I love drawing with acrylic pens, which are basically acrylic paint in a pen.....so it's like drawing with paint....the best of both worlds. They dry super quickly and you can draw light over dark, a big plus for me. There are several brands of acrylic pens, the best by far in my opinion are POSCA pens. Although they don't have a big range of colours the quality and ease of use are amazing. I've never drawn a portrait using just POSCA pens, so when I saw an Instagram post by POSCA UK calling for entries to a competition I thought it was the perfect opportunity.
The theme for the competition was 'Throwback'. Most of my 'people I've always wanted to draw' would fit in this category and top of the alphabetical list is none other than the sensational Alice Cooper...his song 'Poison' reminds me of my university days. His whole image and persona is just fascinating to me, and given the time of year he seemed the perfect choice.
I really wanted to go all out with the throwback theme so I thought it'd be fun to do his portrait in a style reminiscent of a VHS tape playing on an old TV.....that sort of wibbly colourful shadowy glitchy effect. Not gonna lie, my eyes went quite squiffy doing this but I loved using all the bright colours for a change. I like the fact that when you squint it's a great realistic image, but up close you can see lots of vibrant marks in my scribble style.
POSCA pens on acrylic paper, 8 x 10 inches approx.
Reference photo from Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
Portrait Of Alice Cooper
Upon receipt please handle your portrait with care by the very edges, and do not touch or brush anything against the surface of the paper. It should be kept in a cool, dry environment, out of direct sunlight. I would recommend framing at the earliest opportunity, leaving it in the sleeve until then.
Where work is on standard sized paper (A4/A3), it should be easy to frame with an off-the-shelf frame, readily available from shops with/without pre-cut mount. However, for optimal results and longevity I would advise going to a professional framer.