15. Bob

Bob is one of my oldest and closest friends from RISD.  A fellow Jersey boy.  An artist to the core.  An incredible photographer.  His creativity, work ethic, and uncompromising dedication put me to shame.

I’ve drawn him many, many times.  In his John Lennon phase, in his David Byrne phase, the time he shaved off his eyebrows phase.  Here he appears to be in his Neil Young phase.  I asked him to send me a photo or two to work from and he gladly obliged.

There's a difference between drawing from life and drawing from a photograph.  When I draw from a photograph I’m very conscious of the fact that I’m interpreting a photo and not drawing an object. 

My goal is always to use the photo as a starting point and try to make something new.   To put my own spin it.  As you can see, it’s not always easy.

Bob turned out nice.  Cross-hatchy and spartan.  The texture on the hair has just the right amount of frizziness, the pattern on the bandana creates mass with very little information.  It was good to clear my head after the Ethan mess.  Whew.