. Ryan and his party, the elections that loom this fall seem likely to be a similarly bloody dog fight.

The third sketch is Ms. Huckabee-Sanders, the current Press Secretary to the White House. Over these past months it has seemed to me that she has been in an unenviable position, forced to defend or defuse statements that may or may not be accurate. She has the requisite mental toughness to be in the daily political news arena, however distasteful that may be. Her expression speaks to me of haughtiness tempered with impatience and irritation. She has certainly been at the forefront of criticism during the past year or so. One wonders how prevaricating on a daily basis must wear on somebody.

The final drawing shows a study done for a possible oil painting. This study was done from a news

photo but with substantial changes. The figures were posed almost as in the drawing, but the rest of the image--background and so on--are invented. The idea was to depict a loving relationship in what might be dire circumstances. Without facial expression the posture and relation of the figures is crucial.

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Posts about digital drawing
Digital Art
Digital Doodles
Digital Sketching
Digital Delving
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Digital Head Sketches
Digital Dailies
Drawing Digital Dailies