Posts By Alex Zonis
Lou
Lou
Meet my husband Lou!
None of this would have been possible if it weren’t for my husband. There would be no project, no 40 portraits, no sketchbook. For four and a half months my husband supported me, cheers me on, left me alone, reminded me to bring my camera when we went someplace, admired my half-finished productions, and was saintly patient.
He shopped for groceries and cooked chicken korma, and I drew.
He cleaned bathrooms, and I drew.
Laundry would only get done when we literally ran out of things to wear, and I drew.
Dust-bunnies grew bigger than the cat, and I drew.
General life was postponed until after the sun-down so I could draw.
I could speak of nothing else, but references, bone structures, face modeling, expressions, skin tone, paper quality and lack of daylight – and he listened.
This was very much a team effort. He even wrote my artist’s bio for me to accompany the sketchbook. So it is only fair that his name should appear in the book. I dedicate this book to Lou, my husband. I love you!
And so, boys and girls, this is the last page, #40 of 40. The project is complete.
Oh, there are still a few things: the cover, the table of contents, cleaning smudges, restoring contrast on several pages, applying fixative… but all this is post-production.
Tim
Tim
Meet Tim!
I was making up a missed class in George’s Drawing Workshop and was there on Monday which is not my regular day. That’s when I met Tim, another student. The moment I saw the amazing planes and bone structure of his head and face, the Burne Hogarth’s drama of his posture I knew I had to draw him.
Tim kindly agreed to be photographed. As I was seating him at his drawing horse (Tim is too tall for me to photograph him standing) I heard commotion, giggles and noise behind me, and George was calling “Be careful, Alex! Be careful!” I only had about 10 minutes between classes and wasn’t going to get distracted to figure out what the ruckus was about. So I proceeded with taking pictures. Then the class started again, and I never figured out the mystery… Although I have some ideas.
#39 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook
In other news…
This blog was named among the top 50 Drawing Blogs by the Guide to Art Schools – 50 Best Drawing Blogs list. Pencil Scribbles is number 3! Right after Rob Carey’s Kunst-by-Rob – Rob is an inspiration and a friend/blogger. The write-up they did on me is embarrassingly nice:
Pencil Scribbles: This self-taught artist started drawing in 2009 and is already inspiring with her realistic, detailed pencil portraits. Zonis already achieves in her work what the true expressive artist strives for: the subject in all its glory infused with a little bit of herself.
- Our favorite post! Geb 1-27-10
I am surprised and honored. How did they possibly find me in my backwater of the blogosphere? Who knows, but they did. And I can now display this badge
Henny
Henny
Meet Henny!
My father pointed out to me that I have more men than women in my book. So I set out to look for women to draw. Where can I find a diverse group of women sympathetic to my cause? In the WomanMade Gallery, of course! The WomanMade Gallery was founded by Beate Minkowsky in 1992 to promote and support women artists. Once a month the gallery hosts an art group, called aptly Her Group, where women artists can get together, show and share their art, and talk. I even facilitated this group for about a year in 2002. That’s where I headed.
Just as I expected, my sisters in art showed me great support and understanding, I got an overarching permission to shoot away as much as I wanted. The meeting yielded a lot of good references.
Henny DuBois is an art photographer. She makes photo collages surrealistic in nature and exquisite in execution. Photographing a photographer is a challenge, I could see Henny calculating my shot – note the way she looks at me. In the split second before the shutter went off she had probably assessed light conditions, angles, shutter speed, aperture and depth and found them questionable. And I agree – the light, the staging, the quality of the camera, the photographer’s skills – all of that was far from optimal. But the expression was priceless.
#38 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook
Dan
Dan
Meet Dan!
Dan is Shelly’s friend and schoolmate. Dan is a third year student in Loyola University, he majors in Computer Science and plays classical violin. To put it shortly, everybody knows – Dan is brilliant. And being a sweetheart that he is, he agrees. “I has brilliance,” he stated in reply to my daughter on Facebook.
#37 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook
Alicia
Alicia
Meet Alicia!
Alicia is another one of the wonderful strangers I met in my neighborhood. Back on a beautiful Sunday in October my husband and I went for a walk and having reached the farthest point were sitting on our favorite bench. A family of three was walking towards us, probably returning from a church – all dressed up and looking very proper. The woman looked remarkably interesting, but even though I had my camera with me I felt too shy somehow to do something about it.
But I must have been still staring, because to my surprise the woman walked up to me and gave me her card. “You look like nice people,” she said, “here’s my number if you need your house cleaned or any other help.” At this point I had no excuse. “Would you let me take your picture for a portrait?” I asked and proceeded to explain this whole business of 40 portraits. The entire family was greatly entertained. “Mama – the art model!” the son was laughing. Alicia herself was so amused by this concept that she doubled over in laughter, my first shot showed a nice brick building behind her. But we all pulled ourselves together and managed to take a few more shots, now with Alicia in them.
Time and again during these months of collecting faces for portraits I have seen this happening. The amazing, wonderful, remarkable people I see cannot comprehend why anyone would want to do their portraits. Is it because they do not realize how beautiful they are? Is it because they are not movie stars, but instead clean houses or work in garages? At my vet’s clinic there is a receptionist who has eyes of St. Frances, but she declined a portrait. “Nobody wants my mug shot,” she told me with conviction. Well, I do! But I couldn’t persuade her.
