Line Drawing:
I really wanted to capture the personality of my model. My model, Andrew,
suffers from depression, which I had decided to focus on in this illustration. I expressed this by
distorting his body and features. I have made his body small in comparison to his head to show him
feeling small and insecure. I used a dip pen and indian ink to give a more personal touch and
expression in the line work. He is quite a soft person so I rounded his shoulders and face. I limited
lines, but kept some wrinkles and age lines and spots, not hiding his age. The dark lines under the
eyes emphasises his tiredness and stress, especially through the way some of the lines have escaped
from the model’s face into the background. I wanted to expose his insecurities, lack of self esteem
and show the person he is on the inside, not the face or person he displays himself as to most people.
A touch of irony has been added to the illustration through the words “everything’s fine”, which have
also been used as a platform for the model to stand on. I gave the illustration a thick black frame, as it
looked a bit floaty without it. I thought very carefully about the positioning of the model from the
angle he is standing (the way he is leaning), down to the way his hands are placed. His hands are
placed awkwardly holding himself. The placing of his hands I think is very expressive and adds a lot
to the illustration and conveys some of his mannerisms. The wobbly lined elongated fingers
contribute to the expressiveness of the hands, which have been influenced by the Salad Fingers
YouTube video clips.
