The Story Behind 40 works that changed my career 18

Number 18- AFRO XX



This piece comes from my AFRO SERIES, a series which I am still currently working on. This series emphasizes the beauty of natural black hair.

I can clearly remember I met a lovely lady, during a weekend in the winter of 2008 and she had a nice looking Afro, not the kind you'll always see. I looked once and twice....then got the courage to ask if she'll like to be in my current series.....She agreed! I had to take pictures of her and that was sufficient, there was no room for sketching as the occasion wasn't the best for that, it was her dad's birthday and everyone was busy having fun.

AFRO XX, 10" x 8", Coloured Pencil/Sanguine Dust, 2008

This work comes as part of the 40 because after I completed the drawing-there was something about the her face that made it seem as if she was about to speak-an alive kind of feeling, somehow in this portrait, not only the hair got the emphasis but something a little bit more deeper- I always believe the mood is best captured by the mouth. I am not always able to get the inner spirit of those I capture and when she saw it she affirmed it too. This one seemed to evolve through the ghosting technique I used in the initial stages of the work. This was done with ghosting the sanguine dust on a self sanded watercolour paper. Then different tones of browns, reds and orange coloured pencils were used to bring out tones and details. I also added my calligraphic writing marks in the background.


SPECIAL QUOTE
"If you are into portraits, you'll often meet people everyday who are what I call, "dream models"- These are the people one would love to paint or draw all day long. But if you just allow them to pass by, the experience is lost forever. Sometimes a sketch would do, sometimes the meeting might be too brief and you'll just need to take risk and ASK politely-The worst case scenario would be a "NO" but often times it's a "YES"- and if a yes, they may allow you to sketch, take a picture, book a sitting or two and in the end, those are the kind of works that become treasures because they come from the soul of the artist- they are something you really wanted to do, far from the commission type of thing-so TAKE A PLUNGE, GIVE IT GO, BECAUSE YOU'LL NEVER KNOW!" -Adebanji Alade

BIG ISSUE SERIES XVIII

This is a continuation of my series of Big Issue Sellers in London and Bath. This particular seller had one of the faces that is a dream to draw for portrait lovers. You could take one look at him and he'd take your artistic breath away! The guys that sell these Big Issue Magazines are homeless but this gives them something to gain extra cash.

This was done on a museum mount board prepared with gesso. I drew with pastels and coloured pencils.



Big Issue Seller XVIII, 8" x 10", Mixed media, 2011

My main goal was capture that mixed look of hope and uncertainty in his eyes.

Special Quote
"I had a teacher years ago(George Bridgeman)who made us draw hundreds of skulls in all positions. I felt he was overdoing it at the time but now I realize what a wonderful lesson he taught us. Whenever I draw a head, I instinctively feel the skull structure beneath."- Norman Rockwell on the Importance of Head Structure.

POURING DAY, towards Gloucester Road, Watercolour, 12"x 10", 2009

Another Exhibition piece. This one clearly shows the real LONDON WEATHER, rain, rain and rain!!! Sometimes its cats and dogs all day. That's the mood I have tried to capture here, with an old lady that just must go out in it to do her shopping! Typical!




This was done with Watercolour but as usual I end up adding the usual additives(coloured pencil, ink, wax crayon)

Don't forget to vote here It is possible!!!

EMOTIONS X, 10" x 8", Sanguine/sepia dust and coloured pencils on Watercolour paper, 2009

This makes number 10 in my current Emotion series.



I saw this guy playing as a street entertainer at Woolwich Market on Saturday and immediately it clicked with me that he'll be great to draw in my emotions series as he was completely lost in the spirit and emotion of the music he was playing. Passers-by were all dropping coins, I did too and also I didn't forget to snap pictures too.

I have used the ghosting technique as explained in Emotions VII to do this piece, the only difference is that I have added sepia dust and more coloured pencils form the red/brown family and white coloured pencil/ink.

Cuteee, 20" x 16", coloured dust and coloured pencils on watercolour paper, 2009

This is another commission, I got this one while sketching my beloved tree II. This couple stopped while driving past and were quite impressed with my sketching in such cold conditions, they asked if I did portraits and I affirmed, they had a look at my sketchpad and agreed to have me do this piece of their granddaughter. I have had many good experiences when delivering portraits, but nothing came close to this one! Just revealing the piece out of its handmade envelope almost brought Grandma to tears! She gave me a hug and thanked me for a good job done! I won't go on to tell you more....the beauty of this sort of job is that you get great feedback. But yesterday, last night at church, my Pastor said we shall get instantaneous and exceeding answer to our prayers! I never knew mine would come this soon!




This was done in the same way I did Lady Tee. The only difference her was I used more sanguine than sepia.

Lady Tee, 16" x 16", Coloured dust and coloured pencils, 2009

This is the second commission done and dusted. If you've been reading this blog you'll remember my post on the little boy. Well this is his mum and that makes two out of 4 done! Yeee pee! I'm taking the bull by the horn now and I am really learning new possibilities with this Coloured(sepia, sanguine, black) dust and coloured pencils medium.




This one went through some changes but now the client is satisfied!

This was done with sepia, sanguine and black dust with a variety of brown, red and black coloured pencils on heavy watercolour paper to keep a monochrome and tonal feel to it.

