Glassine portraits

I started playing around with glassine paper a few days ago, and completed some experiments with spectacles, and hands (see previous posts).

Today I decided to try doing some glassine portraits after seeing a piece of art by Veronica Cay. She had drawn a portrait onto glassine paper.

I decided to do two self portraits, and three portraits of my favourite female archetype, the Virgin Mary.

Here are my two self portraits:

Glassine self portrait

Glassine self portrait

I used two photographs i had taken, and overlaid the glassine paper over the top, to create the pen drawing. I then added pastel in small areas, and blended it with solvent, then some random pastel marks in other areas. Beneath the glassine layer, on the paper, I painted an area beneath the face with an antique white oil stick, and some red pastel to accentuate the lips. I then put the glassine paper over the paper, and secured it with a blob of pritt stick in each corner.

I then created three portraits of the Madonna in the same way:

Three Portraits of the Madonna i.

Three Portraits of the Madonna ii.

Three Portraits of the Madonna iii.

I really enjoyed working in this way, and am happy with the results. I will consider this method when I reach the portrait and figure drawing part of the course.