Portrait of a Young Man in Blue

This artwork is a portrait of a young man in shades of blue colors. An outline of the young man’s face was drawn with pen to define the placement and shape of his nose, lips, eyes and eyebrows. Varying shades of grey markers were used to define shadows. Dark blue marker was used to cover all areas of skin on the face and neck. A white paint marker was used to add translucent layers of highlights to the blue skin. Additional passes with the paint pen created the lightest, opaque white areas. Grey and blue markers were used again to deepen and blend shadows and add subtle gradients and details. Black and grey markers fill out a portion of the background and matted hair in contrast with the lightened face. A thin white gel pen was used to create minimal highlights across the hair and pinpoint highlights in detailed areas of the lips, ear and eye. The boy looks down, gaze averted from the viewer, with the darkness of his hair and the background encapsulating the portrait of the young man’s face.