Life in Graphite: Brian Duey - graphite pencil artist

I have not yet managed to start a new drawing - being a miserably poor student, I can't yet afford to buy new drawing equipment, it is rather expensive. Instead I have decided to post some other artists' work which has inspired me over the years; be it graphite, watercolour or oil paint artists. First is an extremely talented graphite pencil artist, and one of the first to inspire me: Brian Duey.

Brian Duey

An American artist, Duey was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is completely self-taught. His work has been published in books, greetings cards, on CD covers and various magazines. He has been completing commissioned drawings since 2005 with clients worldwide, including the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

2009

2010

As you can tell from these pictures he is a very skilled drawer with brilliant rendering of facial features and near flawless tonal qualities; he is one of the first pencil artists that inspired me to start drawing. His website (http://www.dueysdrawings.com/index.html) also has mini-tutorials which show some of the best techniques for rendering realistic-looking portraits - some of which are his own techniques developed through hours of practise. When I came across him during my years studying A-Level Fine Art I used these tutorials to help develop my own style; I even went as far as to email him to show some of the work I had been doing, and thanked him for giving me the inspiration to start drawing. He was very pleased that he had inspired me and we ended up, somehow, becoming friends over Facebook. If you are an aspiring pencil portrait artist I strongly suggest you take a look at his portfolio.

2011

Having followed Duey over the internet for a few years now it has been possible to see a gradual change in his drawing style and ability. For example, the 2009/2010 drawings have much more of a contemporary composition, with the drawings taken all the way to the edge of the frame. In the 2011 drawings (above) however, the framing is reminiscent of more traditional portraiture, with no border and with the drawing cut off at the subjects' chest just below the neckline. He has also begun to include a gradated frame finish to a lot of his portraits, as seen in the drawing of the child. In my opinion, I do not like the 'floating head' style of these drawings compared with previous years' work; I think making full use of the paper's frame gives the drawings much more impact upon viewing. I do, however think that the gradated finish is very nice, and is something that I would like to try once I start a new drawing project. With the portrait of the child it seems as though Duey is attempting to be more 'free' with his work, using more gestural strokes and rougher edges compared with his older work. Being able to see a gradual change in an artist's work is very interesting indeed.

I think it is important when viewing the work of artists such as Duey that you take in to account the fact that the quality of his pictures have achieved such a level only through hours and hours of practise - and probably numerous failures. Drawing to this standard does not happen over night, and I have come to realise this when completing my own drawings. It is this that fascinates me about the medium, and is what brings me back to keep on drawing: you really do improve with each piece you complete. Duey respects this fact, and on his website you can find examples of his very earliest forays in to the world of pencil drawing. Bellow are a few such works:

These drawings take on a style which is more relevant to caricature artwork; the difference in the subjects and skill level is quite astounding. But, as Duey says on his website: Everybody has to start somewhere, right? I started off in much the same way - completing small drawings, and gradually getting better and better. Below I believe shows how my skills have improved over time: