I’m no fetishist, but as artist I’ve always had a fascination with these kind of boots. Its all in how they work with the natural S-curve of the leg, but at the same time give it that blocky, powerful, masculine quality. The shininess helps as well . . . Sharpie + whiteout marker
Is he dancing? Is he about to dance? Or is he simply walking extravagantly? Only he knows. One thing’s for sure though, that is is a very fine suit indeed . . . Ink + alcohol marker
Due to a pronounced lack of decent tango reference photography , I used a screenshot of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK1ccWeU3gA I originally meant to use them as reference only, but now that I think of it, I might as well count this as fan art, plain and simple. Carlitos is barely visible, but I think we’re all quite happily focused on Noelia anyway. Although I plan on redoing it at some point, I think it turned out quite well, all in all; despite all the imperfections, it captures that deliciously fluid, twisty quality that makes tango magical. I doubt that this will be my last tango-themed sketch. . .
A sketch from awhile back of a stylized heraldic dolphin. You can probably see that it has more in common with the Dolphinfish, or Mahi-Mahi, than with the normal variety. Naturally, I love the serpentine shape.
I spent a good couple hours sketching in a coffee shop on Hawthorne. It was one of those days when the lines just flow out of your pencil with seemingly no effort at all. Definitely could use more days like that!
This is fairly typical of my sketchbook: layers and layers of chaotic, unrelated doodles, which then get subsumed by one very large, very splendid doodle. This one came out of nowhere. Ink + alcohol marker.
What could have have made this Orthodox monk so angry? Heresy perhaps . . . Ink + alcohol marker
This jolly fellow is very proud indeed of his neckbeard. I used gouache for the all the color except for the yellow highlights, where I used an alcohol-based marker.
Osvaldo Fresedo, one of my favorite tango band leaders. Bottom is the initial sketch, top is the traced, inked, slightly tweaked and bitmap’d final product.
I happen to love how his eyebrows contrast with his hair; his features overall are very well defined, which made him a breeze to capture on paper. Since I posted this on facebook, I’ve actually been commissioned by a tango friend in Newfoundland to whip up a couple more for other orchestras, so stay tuned…..
An example of his particular music style is here:
Peter Litster 