Josh in Sleep Mode XIII, 11" x 8", Conte/coloured pencil on gessoed cardboard, 2009

This is number 13 in my current series of Josh in sleep mode.




I caught him this afternoon after lunch, needed to be fast because I tried using a few different media.

Grey Day On The Strand, 10" x 12", Mixed Media on Watercolour paper, 2009

The streets in London continue and this time its the very common grey days we normally experience in London.




This has been executed mainly in watercolour with hints of gouache, wax crayons, coloured pencils and ink.

The technique remains the same as I entered on the last post whereby I go around scene hunting and coming back with several pictures, then I begin to edit, crop and recall mental notes on mood, atmosphere and colours some of which the camera cannot record.

I think I'm 2, 16" x 16" Sanguine & sepia dust/coloured pencils on watercolour paper, 2009

Recently I did a post to let you know how I was doing with some portrait commissions and the battle I have been facing to complete them.

Well to celebrate, I have completed one out of the four! Phewwwwww it didn't come easy- It came after 6 attempts! Now, even though I haven't used the same pictures for all the attempts, they are the same boy! Now that can almost be hard to believe!

The lessons I have learnt are numerous but I just give glory to God first, for giving me the persistence and endurance during the roughest of times I ever experienced to produce a single portrait.

Lessons learnt.
1. Portrait commissions cannot be rushed, they take patience and time and HARD WORK! Give yourself sufficient time!

2. If working form photos make sure you take hundreds of photos of the same subject under different lighting to bring out the personality of the subject. Out of a hundred one will click!

3. When scaling it is good to use horizontal and vertical lines but also diagonal!

4. Master the medium you plan to use by practicing different effects possible on test paper or any ground similar to the one you are working on.

5. Nothing should be taken for granted, develop an "unmerciful" eye for tone, temperature, detail, lighting, texture, movement...that list could go on and on.

6. Sometimes while working on portraits the goal is resemblance or what some people call likeness- this can get one into a fix while working on portraits. When I say "fix" I mean, you let that be your one drive alone but it is not. So my solution is take a couple of breaks and distance yourself from the piece at intervals, also employing the use of a mirror to look at the portrait in reverse to see any alignment mistakes.

7. Finally, if others can do it, you can, just go back to your beloved books and tutors for help. Or even a trusty second eye. My wife comes in handy here, because she is neutral she'll offer down to earth criticism.



The final piece was achieved by first ghosting the dust on the watercolour paper and then details and tones were added using a variety of brown, red and black coloured pencils.

Here are 6 failed attempts! Don't laugh!

Josh and his beach friends, 20" x 10", Mixed Media on gessoed mountboard, 2009

This is entry into Karin Juricks DSFDF. It was a beach scene and my main model Josh had to be employed again but this time a picture from his much younger days.




Here he lands on beachland a new experience for him and his toys...........what next? You decide......anything is possible in a kids world!

This was done in acrylic, coloured biros, wax crayons, coloured pencils and tom bow brush pen wash markers on a gessoed mount board.

"ONLY REMEMBERED BY WHAT WE HAVE DONE......" 12" x 9" Mixed Media on Gessoed card, 2009

This is my entry into the current weekly Challenge on Karin Juricks Different Strokes from Different Folks. It was a view of Jefferson's Memorial at Night.






I did a little bit of research about this man and it reminded me that we shall all only be remembered only by what we have done. Now that is a challenge to us all! So lets go out there and do that thing we have always wanted to do, that will influence mankind for good and last till eternity! That's why with God's help I have wrapped up my life into three words that constitute my mission statement as " I'm Adebanji Alade and I want to inspire, motivate and encourage everyone I encounter." (I learnt this from T.D.Jakes' book on REPOSITION YOURSELF- he said we all have to have a mission statement that consists of just three words. See page 89)

So what shall you be remembered for?
Time, like an ever-rolling stream
Bears all its sons away
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day(from song- O God Our Help In Ages Past)

This work was purely experimental as I had no clue what to do with the night scene but had to work, re-work and keep re-working it until the gessoed card couldn't take anymore battering! All the battering was done with acrylic, Biro, coloured pencils and wax crayons towards the end!

AFRO XX, 10" x 8", coloured pencil/sanguine dust, 2008

This is number 20 in my current Afro series.






The emphasis is all about the beauty of natural black hair.

I met a lovely lady, during the weekend and she had a nice looking Afro, not the kind you'll always see. I looked once and twice....then got the courage to ask if she'll like to be in my current series.....She agreed!

This was done with ghosting the sanguine dust on a self sanded watercolour paper. Then different tones of browns,reds and orange coloured pencils were used to bring out tones and details.

AFRO SERIES IX, 12" x 12", mixed media, 2008

This is the ninth in the Afro Series I am currently working on. I saw this little girl yesterday at church and I couldn't resist taking pictures of her in her Afro! I worked on one of the shots in acrylic, wax crayons, oil base pencil, biro and coloured pencils on canvas board.






I had to stop a bit early as was on the verge of overworking the piece. Also I wasn't keen on the resemblance as the emphasis of this series is the beauty and variety you can get from Afro hair.