Marilyn Monroe in pen and ink.
I’ve been practicing pen and ink portraits lately. I find them uniquely challenging. Some I’ll post and some I won’t, but this one of Marilyn Monroe I decide to post. I’m fairly happy with it, but I didn’t nail it. I didn’t quite capture her essence the way I wanted. I liked the photo reference for the high contrast, which is conducive to pen and ink. Subtle shading is trickier than with pencil or paint. I have a tendency to overwork the piece. It’s been a pretty steep learning curve. Comments and critiques are appreciated.
I realize this isn’t as wildlifey or woodsy as what I normally do, but it’s good to mix things up. Besides, there’s people in the woods too. Although, I’ve never run into Marilyn in the woods, but that would make a heck of a blog post!
THE FORESTER ARTIST 
I really like the way you’ve used the light. The shadows have their own life and give a lot of dimension. (K)
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Thank you Kerfe!
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You deserve to happy with this one! It is outstanding!
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I’m glad you think so Gail. Now if only I could do a nice one of Mary. That’s really been a struggle. Maybe I’m too familiar with my subject.
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Not being an artist myself, I can’t really comment on that, but maybe you’re being too hard on yourself? Your subject means so much to you that you’re being overly critical of your work?
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That’s nice of you to say, but I believe the longer I do this the more obvious it becomes when something isn’t quite right. It pushes me to improve and that’s a good thing.
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I think Marilyn would give a nod of approval! I know I do!
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I probably couldn’t do better than that, but since she’s not going to comment I’m just going to appreciate yours. Thanks Linda.
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Fabulous!!
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Thank you Susan!
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Absolutely beautiful! It looks just like her!
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Thanks Joy! I’m glad you like it.
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Your work with a pen is fabulous and you do catch her allure awesomely.
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Awww…Holly, you are too kind. Thank you so much!
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you are so talented, thanks for sharing
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Thank you Jim! I’ve really been enjoying your photography even when I haven’t commented. You do some amazing work.
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I really really like this. I don’t think you have overworked it at all – the light and shadow work is fabulous. (And if you do ever come across Marilyn in the woods – we will all definitely want to hear about it!) 🙂
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I had to restrain myself a bit. I’m sure Marilyn was used to that. I’ve done other portraits, not Marilyn, that I didn’t post. Some of those were pretty rough.
Now, if I do run into Marilyn in the woods I’m going to show her that picture and get her opinion!
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getting such a range of tones in pen and ink is a real challenge, and I think you have done a great job!
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Thank you Anna! I appreciate that, and I’m going to keep practicing.
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Hard to critique–pen and ink humans can get kind of “scratchy” looking, especially photos of those ink drawings. I’m betting this one looks dynamite in person, standing back a few feet from it!
This one does look a little overworked if I view it at a normal reading distance on my laptop, but it looks super when I back off about 3 feet. Maybe you are looking at it too closely?🙂
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Thanks for the feedback Alli! I think is does look better in person. I’ll being doing more so stay tuned. Time to up my game.
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I’m not sure how Marilyn Monroe really looks, so I’m not so much able to tell the difference, but hear this for me. This is very good. Very lovely.
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Thank you so much Esther! You are very kind.
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Beautiful x
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