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LateStarter63 — Pencil Portrait of a Married Hamer Woman
#ethiopia #female #girl #graphite #hair #hamar #hamer #marcello #pencil #portrait #scotti #woman #marcelloscotti
Published: 2016-02-18 17:08:21 +0000 UTC; Views: 72239; Favourites: 282; Downloads: 138
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Description
Graphite pencil drawing of a married Hamer woman on A4 Daler Rowney Airbrush Bristol board.
Pencils: Mars Lumograph (5H, HB, 2B, 4B), Faber Castell 9000 (6B, 7B, 8B), W H Smith Woodless 9B, mechanical pencils 0.3mm/2B, 0.5mm/4B with Pentel with Ain Stein leads.
Blending: Blending stump from Royal Langnickel, Cotton buds and paper tissues.
Erasing: WH Smith kneadable eraser, Blu-Tack, Jakar battery eraser and Tombow Mono Zero Ultra-fine eraser.
Photo adjustment using GIMP: Removal of barrel distortion; Cropping to A4 ratio and removal of perspective distortion; Cropping unfinished edges of drawing; Adjustment of histogram.
I came across the photo that I used as reference for this drawing (marcelloscotti-bcn.blogspot.co… ) while I was making my drawing of a Hamer Girl . I was immediately struck by her extreme beauty and wanted to draw it too. I was able to identify the photographer, Marcello Scotti and he kindly gave his permission for a drawing, but I delayed making the drawing because I did not feel that I could tackle such hair again so soon!
This woman is a first wife, as indicated by the torque of leather bound with iron and with a phallic protrusion. Her husband also has more wives, indicated by the two iron rings below this. These are fitted by a blacksmith who hammers each ring closed round her neck with a heavy hammer! They are never removed.
The Hamer women take great care of their appearance and I strongly urge you to look at the reference photo as her beauty and the colours in the hair and on her skin make for a truly memorable photo.
As I said in the description of my earlier drawing, Hamer society is rather brutal towards its women who are subjected to whipping from the men, resulting in heavily scarred backs. These scars are apparently worn proudly as a demonstration of the love of their husband! Here again is a link to further information on the tribal customs larskrutak.com/ethiopias-last-… . Be warned that you may find the first photo there, of women’s bloody and scarred backs, to be distressing.
Here are some of my other drawings of African subjects:
This drawing has been submitted to the Traditional Portrait Challenge in the We-Paint-Portraits group
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Comments: 152
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Merci beaucoup, Claytone, et merci également pour avoir ajouté ce dessin à vos favoris et pour le lama
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Thank you very much, Geoff. I had a wonderful reference to work from.
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Hi Clive, I love your work. My daughter needs to provide contextual images to support her GCSE artwork that ties in with her theme, and would love to use some of your work along with your full name. I was wondering if you could share your surname as well? Maria
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My surname is not a secret as I use it in my Facebook account, where I also upload some of my drawings. It is Whitfield.
I am interested to know what your daughter would be using my drawings for. What is the theme that she is using?
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Thank you for your response, really appreciated. Erin is looking to do a graphite and charcoal drawing of African tribal children for the theme 'Transformation'. Her sister went to Tanzania last year and brought back some amazing photos that Erin would like to base her idea on. The GCSE coursework requires them to provide printouts of work from artists they admire. When she came across some of your drawings, we both thought they were amazing, plus it also matched the theme she was selecting. Thank you again and keep up those beautiful drawings, Maria
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I wish Erin well with her GCSE.
Clive
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I see in your description they wear their scarred backs proudly but to me I can't imagine the need to harm such a beautiful creature as this. Once again true mastery of your pencil at work is quite stunning.
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I totally agree, Richard - I cannot imagine how these customs persist. Thanks for adding this drawing to your favourites.
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Pleasure is all mine Sir Thank You.
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the lillusion of light on this is pure mastery. amazing work. your entire gallery is inspiring...
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Thank you very much, Matthew, and also for the fave and the 'Watch'.
It was the photographer who captured the light just brushing past her fringe and casting those flecks of light onto her nose and lips. All I did was copy what was there in the photo!
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This is one the most exquisite portraits in your gallery. As you mentioned in a response to previous comment, the sunlight on her face is striking and really draws my attention. Her eyes are so expressive and so well drawn. And her hair is incredible, you've captured the braided texture of it perfectly. I don't even have words to describe how beautiful your work is and how in awe I am of your talent. How many hours do your portraits typically take to complete?
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Thank you, Thomas, and thanks too for adding this to your favourites and for the 'Watch'.
The Hamer take so much care of their appearance and many, who have, I believe, a rather mixed-race background, are so very beautiful, as here. Once again the photo was rather special. It is one of my favourites, too, and I have it framed in my living room.
As for how long it takes me to make a drawing, I have never been able to keep count. My drawing sessions are of very variable length, and I will often break off for a bit of a rest. When I have tried to keep a count, I always forget, usually rather early on in the process! Having said that, I used to reply about 10 - 15 hours, but I now think, as I become more critical, that 15 - 20 hours might be a better estimate, but I really do not know. It takes as long as it takes.
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Thank you. I hope you recover fully!
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Thank you very much, Megan.
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speechless.........................................................................................................................................................................
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Thank you very much, Eric, and thanks too for adding this drawing to your favourites.
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of course i had to add it, as i said to you, you are mastering in africans portrait drawing!!
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Thank you very much.
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Thank you very much, Valeria.
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This has got to be one of my favourite one you did.
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She is so beautiful and her hair sets off her face so very well. The sunlight glancing through her hair onto her face enhanced the photograph which was lovely to use as a reference, even if the hair was a bit of a trial to draw! I have this drawing framed and hanging at home.
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No matter how many times i look at your art, been over a year , am still amazed every single time
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Thank you very much, Riddhima.
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you forgot a "n" at the end of my name
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I am so sorry, Riddhiman. I try to make my replies more personal by checking out and using real names and then I go and mess it up! Names from around the world can be most interesting, but an error does not stand out to me in the same way it would if I made a mistake with a common English name!
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haha true tho . to be honest people dont get my name correct even in my region .
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Thank you very much, Daniela, and thank you also for adding this drawing to your favourites.
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I love the lighting you were able to achieve on her face, and her eyes! They are really striking, and immediately draw you in. I thank you for your information in your description, as well, it really helps you connect with the piece, and it was fascinating to learn.
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Thank you, Miranda, and again thank you for adding this to your favourites. I am of course totally reliant on my choice of reference for the lighting!
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this work is just amazing Сlive, light and shade just perfect!!!
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Thank you again, Sergej, and again thanks for adding this to your favourites.
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with great pleasure Clive,very good work!!!
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Thank you, Claudia. I am sorry but I just cannot tell you as I did not keep a record. I have tried in the past, but always fail to record all the sessions!. When I am drawing I completely lose all track of time, but I would imagine it must have been around 20 hours. It may have been less, or (probably less likely) even more - I just do not know. As with all of my drawings it took just as long as it took.
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Wish I was as talented as you keep up the amazing work
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I am not talented. I am not an innate artist. I have merely learned a skill. I think anyone could draw as I do with practice, patience and an eye for detail. My First Year Journal which is illustrated in my Scraps tells of my artistic journey up to the time I joined dA.
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