An attempt to draw Honoré de Balzac's Bixiou. He is a cartoonist. His main problem-one that Balzac dealt with in mayn of his novels, through many different characters-is that he wastes his talent or even genius away in trivial activities. He is alway joking, loves to smoke, is a dandy, lives in a messy flat, and keeps a grisette.
Another beautiful piece. I love your style, and the emphasis on the main body of the coat. So many fastenings and tiny buttons. The way the coat trails away into the tiny feet and hands is wonderful, as are the individual details, such as the crucifix and the flower on the pipe. Lovely pipe by the way. Good job on getting it to follow the line of his shoulders and arm.
I really admire your talent at expressions. They make these sketches into such stories. I suspect that someone has just told a very saucy joke. Or Bixiou is about to tell one. Lovely.
Thank you for all the nice, and very well written comments ! The reference for the pipe is here:[link] And the crucifix is not a crucifix at all, though I am aware it's not clear what it is. It's supposed to be a piece of charcoal, to make quick sketches while he's out. I love drawing buttons lol and thanks, drawing expressions is something I find very difficult, and most of the time I can't really draw the expression I originally wanted to.
Thank you! These are the fashion plates I used for reference, if you are interested: [link] contemporary illustrations of the character: [link][link] and for the pipe: [link]
I really admire your talent at expressions. They make these sketches into such stories. I suspect that someone has just told a very saucy joke. Or Bixiou is about to tell one. Lovely.
The reference for the pipe is here:[link] And the crucifix is not a crucifix at all, though I am aware it's not clear what it is. It's supposed to be a piece of charcoal, to make quick sketches while he's out.
I love drawing buttons lol and thanks, drawing expressions is something I find very difficult, and most of the time I can't really draw the expression I originally wanted to.
Oh, now I feel silly. It makes so much more sense as a charcoal stick. Still all the little details of the piece are marvelous.
I really like your expressions, even if they are not the originally intended expression. Sometimes you simply have to let the paper take you away.
contemporary illustrations of the character: [link] [link]
and for the pipe: [link]