The Presenter
One of the perks of living within walking distance of a university is the ease of sitting in on presentations by thinkers from near and far. Not only is this an opportunity to hear ideas, it is good for sketching too. Since it takes several sketches before I come close to capturing something that represents the spirit of a person as I see it, an hour of drawing someone confined to a podium is a treat.
This week I listened to and sketched a recent ambassador to Korea, Kathleen Stephens. Her intensity, presence, warmth, authority, and focus struck me immediately and I got several pastel line drawings during her presentation that worked. However, it was not until the end when she leaned forward on the podium while taking questions that I got the sketch that conveyed her strengths. Later at home I used the app Procreate on my iPad to add color and emotion.
These are sketches with pastel pencils on either black or white paper. The final color in the final sketch is added using Procreate.
