The Face of Homelessness, Southeastern Trains

The Face of Homelessness, Southeastern Trains, Oil on Board, 2012

This is another in my series of the Face of homelessness. This was a homeless guy I encountered on the trains. His face was just simply irresistible, I was drawn but the flow of his hair, his strong and prominent cheek bones and his beard.

The original Sketch I did on the trains-this was done with a Black BIC Ball point Pen and  the N75 TOMBOW Dual wash pen for the tones.

STAGE 1-I really take my time to get a really accurate drawing here, this is because the head is at an angle and there are so many different tilts. I had to connect all these marks in relationship to other parts just to make sure they aligned up properly. The sketch is done in willow charcoal and fixed before paint is applied.

STAGE 2-Using the Zorn palette of Ivory Black, Cadmium Red, Yellow Orche and Titanium White,  I go straight into painting moving shape by shape, filling each part and moving along. Again, this is the inside-out-technique. in this painting, I decide to be a bit more loose and vigorous with my brushstrokes to bring in some character to the piece.

STAGE 3-At this stage I had finished. I ran out of Ivory black in the middle of this painting, I had to mix up another puddle of black with Ultramarine, Alizarin Crimson and Viridian Green. But I noticed it didn't have the right qualities of an original black, as it gave most of my mixtures a bluish green cast. But in the end I was still satisfied with the result.

SPECIAL QUOTE
It takes some amount of boldness to follow ones passion. It takes a fair amount of courage to keep going. But in the end it's when all odds are against you and you can keep believing, that you prove to even yourself-The miracle within! That miracle is YOU!-Adebanji Alade