Sir Henry Taylor, 2021
Sir Henry Taylor, 2021
Ink, pen, and charcoal in A5 sketchbook
The Subject
This is a drawing from my sketchbook of poet Sir Henry Taylor.
The drawing began as an ink drawing, which is a wet medium drawing with a brush. I then used charcoal for shadows and a white gel pen to add texture to his beard and highlights on his face.
The Reference Image
The reference image I used to draw this portrait of Sir Henry was a photograph taken by Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson), the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Henry Taylor (1962) by Charles Dodgson
In Lewis Carroll's diaries, he mentions that he had been eager to photograph Henry Taylor. When invited to have lunch with the Taylor family in September 1862, he "found Mr. Taylor walking in the garden with Mr Aubrey de Vere, another poet." Soon after this lunch they organised two full days dedicated to photographing Henry Taylor, his children, and Aubrey de Vere. The photograph shown above is one of these photographs Lewis Carroll took of Henry on one of those days.
Detail shot
This is a very interesting drawing. The detail is fantastic.
WOW the details in the beard!!
This is so lovely!!