Gandalf

The Lord of the Rings has, yet again, been dragged around wherever I go. This time around, I am reading it sloooowly, taking time to absorb all the depth and detail. Of course, I can never read such an awesome book without a strong itch to draw...

This drawing is based off of a black-and-white photograph. I drew it entirely freehand. Total time ran around 3 hours.

I have to say that this is the first drawing I have ever done that ACTUALLY looks like the person I am drawing.

I loved drawing the eyes. I love drawing eyes in general. This is the first time I've ever drawn baggy, wrinkly, squinting, strong, and kindly eyes. I'm not convinced I nailed it, but everyone says it looks like Gandalf.

THE BEARD. Ohhhh, the beard. Because of the scanner, you can't see all the light detail on the right hand side, but if you look at the left side you can see how I drew the beard. Line. After. Line. Scribble. After. Scribble.

The eyebrows were interesting but lots of fun. :)

My brother has claimed this picture for his bedroom. :) Its not usual for this particular brother to admit liking anything I make, so I take it as a good sign.

Let me take a moment to say that I don't like scanners!!!! The scanner lost half the detail. :(

EDIT: WORK IN PROGRESS PICTURES

(the picture I used for reference is actually a photo, not a drawing!)

(you can see more detail if you click this bottom picture. 'Cause it was taken with a camera, not a scanner.)