HOME | DD
HardenedInk — The Eyes of Youth
Published: 2005-12-05 01:29:39 +0000 UTC; Views: 1481; Favourites: 26; Downloads: 131
Redirect to original
Description
This is from a photograph taken by Leroy Skalstad of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Related content
Comments: 86
also an exercise in how to get carpal tunnel...haha. Thanks!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
these are my pawpaw johns eyes...he died of a heartattack,they said so anyy,but i know it was me breaking his strong polish heart e toomany times by my descent back into junkiedom.i sometimes wonder if he died listening to my voice whining on his ancient answering machine for him to pick me u a pack of cigarettes and drop them off to in detox.that is not the way i would have wanted him to go,nor the last words i would have wanted to say.the pain in those eyes you captured mixed with just enough confusion at our rapid changing world.to have gone from lard sandwichs and radio shows to cellphones in the hands of first graders...can we even imagine it?thank you for a fine piece.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This is something I've always Loved of old people. No matter the scars time has left upon them, their eyes, after all, the reflection of the soul, still show off their whole life...eyes I could easily get lost in, reading in them a long story, made of sunshine and thunderstorms. Good job.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
The details in this are amazing.....and those eyes so much depth and feeling in them. Just wow!!!!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
The credit is mostly due to the photographer, but thank you!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I hope I don't come off sounding rude but, I know from watching my sister, mother, and grandmother paint, draw etc.. just how difficult it is. Believe me I know because I got jipped on that department I can't draw a stick figure. Not everyone can take a photo as reference and draw or paint what they see and with such detail and feeling. So my compliment was to you the person that drew the picture not the photographer who took the pic you used for reference. So quit being humble as you have a gift and accept the compliment as completely belonging to you
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Oh I'm not just being humble. Leroy Skalstad, the photographer was homeless for years until getting himself righted and he takes the most heart breaking portraits of the human struggle. A drawing is only as good as the subject or idea and in this case the subject really made the piece. I'd say I spend a good 80% of my time thinking of ideas and only about 20% actually drawing them (and I'm being generous!) so when I stumble upon a phtograph that screams to be drawn and I'm lucky enough to get permission it's a god send. I know drawing is hard and this one took me a good month of work here and there but it wouldn't have been possible without Leroy and Mike.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
We DO all go a little mad sometimes! This is a wonderfully "mad" image and very well drawn. 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
S-PE-TA-CU-LAR!!!!!!!!!!!!
it's.. it's the greatest eyes i've ever seen.. with such.. expression!
oh.. it's good.. real good
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
thanks...but you may want to calm down a bit before you hurt something....
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I think it's neat that you've turned the skin into a landscape of sorts. Nice work
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I appreciate the compliment. Thanks for stopping by and checking it out.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
The meticulous attention to detail astonishes me.....truly something inspiring and beautiful....I can feel the verge of death of this person.....well done....
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yup. this was on of those that involved a lot of hunched over nights at my desk and an even combination of wine and Moutain Dew. The photograph he is holding was actually an after thought. When I was done I thought something was missing and then drew it in. I used a photo of my Great grandmother holding what I now believe is my Great Aunt. Thanks for stopping by!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
the artist Gerard Richter did something similar to you.....he took a photo, enlarged it and tried to paint, on canvas, the exact colors and tones of the photo....which he did very successfully....
[link]
you reminded me of him because this picture has a photgraphic quality to it....I though it was a photo at first....
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
wow.. such great pencil work here..
really have captured the heart of a person in those eyes..
did you do just the eye or a full faced person?
really would love to see teh full person
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I chose to draw only the eyes to showcase the story he had to tell in them. I drew this pretty large too so I don't even want to imagine how long I would have spent to draw the whole head! Thanks for the compliments!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
your welcome..
and yeh true i think more then days it would have taken 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I also spoke to the photographer about it and he seemed petty excited about just the eyes. If you search on DA for 'homeless mike' you'll get hits for his photograph and other artists who have attempted the whole face on the photograph. I wish I could have gotten exclusive drawing rights but no luck.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
arhh i took a serch and yehh.. that is some great stuff..
arhh yehh some drawing rights.. i didn't know you had to get rights for this ..
but the eyes.. you have done a really good job here.. even if there isn't a face..
there is so much capture and feeling that you got throuhg your pencil work
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I've seen these eyes before! [link] this man has such history in his eyes and still kindness. awesome drawing!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yup, that artist and I used the same image. I talked with Leroy the photographer and then sent him copies of the drawing for him and the man in the photo. Thanks for checking out the picture!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
yeah the other artist mentioned the photographer too and I tried to google it to see more of his work but couldn't find a website. again...awesome job on the drawing!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Here's his DA page: [link]
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
oh! thank you so much! i didn't realize it was a photographer here on DA.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yuppers. We met over at FanArtReview and we both came to this site about the same time.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
cool! thanks for the info. i'll have to put him on my deviantwatch.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Now, this is amazing. The title, the picture itself, even the style of writing. The detail is amazing, and the expression in the eyes is filled with so much longing. Definitely a +fave.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Very dark and lovely
I think you did a very good job on this
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This is amazing! The detail in all of the wrinkles is, again, exceptional! The shading is so well though tout. The use of light here is very important and you really have pulled it off. What did you use to color the eyes??
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
thanks Monica! I did the whole pice with 6h-6b (roughly) and then did the eyes with Prismacolor pencils.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
wow that's awesome! They are so vivid for colored pencils ( or so I thought ). Great job. 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
They're the only kind I use. They are a bit more waxy than other kinds and you get a real deep true color from them.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
awesome!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
The depth of the eyes is stunning... great work! It looks so real... 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks again for checking me out!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
amazing details!! and i thhink leaving the eyes blue makes the impact two fold
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Unbelievable attention to detail...the eyes are...stunning.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Great job. I love how the only color is in the eyes. It adds a lot of depth and emotion to the piece, and really draws people into the eyes.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks for taking a look at him. I'm glad you like it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This is a very haunting peace. But the eyes give the onlooker hope for this man and this life style.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you, I tired to bring out the hard road this guy had wlked down. Thanks for taking a look at him.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I love the details, it makes the drawing look so realistic, but at the same time, something about it looks ..almost un-natural, but in a good way.
Ok I'm probably not making sense at the moment, so I'll just say that it's awesome & I especially like the blue in the eyes ^_^
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
| Next =>