David Lynch Portrait Illustration

click to see detail

Here's the final scan of my David Lynch scratchboard portrait.  I found myself taking a different approach from last week's Stephen King.  Rather than scratching with a heavy hand and the intention of making bold white shapes, I opted instead to very delicately mark the surface with small lines that add up to a lot of gradual tonal shifts and a softer focus.  It's a slower process, but one I enjoyed quite a bit and plan on exploring further.  


I spent some time in photoshop testing red velvet curtains in the background and some eerie coloring throughout, but couldn't decide if it benefitted the image enough to justify.  Sometimes it's hard to beat a plain old, bold black and white drawing.  Although admittedly, seeing the small version below I certainly don't mind it.  Who knows, maybe I'll keep tinkering with it.  


The scratchboard itself is an 8"x10" and took two or three hours in preparation, and maybe seven to nine of actual scratching.  Here are some thumbnail sketches and a color test...