A few years ago I arranged to meet some kids from a local homeless shelter so that I could draw them. The way it went down only the best behaved kids were selected by the organization to meet with me. And because they were told I would be taking their photos, some of them had their best clothes and face on. We met at the shelter and talked briefly over pizza. The kids were so interesting they made me feel like a statue and I fumbled my way through some awkward conversation before getting down to business.
I set up my Lowel Tota light kit and used the soft umbrellas to reflect the light back on their faces. The photos were a lot richer than my usual low res mugshot sources. I did a few drawings with Tempura and then a set of oil paintings but I was never happy with them. In the past few weeks I have revisited the faces and produced a series of charcoal drawings. I have two in the Irondequoit Artist’s Exhibition at ISquare which opens tonight. The drawing above is not in the show.
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