Sketching Willow

[avram]

A few weeks ago I decided I needed more practice in drawing likenesses. Also, that some successful drawings would make good portfolio pieces. I figured I’d start with some of the characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer — it’s a popular show, and I know the actors’ names, so photo references should be easy to find on the web. And they are; I found some Alyson Hannigan photos in no time, downloaded a few, noodled about with an abortive attempt, then promptly forgot about it.

Last week, a bunch of webloggers all did synchronized postings about Buffy; I didn’t hear about it till it was already done, so I didn’t join in. Ampersand did an entry with some attempts at a caricature of Willow; this reminded me of my own efforts. We exchanged a bit of email about it, but I didn’t get around to doing any more till yesterday.

Here’s the first sketch I did that actually looks anything like her. (My very first attempt looked more like Hillary Clinton; Ampersand had the same problem.) I think it has the makings of a decent caricature, though it looks like she’s about eight years old. That’s what happens when you emphasize the eyes and mouth like that. I was thinking along anime lines, and anime characters (the cute ones, anyway) generally look like children.

A few more tries today; this is the best of them. More realistic, though the mouth isn’t right. It’s really tough to do this with female TV stars; Hollywood interprets distinctive features on women as ugliness, and routes around them. I’m still working from one main photo.

Comments

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

The second one looks much more like Willow than the first. Yeah!

Both look like her

[bigscary.livejournal.com]

With a time offset. The first, as you note, looks like Willow at 12 or 13, and the second looks like her as she approaches middle age. (In fact, if her face were slightly longer, she'd look disturbingly like my father's girlfriend.) (It's a good thing she doesn't read this: If she saw that... I'd probably be dead soon). The biggest difference from her in each pictures seem to be her cheeks, which I think the first gets slightly closer, and to a lesser extent, the chin, which the first also gets better. Quite impressive, though.