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Dan the Doodlebug: HOW I DRAW A DAN HOWELL (danisnotonfire) SPECIAL EDITION! ✏️


Hey, everybody & welcome to a Dan the Doodlebug special. 
Last week my fucking Instagram blew up (almost literally, I thought my phone 
would combust with all the likes and messages I was getting) over a portrait I 
did of Mr Dannyfire himself, Daniel Howell. 

Each portrait I take on is a challenge in its own way, but this one presented something
new for me. I had to manage to capture him but also the character he'd created. I needed
to find the balance between the two in order for the portrait to be balanced. I approached
it like I do, from a tattoo standpoint. It's easier for me when I lay it out that way, eyeball
the proportions and size that I want the piece to be. Each piece is not just a portrait, but
a composition. 

Rather than start with the shape of the person like I usually do, I decided to do a centre focal
piece and build off of that. I took a traditional style heart locket, I think I saw the image on Pinterest
or something and loved the feel so I decided to take it and make it my own with some subtle changes 
and of course, the text. I wanted this to have the feel of a grandmother portrait/ memorial tattoo.
Here we are: Stage 1 Outline & Start of some shading. 

I wanted the text to be kind of cute and poppy, but not standard script. I decided the chunky kind
of humorous, yet cute lettering would really make the piece pop once I shaded all the lettering in and capture the humour behind the portrait. 

 


You can have a portrait without filigree, I just happen to really like it with. Also, I knew
that I couldn't just centre the portrait on the locked. It wouldn't look proportional in any
sense of the word and I'm a bit of an anal professionalist. (Maybe that's the real reason I
hate going back over to proof all of my writing. It's not that I'm lazy...Okay, well it's a bit 
of the two, but it's the fear that I won't like it or I'll fuck something up more.)
Stage 2: Adding on filigree and shading. I love to do the shading of the filigree as I'm 
building it off or adding it onto something. The flow seems more natural and I get a better 
idea of where I'm going with it. And if I want to change something or it doesn't look right
with a certain shading or highlight I can see before I've gotten farther along and would fuck 
the piece up with having to erase or will have to start all over again. 


Balanced with the filigree. Now I can start to work on the portrait, which is
the real challenge. I can build it into the filigree, adding the hands and clothing
so it looks as if it's blooming from the flowers, locket and filigree. 



When I'm working on a portrait, I love to do the silhouette first, get a feel for the 
image and see if I have to make any changes before I really get into it. For this one,
I started working on the basic shapes of the piece. I always start with small amounts
at a time and add the shading as I'm going in a certain area. It's too much of a distraction
for me to go back later. I'm a living in the moment kind of bloke. 

Stage 3: Starting Grandma. 
As you can see I've started to blend dear old granny's clothes into the filigree and her 
hands above the top of the locket. I've gotten the basic structure sketched out so I can go in
and start adding the rest of the features and details that will finish it. 



After about 3 hours I'm almost finished. It takes time! It may seem like these 
are quickly done, but it takes me about 4-6 hours to complete one of these based
on the size and the complicatedness of what I'm working on. I go back in and erase,
re-draw, re-shade, all that good shit. It's not just a one straight shot like it looks like
from the photos! 

Stage 4: Adding the features. As you can see here I've added the hair and have begun all
the final work on the portrait. I wanted to really capture the sweetness in his eyes that are
conveyed in the photo, but also the cheekiness of his story/skit. The little semi-smile was the
hardest part of drawing it. And with the filter he used on the image he took, I had to use different
photos of him to see how the light plays on his face so I could add proper shading/ contrast to
the sketch. 


FINISHED! 
Daniel Howell: Grandma Portrait 
(Inspired by his video 'My Evil Piano Teacher') 

I added more flowers above the locket so I could blend them into his little 
shawll. It was a hard sketch and the photos don't really capture what the original drawing
really has. I dunno why I have issues fininding the right ways to express some of my artwork.
Fear of judgement, not being good enough I suppose.
Anway, here we go! All finished and ready to adorne my home! I wonder if anyone will notice
that it's really not my nan. This joke just keeps on giving, honestly. When I told my mate who's 
not really into his videos about it she's like, 'You're fucking mental!" And I've come to discover some 
of the best of us are. 



Side By Side 



You can watch Dan's video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru94jkT_DdQ
Links to his social medias are in the descriptions of his videos. 


I'd love to thank all of you who've shown me this incredible support over this 
piece of art. I love to draw him and I will share more of my 'danart' in the future
on my IG, but not all of my art featuring him will be uploaded here. He's a wonderful
subject to draw, so dynamic and diverse but I'm not a phanartist. I do tonnes of other
art that's not related to him or Phil Lester (amazingphil) and I hope you guys can see
that and appreciate it and stick with me to enjoy my other art and works.
That being said, you guys are welcome to inbox me about Dan and Phil related suggestions
for art pieces. I can't do them all, but I'll do the ones that I find nice and technical,
simplistic and or a challenge. 

I'm thinking of building off this and turning into a sort of YouTube tutorial thing using
photos/ slideshow. I'm not really sure, but if I do I'll let ya know.
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Location: London Borough of Islington, Vereinigtes Königreich

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