Saturday, March 2, 2024

Jimi Hendrix in ink

Jimi Hendrix. Micron pen (03 and 05), Faber-Castell PITT "B"-series brush pen and Pentel Pocket Brush Pen on Strathmore Bristol Board (9" X 12"). Art by Coyote Duran. (Please click to enlarge.)


Jimi Hendrix. Micron pen (03 and 05), Faber-Castell PITT "B"-series brush pen and Pentel Pocket Brush Pen on Strathmore Bristol Board (9" X 12"). Art by Coyote Duran. (Please click to enlarge.)






As any artist knows, inspiration comes right out of nowhere sometimes. One day, I woke up and thought, "A Jimi Hendrix" portrait would be neat!" So I cobbled some reference and got going with my layout on 9" X 12" Strathmore Art Bristol Board with my trusty "Blue Special" leadholder.




After figuring out position and the route I wanted to go, (something many artists call, "figuring things out"), I really started moving. Mind you, at this point, I hadn't drawn anything in about three months (I know; I know. Shame on me. Nothing shakes an artist's skills more than inactivity), so it felt really good to shake off the cobwebs and flex the artistic muscles, so to speak.






After completing Jimi's initial layout, I started plotting my background. It had to be funky and psychedelic. As you can see in the above image, that's where I started some "Kirby Krackle/"Kirby Dots"-inspired design. For the uninformed, Kirby Krackle is a visual conveyance of energy created by late, legendary comics artist Jack Kirby. I started freehanding my Krackle but soon resorted to using my circle template and it turned out great!





 



 



From here, it was time to lay down what I call my "wireframe" inks locking in my shapes and background. This is also the point where I started recording my process for a brand-new episode of my YouTube show "Have Paw, Will Draw with Coyote Duran." Typically when I feature art on "Have Paw, Will Draw," I don't bother with recording the penciling process because 1) that might be a little boring for the viewer, due to all the in-process plotting, erasing and re-drawing and 2) I use a denser 4H lead that looks pretty light on camera under light.




 



As you can see, things are really shaping up here! Next, it was time to fill in the blacks and beef up the image, a stage which is the most fun for me to tackle. There's just something so calming about it because there's no pressure in taking my time. If I'm not on a deadline, I can concentrate on making my finishes as perfect as possible.





And there you have it, Howlers! My finished inked portrait of Jimi Hendrix, done in Micron pen (03 and 05), Faber-Castell PITT "B"-series brush pen and Pentel Pocket Brush Pen on Strathmore Bristol Board (9" X 12").



Jimi Hendrix. Micron pen (03 and 05), Faber-Castell PITT "B"-series brush pen and Pentel Pocket Brush Pen on Strathmore Bristol Board (9" X 12"). Art by Coyote Duran. (Please click to enlarge.)


And PLEASE keep your eyes on and your ears to the ground for a brand-spanking-new episode of "Have Paw, Will Draw, with Coyote Duran" on YouTube!


Being that this piece will be accompanied by one of Hendrix's most popular tunes, I've decided to shift my creative focus on future HPWD subjects. As you viewers recall, my past time-lapse videos featured music directly related to the subjects or music I felt provided a particular soundtrack context. So for the foreseeable future, HPWD will feature music legends and their music. Makes sense, right, friends?


Oh, most importantly, thank YOU so much for visiting and reading!


Questions? Comments? Complaints? Commissions? Hit me up at artofthepaw@gmail.com. You can also follow me on X (formerly Twitter. I STILL call it Twitter. Hey, the Willis Tower will ALWAYS be the Sears Tower to me) @CoyoteDuranon Instagram @CoyoteDuran, on Threads @CoyoteDuran and on Facebook @CDCreationNation.

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