Portrait of Albert Einstein - Summer 2007

This portrait was a pleasure to draw. With its large amount of detail, it was extremely time-consuming, and there was always the possibility of something going wrong. Albert Einstein's face was a contradiction, in that he often wore a disinterested expression, but one that was worn from endless hours of intense study and focus. In his face were not just details, but memories and stories. Hopefully, these could be captured with the physical detail.

Whilst facial detail is usually helpful to me, in that it works as a map of the face, and a very useful guide for my pencil, there is a hidden danger in it leading me up the wrong path-way. Your guard can be left down when you know that this detail is aiding you, and if you go in the wrong the direction, it can be too late before you realise. The consequences in this situation can be quite bad, as the damage to the drawing may be irreparable.

Therefore, every pencil stroke must be made with meticulous care, and often at a painfully slow speed. No line is placed on the page without your being fully sure that it should definitely be there. This clairty is ascertained by way of comparison with other details on the page, and by measurements of distance that involve a strict co-ordination between your eye and hand. With all of this having to be taken account of, the construction of a portrait can be quite stressful at times, as you are constantly riding on the edge of a precipice and desperately trying to hold your balance simultaneously. Einstein was full of this. The motivating factor through all of this journey is the promise of what you hope will be a rewarding image at the end of it. The prospect a great sense of relief at the end of the picture, having not fallen over the precipice, is something that always outweighs the tension when drawing it.

All of this detail typically provides you with the opportunity to make the drawing look more real. The lack of similar detail in the hair of this picture of Einstein provided a separate challenge, however. With much of it fading into nothing, the observer had to be aware of the reality that it was not, in fact, fading into nothing. In this situation, the parts of the hair that did not fade into nothing had to perform the function of reassuring the observer that their structure was mirrored by the hair that appeared to fade into the background. This is where you call upon the trust of the observer, who will hopefully provide you with the benefit of the doubt.

It is difficult for me to properly assess this portrait. Having spent so long working on it, you become so caught up in it that it is difficult to take an obective look at it. You are too conscious of aspects of it that somebody else may not notice. However, about nine months after finishing it, I am fairly content when I look at it.