Alicia and I had a hug and parted friends. I haven’t seen her since, except for this portrait, but I may still. We live in the same neighborhood.
#36 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook
Kenny
Kenny
Meet Kenny!
I love Kenny! Ever since I came up with this idea of a sketchbook full of portraits, back then when I drew Jeff, I was thinking that I must draw Kenny. Kenny is a neighbor, he lives on the same floor with his wife and Pebbles the dog. So I bump into him often. And even though I don’t always understand what he is saying, our conversations are always delightful and I am looking forward to them. I do get it that Kenny likes people in general and me in particular. Kenny is happy, expressive, unabashed, genuine and very real. A breath of fresh air.
#35 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook
Terri
Terri
Meet Terri!
Terri is my neighbor from 7E. I was riding an elevator with Terri one day and suddenly had realized that Terri was a solution to my problem. As I am getting closer to the finish line of my project I became conscious that I don’t have a single black female in my sketchbook. Otherwise the book is nicely balanced – a real little slice of an American big city, except for this unfortunate omission. It’s not that I don’t know any black women, I have collected a number of references, but there’s always something not quite right with them – mostly my photography skills.
I shared all this with Terri right there in the elevator. “But I need to wash my hair!!!” Terri exclaimed in reply. Of course! A girl must wash her hair before being photographed, even if it is perfect already – everybody knows that.
When we got together for a photoshoot, several minutes into it, I discovered that Terri was a natural model. I asked her not to pose, but to do things she needed to do while I would try to catch a natural expression. So she was washing dishes, repotting a plant, but amazingly at the exact moment of my shutter going off her eyes would be on me. Just like that, naturally. I had not a single bad shot! (Except for the one where my flash reflected from a mirror behind…) I even asked if Terri had modeled before, and it came out that she had – she was familiar with a runway and has shown hair fashions.
Oh, and Terri is not a mechanic, she works for an airline, this is just a shirt she wears at home. I thought it went well with her sassy expression.
#34 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook
Gabriel
Gabriel
Meet Gabriel!
At the end of SOFA Day 1 Sami and I were sitting on a bench in front of his gallery. Sami was warming up to my collecting faces for portraits.
“Want this guy?” Sami pointed at a dark man studying a display of glass sculptures. “I know him, and he is handsome.” I wanted the guy, but was too tired to do my spiel again after having repeated it a dozen times that day.
Sami stood up and grabbed the man by his sleeve. “Here,” he commanded, “stand over here! She is going to photograph you for a portrait!”
The man took my hand and held it. “Gabriel.” He said in a soft voice. “Like the angel, you know?…” I knew. Immediately. My fashion statement of combat boots and a fleece 6 sizes too large apparently mattered very little.
Gabriel Eid is an art director of Galerie Frédéric Got of Paris. He brought some amazing bronzes to SOFA. Gabriel posed for a dozen of photos for me; and they looked good on the 2.5” display of my camera. But when I looked at them large they did not satisfy. They were average. Reasonable quality and showing likeness, they all were missing his personality.
When I found Gabriel again the next day, this time in his gallery, I got to experience a full blast of French charm. Gabriel speaks in a low voice making you step in closer. In 15 minutes of the second photo session I got more compliments and pointed interest in me and my work than I have had in a month. This can be addictive! I also got my winner shot.
#33 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook
Lina
Lina
Meet Lina!
I only met Lina very recently, at SOFA. I went to the show with three specific goals in mind: to see Sami – definitely goal #1, to see new art, and to collect faces (portrait references) for my Sketchbook Project. I was still in a process of greeting everybody in the Mostly Glass gallery when I saw Lina at the exhibit opposite.
I waited a while until Lina had no visitors and then introduced myself and my request. Lina wasn’t sure. Usually when I see that, I back off and give people their space. But I wanted to draw Lina’s brilliant presence and abandon of red curls very badly, so I didn’t. I didn’t insist, but I wasn’t going away either. I chatted with her about where she is from – she was born in Egypt but lives in Israel, her art – she makes wonderful jewelry that I wish I could afford. Eventually Lina relented and agreed to be photographed. I knew she would, artists understand fellow artists. Thank you so much, Lina!
P.S. If you look at the photo of Sami and I in the post about Sami, you would see Lina in the background.
#32 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook
Sami
Sami
Meet Sami!
SOFA Chicago 2010 has come and is gone, but it brought Sami to town. Sami Harawi is an owner of Mostly Glass gallery. Sami and I go back to 2003, when I was doing weaving. It was January 2003. Sami called me out of the blue, took all my weavings and sold nearly all my production within a few months, and wanted more. But this is not a sole reason I love him. I love him because he is such a lovable person. I only get to see him once a year when he brings his gallery exhibit to SOFA Chicago. I then come and hang around his gallery doing my best to distract him from his sales. I stay after the show close and help pack the art. I wrote about this last year, with pictures.
This year I came with a camera too because I wanted to draw Sami’s portrait, as well as anyone else’s who would agree. After collecting several good shots of Sami I told him that I am going to make him look beautiful. Sami grumbled back “If you’ll make me look better than I do, I’d know that you can’t draw!” I took this very seriously.
So, here I have for you – Sami: wrinkles, 5 o’clock stubble and an expression “I need a break, please!” He is tired by the end of day 3 of the show, but still very handsome.
#31 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook
And here Sami and I are having a reunion hug on Day 1 of the show.
Sami and I - SOFA Chicago 2010