Dan the Doodlebug: Daniel Howell Human Heart Portrait

It's been a while since I've done a Dan the Doodlebug blog! I think it's almost been a year? I don't know, but I'm working on a few pieces that I want to feature in another Dan the Doodlebug hopefully in the next few weeks; I've got a lot going on with work, writing a new book and a book release in two weeks, so bear with me if I don't really have a lot of drawing time.

I've not done a lot of Danny drawings lately, so feeling inspired, I put the pencil to the paper and started sketching. I wanted to re-draw and re-visit one of my favourites an most popular drawings I've done of Daniel Howell. I don't know why there was just so much love and work that went into it, I wanted to see what other depths I could take with it, drawing a slightly different version of it, seeing as it's coming up on its one year anniversary of the piece. I've also started re-drawing the Sipping the Tea with Mr D portrait that I did of him over a year ago. I wanted to make that one bigger, grander. It's not that I'm running out of ideas, I just want to explore other possibilities within some of my older pieces. I love going back in and seeing what I've missed or what I can improve on in older works.









I started with a basic sketch of his face, adding minimal shading to guide me. I like to go back in fill in all the little details before I finish a piece, that way I can make any changes I need to without having to erase a lot. I start with the shape of his hair, wanting to fill in all the cute curlies as I go along. It helps me to concentrate on the other aspects of the piece, going back and forth. Taking my eye off certain parts of the drawing and then going back to it helps me to keep from missing things or gives me time to see the possibility of what I could add there. I love how thick and black his eyelashes are; they're one of my favourite things about him. The cute little freckles and the Derek the dimple what makes it look like he's got a little sad face on the lower half of his cheek is always fun to draw. I'm glad he prefers to have that side of him photographed.

Once I've got the base of him started, I branch into the shoulders and sketch out the base outlines for the hearts that I want to do. As you guys know, I like to work from the left to the right. I don't know why it's just something that's normal to me. In the rare times when I've started a piece on the right side, it just feels awkward and I can't really find my groove. I start with the outline of the heart and go in and add the little details. I wanted the heart to blend into his jumper, like almost make it an extension of him. Slowly I started to add shading and more details to the heart. I really got into it here, I just wanted to see how it would balance out with him. I wanted to capture his softness. Leaving part of the heart unfinished, well practically done, I moved on to start adding the cherry blossoms that I wanted to do. I'd done cherry blossoms in the last version of the drawing, but this time I wanted to do them in a different style. And with the re-draw I wanted it to be a bigger scale version of the drawing as well. I dunno, I felt like it could have been bigger and bolder.

I started with the cherry blossoms around him and the heart as well. I didn't want to fully enclose the piece. I wanted there to be some spaces peeking out, kinda like peekaboo. I went with a beautiful Gothic font that I'd see on Google Images; I knew that it was the perfect script font for it. I centred it on his head and then added the shading around the top and sides of the lettering. I wanted part of his jumper to poke out through the lettering so it didn't look like one solid piece. I love using shadowing in pieces to show spaces and depth.

I mirrored the heart on the right side. I drew the exact same heart, but in reverse. When I do these kinds of mirror images, it pains me so much. I'm trying so hard to replicate the exact same thing only backwards. I think that was the most challenging part of doing this piece, both originally and for the re-draw. I didn't really want the cherry blossoms in the background to be complete mirror images; I wanted them to flow and be organic. I placed them wherever they looked pleasing to the eye. I do a lot of flowers/floral/nature backgrounds and highlights in my work. I think it has something to do with me really opening up and exploring my art skills in the tattoo industry. I refined my drawing skills watching some of my favourite tattoo artists on telly and kinda went from there. I like to cap things off, make them complete whole pieces; not just a portrait or not just a concept. I've done some conceptual pieces, they're just not my favourite subject. 
I decided to go with come cherry blossoms to complete the heart rather than a full mirror. It just felt better. I wanted to do things to make the piece it's own, not just a re-draw. I added depth and shading to his hair, making his messy waves come to life on the page. His hair is always my favourite part of any portrait I do of him. I shade with both the pencil and my hands. I like to do the shading with my hands, I really have more control with it. That's why I really don't like digital art; I don't have that level of control. It really feels like cheating to me. It doesn't flow as well to me. I wanted a mixture of fully blossomed flowered and blooming ones. I like the different stages of life.

The Finished Product

The Original Piece