About a week or so before my Grandmother’s 80th birthday party in November, 2009, I put this drawing of Frank Sinatra on the fast track to get it done in time as a surprise gift for her. As a beyond-avid fan of Ole Blue Eyes, I couldn’t resist working on this one for her. Thankfully she loved it even if I wasn’t 100% satisfied with it myself. But it was certainly a fun project. I believe I logged in quite a few hours with old “MacGyver” and “Wings” episodes on DVD to pass the time with. Ha! I believe I also tossed in an old movie or two as well (like “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer,” I think).
This drawing was done with the usual grades of pencil on a piece of Bristol board. I used 4H to lay it out and then stuff like 2B, 3B, probably 5B and 6B as well to do some of the darker shades. Finally, I used my preferred Ebony Jet Black pencil to get the blacks blacker — especially with the jacket. — 11/17/09
At Thanksgiving, 2009, it was really cool to visit my Grandmother’s and find that it was hung on a wall in her foyer. 🙂 While I had given her a copy of the Cary Grant drawing I did years ago, I had always felt a little guilty that she had a framed copy of a drawing and not the real thing. It was really cool to be able to give her the actual Frank drawing. It seemed like just as much a gift to me to do that as it was for her to receive that.