Portrait TRACK: Lesson 5, Jekyll & Hyde Portraits

Inspiration

This prompt is based off the characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, featured in Robert Louis Stevenson‘s book The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Portrait Track: Jekyll & Hyde, Thumbnail Sketches
Penny Illustrated Paper, 1888

Prompt

  • Choose 2 contrasting sides of your personality.
  • Create a diptych of 2 images, 1 image for each side of your personality.
  • Start by writing down a list of your personalities.
  • Pick 2 personalities from your list to create your diptych.

Examples

Raven Kushner, Johanna

Diptych Format

A diptych is a single artwork that is comprised of 2 separate images that work together.

Charcoal Self-Portrait Drawings
Amy Wang
Portrait Track: Jekyll & Hyde, Thumbnail Sketches
Johanna Lee

Thumbnail Sketches

  • Play around with various formats at the thumbnail sketch stage.
  • Consider how the 2 images will interact, are they side by side?
  • Is one image placed on top of the other?
  • Are the 2 images offset so that 1 image is placed higher the other?
Portrait Track: Jekyll & Hyde, Thumbnail Sketches
Johanna Lee

Reference Photos

Hear from an Art Prof Student

Charcoal Portrait Drawing, Clara Lieu, banner

“I learned brainstorming is difficult, for me, but I assume well worth the effort if I fight through and continue on to a finished piece.”

Jen Noelle

Inspiration

Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, Egon Schiele, Max Beckmann, Dana Schutz, Francesco Clemente, Sam Messer, Francis Bacon

Tips

  • Consider how the 2 sides of your personality play off each other, the more different they are from each other, the more dramatic the contrast will be between them.
  • Aim to exaggerate the facial expressions as much as you can!
  • Realistic portraits are not the goal of this prompt
  • Dramatically distort and stylize your portraits as much as possible to emphasize the personality trait you are portraying.
Portrait Track: Jekyll & Hyde, Thumbnail Sketches
Jen Noelle, Thumbnail Sketches

Art Media

Use any art media.

Paint Media

Visit these pages for supply lists: watercolorgouacheacryl gouacheoilswater mixable oilsacrylics.

Drawing Media

ballpoint pen/gel pensdip penbrush pen markersCaran d’Ache crayonsgraphite powdercolored pencilsoft pasteloil pastelpencil, charcoalink washscratchboardwet charcoaloil sticks

Digital Software Options

ProcreateKritaAdobe PhotoshopClip Studio PaintPaint Tool SAIAdobe FrescoMediBang PaintGimp

We want to share your progress!

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Drawing Celebs as Monsters

Draw a celebrity and transform them into a monster! Techniques in Procreate and oil pastelcolored pencil are shown here as a means to illustrating these monster portraits, and approaches to distortion, drawing a range of textures and forms are explained.

Demo led by Art Prof Clara Lieu and Teaching Artist Deepti Menon.

Artistic Anatomy Lecture: Hair

This video explains how to approach drawing hair, explaining how to break down the sections of hair while also capturing the more detail, refined areas.

The key to articulating hair is to treat the hair as a mass first, and then to subdivide the “clumps” of hair. Observing the direction of the hair creates structure to the mass of the hair as well. Lecture by Art Prof Clara Lieu.

Show us what you make!

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