graphite – The Art of Michael Lovette

I Sketched a Portrait of Maine

January 15, 2020 by Michael Lovette 6 Comments

I follow a number of blogs and interests here on WordPress. Photographers, Artist, Writers…all of them are talented individuals that are putting their work out into the world for others to enjoy and perhaps gain some inspiration from.

One of those fellow bloggers is photographer John Ames. I follow John’s blog Frog Pond Journal, the blog focuses mainly on street photography and John shares some great images.

Recently, one of those images caught my eye and I knew I would create a sketch of his subject. Check out John’s post “A Portrait of Maine” to see the photo that inspired this sketch.

This sketch was created in my sketchbook/journal and may appear a little rough as I was trying to capture his likeness while keeping the sketch fairly loose. Personally, I’m pleased with the outcome.

In case any of you guys are wondering. I reached out to John to ask his permission before writing this post. He immediately gave his permission allowing me to use his photo as a reference.

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful day!

Mike

A purely joyful expression

November 7, 2019 by Michael Lovette 16 Comments

Pure, adjective:

not mixed or adulterated with any other substance or material

Joy, noun:

a feeling of great pleasure and happiness

Pure Joy…That’s how I would describe this man’s expression. It is what drew me to him as a sketch subject. Just looking at his expression puts a smile on my face.

The reference photo for this sketch was found online. I apologize but, I do not know who the photographer was who captured this wonderful moment.

This is the first sketch that I have completed recently and it felt really good to lay down some graphite again. I have relocated my studio to our basement until the house sells. There’s not much natural light but I have at least three times the space! Plenty of room to spread out.

I am thinking of branching out and trying some new subject matter. I am also thinking of seriously increasing the scale of my work. We’ll have to wait and see where the muse points me next.

Thanks for visiting, I hope you guys have a great day!

Snarling Wolf

October 20, 2019 by Michael Lovette 12 Comments

Hello everyone, Work around the house has slowed a bit, so I now have a little more free time.

I wanted to share this drawing with you that I created back in August. This is a graphite drawing of a snarling wolf. My intention was to leave a significant amount of negative space around the subject and only concentrate on the main features necessary to bring out the wolf’s face.

This drawing is significantly larger than most of my sketches. Typically I create sketches in either a small 5.5″ x 8″ sketchbook or occasionally I may draw in an 8.5″ x 11″ sketchbook. This drawing was created on an 18″ x 24″ (45.7 x 61 cm) piece of newsprint. I realize newsprint is typically reserved for practice but, I wanted to try something a little larger and it was the largest paper I had available at the time.

Newsprint isn’t really that difficult to work with you just have to be careful. It is more delicate than other papers so you need to go lightly with the eraser. The paper also has a tendency to get a little wavy in areas of heavy graphite.

Below is a photo of the completed sketch. This was completed using a range of graphite pencils. There are also a few strategically placed lines of white gelly pen for highlights.

Thanks for viewing my work. I hope everyone has a great week – Mike

Gorilla Portrait

September 24, 2019September 24, 2019 by Michael Lovette 18 Comments

Another primate portrait. I really enjoy drawing primates, it seems there is so much thought and emotion behind their eyes. I also find the wrinkles and patterns of their faces interesting to draw.

This portrait was finished just a few days ago. It was created in my sketchbook using a 0.9mm mechanical pencil with 2B lead. The black background was created using charcoal powder applied with a brush.

The look of determination

September 7, 2019September 8, 2019 by Michael Lovette 11 Comments

Another older gentleman with an expression that I could pass up.

I do enjoy sketching the older faces. There’s just so much life written into their skin. This man’s expression seems to convey concentration and pure determination.

Based, on his expression I don’t believe I would want to get in his way.

5.5″ x 8″, 0.9mm mechanical pencil, 2B lead

Thanks for visiting, I hope everyone has a great day. – Mike

Come again?

September 2, 2019 by Michael Lovette 10 Comments

Greetings, today I am sharing another portrait from my sketchbook. This was created in July of this year. I came across a photo of an older gentleman cupping his hand to his ear in an apparent effort to increase his ability to hear. I found the act and his facial expression to be so characteristic of an elderly gentleman. I can imagine that this is a scene that plays out over and over in his daily life.

I fully expect to one day be in the same situation, as a matter of fact, I am already guilty of this exact maneuver. Too much loud music in my youth… I imagine.

Progress shot with the outlined sketch and beginning stages of flushing out the face and form. This sketch was created using a 0.9mm mechanical pencil with 2B lead.

and now the completed sketch.

Recently, a spider constructed a magnificent site,
just outside of my studio window.

It undulates in the cool breeze,
it shimmers in the morning light.

It brings a smile to my face,
and a feeling of delight. – MDL

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Cheers

Silent Peaceful Solitude

August 24, 2019 by Michael Lovette 13 Comments

Good morning all.

I am the only one stirring so far this morning. I enjoy the peaceful reassuring silence of the house on these early weekend mornings.

I do, however, share the silence with our loyal 4 legged girl, Katie. She is old, quiet, and all so content, to simply be. Laying on the floor of my study blissfully sleeping away the hours.

This morning I thought I would share a sketch I created back in July. This was created using a 0.9mm mechanical pencil with 2B lead. I enjoy the simplicity of using a single pencil, never having to break concentration or rhythm to pick up a different pencil to vary the tones.

I would like to thank all of you for following along with me on this blog. I know that my posting frequency has been sporadic and there really hasn’t been any set schedule for regular post.

Over the past few weeks, I have been thinking of ways to improve the value of this blog for my followers. I would like to begin introducing content that goes beyond the sharing of my art. I am still trying to sort things out, so please be patient.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Cheers – Mike

Portrait on Toned Paper

August 16, 2019August 16, 2019 by Michael Lovette 10 Comments

I created this sketch portrait back in April, but, I never posted it here. So…I thought, why not share it here as well!

