Mon Petit Chou17.5" x 11"Colored Pencils on Paper1998Private Collection

This is a portrait of a young man befriended by birds. The subject is a friend of mine, and I drew his portrait straight from a black and white photograph, adding my own subtle color tones to enhance the drawing. I've been asked if I used a projector or a gridding process to create this likeness, and the answer is no, I drew it just by looking at the photograph. Same with his feathered friends. I did this portrait when I was 18, and I was still on my translucent kick that you saw in my Boy painting. Here I made the owl in his hair translucent, to represent the spirit of the animal rather than its material presence.