Rudy, oh my heart!

Back in 2012 I posted progression photos of a pencil drawing I was working on of Oscar Wilde. I've worked on a few other drawings since then. Drawing is something I don't do much anymore. I may create one finished drawing a year. That was the case last year, although I did start another, but I have yet to finish that project. 2019's pencil drawing was of 1920's actor and heartthrob Rudolph Valentino. I was on a Valentino kick, watching every movie that he starred in that was available on YouTube to watch, and I wanted to draw him. I found a still of the movie Blood and Sand that I really liked, and proceeded to draw it, in both graphite and colored pencil.

Most of the photos have a yellowish tint because of my dining room lighting, and because of the shininess of graphite the darker areas in the drawing may not show as dark from one photo to the next, something I can't help. I started the drawing in early December 2018, set it aside for a few weeks, and when I got some time off from work in early January 2019 I continued to work on it until it was done. Here are the progression photos of Rudolph Valentino as Juan Gallardo in Blood and Sand.

Clicking on the photos allows you to see them better.

Initial line drawing with a photocopy of the photo to go by.

When I got to the part of using colored pencils, I was a bit terrified to do it because it had been so long since I've used colored pencils. It turned out okay.

I really hated drawing that wall. It gave me some anxiety while I shaded it in.

My favorite part, drawing him!

The finished drawing nicely framed. It won me first place in a local art competition. He hangs on my living room wall above my 1920's radio.

Thank you for stopping by!