It’s Friday night in my little corner of the world. I’m looking forward to a great weekend. I hope everyone else is as well.

Cheers, Mike

Happy Monday

August 12, 2019 by Michael Lovette 15 Comments

Hello everyone, It’s a new week, full of opportunity.

Below is a sketch that I created back in June. This was created using a reference photo, unfortunately, I do not know the name of the photographer in order to give proper credit.

This man’s face spoke of joy, experience, and even though he obviously has lived a long life, his face and expression still has a sense of child-like innocence.

I truly enjoy drawing portraits of the more “experienced” people of the world. Their faces possess endless amounts of character and wear, each wrinkle earned.

I hope each of you have a wonderful week. There will be more posts on the way soon.

– Mike

Back at it

August 3, 2019 by Michael Lovette 19 Comments

Hello all, I’m have returned from my self-imposed leave. After the passing of my father I just needed to take some time to regroup and recenter. I’m truly grateful for your patience as I transitioned through this season in my life.

I’m currently sitting in my home office/studio space. The house is quiet as my beautiful bride and son are still in bed. I cherish my morning solitude as it gives me the opportunity to collect my thoughts and provides time for much-needed retrospection. I believe that everyone can benefit from such time spent alone without distraction.

I have made a few minor tweaks to this blog, an updated about page, & a new minimal theme with full-width image display. I have made the decision to remove the photographer focus from this blog and focus solely on my art. Art is something that I truly enjoy, it removes me from my environment for a while as I focus solely on the work in front of me. It brings me inner peace and is an activity that can be practiced virtually anywhere I go.

Even though I have been absent from this blog for a few weeks I have been posting somewhat regularly on Instagram. I have decided that IG is where I will post my day to day activities and works in progress.

I will leave you with a portrait that was created during my break from the blog. For this particular sketch, I was able to reach out to the photographer of the reference photo I was working from and was able to obtain permission to use his image as a reference. The photographer is Thorbjorn Fessel, a talented photographer to say the least.

This sketch was created with a 2b mechanical pencil and a 6b pencil for the darker areas. The sketch lives in my current ‘go-to’ sketchbook.

An Honored Request

June 20, 2019August 1, 2019 by Michael Lovette 11 Comments

Recently, one of the readers of this blog requested a portrait from me. The subject was his late father who past away earlier this year.

The individual who made the request is a fellow blogger. We originally started following one another due to our common interest in woodworking. We quickly became good acquaintances via WordPress and now, even though we have never met in person, I consider Ron one of my friends.

So when he asked if I would consider creating a portrait of his father I was extremely honored that he thought enough of my art to make this request of me. I gladly accepted the challenge.

With Ron’s permission, I am sharing his father’s portrait in this post.

Now, I’ll admit I was a touch nervous about drawing this portrait. I have never created a portrait by request before. The fact that it was Ron’s father made it all the more important that I did my best. So, I began making marks, hesitantly at first, but, I gained confidence as I continued to develop the drawing. I had to remind myself a few times to just relax and draw as I normally would. Eventually the apprehension fell away and I found my groove.

Ron is a knowledgeable and skilled craftsman who creates his wooden wares with nothing more than human-powered tools in his “unplugged” workshop. His creations are adorned with intricately carved patterns. Please visit his blog at An Unplugged Woodworker to see his skill and craftsmanship for yourself.

Thank you for visiting, I hope you have a great day! – Mike

Back to Basics…

May 23, 2019 by Michael Lovette 18 Comments

Just keeping it simple

Just a fairly quick portrait I did a few nights ago. For this one I went back to one of my smaller sketchbooks, this sketch is on 5.5″ x 8″ dotted paper. The medium is graphite with just a touch of white gel pen to bring out the highlights on the glasses.

Thanks for viewing, I hope everyone has a creative day!

I Can See You…

May 11, 2019 by Michael Lovette 16 Comments

Something a little different…

This is a little different I guess, at least it’s not a full portrait.

This sketch is based on a reference photo I found online. I liked how the hand partially obstructed the face, the dark shadows added even more depth and mystery.

I may continue with this theme and produce a series of sketches featuring hands and faces. I like the emotive quality.

The medium is graphite, powdered charcoal, & white pencil on toned tan paper.

Thanks for visiting, have a wonderful day! – Mike

Imitation = Flattery, Right?

May 1, 2019 by Michael Lovette 19 Comments

Drawn to Unique People…

Whenever I go looking for an interesting face to draw, I seem to gravitate towards those individuals who exist on the outskirts of society. I prefer to draw an individual whose face is unique, tells a story, or gives an indication of the life lived.

This portrait, like all my works, is based on a reference image. The original photographer is Lee Jeffries. He and his work are well known, Mr. Jeffries is a street photographer based in the UK. I found one of his images on Pinterest and couldn’t resist the urge to draw a portrait based on his photo.

The medium is graphite, powdered charcoal, & white pencil on toned tan paper.

Thanks for visiting, have a wonderful day! – Mike

Whitling down the Sktchy Queue

April 26, 2019May 1, 2019 by Michael Lovette 4 Comments

One down, lots more to go…

I am slowly working my way through my saved Sktchy references. This particular reference has been in my queue for an extremely long time. I’m glad I finally got around to creating this portrait.

I think she has a unique look. I liked the messy hair and the contrast of light and shadow. This one was a blast to create and actually went fairly quickly.

Medium is graphite, powdered charcoal, & white ink on toned tan paper.

Thanks for visiting, have a wonderful day! – Mike