Thursday, March 1, 2012

Grandpa Elliott

Grandpa Elliott

A3

Coloured pencils on mat board


The reference photo for this portrait was taken 17 years ago by my brother, when he and his wife were on their honeymoon in New Orleans, when Grandpa Elliott was a little known busker on the streets. Now, because of utube, he has become a legendary and much sought after street entertainer. Please take the time to browse some of the many videos on utube featuring this charming and endearing character and I'm sure you'll come away with a smile on your face and feel better about the world!!! :)

13 comments:

Mona Diane Conner said...

An amazing portrait Karen, and how nice that your brother had a picture that you could work from! Is it the commission you mentioned recently? The rendering of the beard is just fantastic!

Unknown said...

Thank you Mona - no this wasn't a commission - I was inspired by the story of Grandpa Elliott and just wanted to try and capture his wonderful character in a drawing, so did this one for fun. I won't be able to post my recent commission until the end of March :)

Sue Clinker said...

I found some videos ... and I'm hooked. What a fabulous voice and character.

Brilliant portrait as always

Unknown said...

Sue, thank you so much for taking the time to check out Grandpa Elliott - people like he and you really do make the world a better place!!! :)

Debra Keirce said...

What a fun story! And your portrait is so full of life and personality! You are a much sought after talent yourself, Karen!

artbyakiko said...

Oh, what a great portrait!! I just love it.

Akiko

artbyakiko said...

What a great portrait!!! I just love it.

Akiko

Unknown said...

I'm not so sure about the much sought after Deb, but you're a sweetie to say so and thank you so much Akiko for your lovely comments!!! :)

Cindy Lane said...

Yay! I made it! Despite the WWW's best efforts, I have been able to read AND leave a comment.

Karen, That is one jaw-dropping piece of work, made even amazing by the use of CP's!

You rock!!

Unknown said...

Wonderful portrait Karen. I will definitely look up Granpa Elliott's videos.

Love it. so full of character.

Unknown said...

YaY - so glad you finally got through. I will still probably delete the webring though - it seems to cause too many problems at the moment. Thank you Cindy and Dors for your lovely comments - I have to say I did love working on this portrait - such a lovely character to draw :))

Unknown said...

What a great character! I too think the beard is awesome) Well done on inclusion in the book!

Unknown said...

Thank you heaps Sam on both accounts and isn't he a fabulous character!!! :)