Arthur Rudge

I almost made it through the whole of December without doing any artwork, which was a bit worrying.  I thought I'd better get back to it before the rot set in.  I thought I'd kick off with some marker portraits after reading that Jake Spicer book.  I even challenged myself by deliberately choosing a pose with the head tilted back.

This is, of course, Arthur Rudge ("You STUPID great lump!") played by the late Michael Robbins.  He lived in Hitchin for a good few years, making him a local hero for me (I was born in Hitchin and only moved out of the area when I was just short of 23).  He's the first of a collection of six, in case you hadn't guessed.

I think the likeness is reasonable today but better if you know who it is.  The telephone has been merged into the shadow on the left.  While the shape of the phone isn't great, this does give me the opportunity to tinker with the face shape by extending the black shadow shape in places - this is starting to become my favourite trick.

Anyway, that's Arthur.  More to come.