Long Years of Sadness - Pen Portrait Drawing

Hello everyone, I have been busy lately with work but will try and draw more often even if it's just a little everyday. I recently completed this pen portrait drawing of an old man. I wanted to capture the deep sadness in his eyes and I find some of the best portrait pieces tell a story through the eyes and nothing else is needed. This old man comes across as quite lonely and filled with sadness.

Below is the process

Eye brows can be just as important as the eyes. Their slight slant can determine the expression of the eyes. This time they are slanting upwards to express his sadness.

I then start to add more details. As this is an expressive piece, I wanted loose pen strokes that are not very controlled. The shading is less important than the emotion I am trying to get across.

Final steps involved completing the face and adding details however, again I wanted the focal point to be around the eyes so I did not worry about the other details as much.

Reference

Completed on A5 paper with a blue bic biro pen.

Thanks for stopping by this post and hope you enjoyed viewing the drawing as much as I did creating it!

@iansart