Elvis Presley Pencil Portrait
Elvis. So much has been written, drawn, painted, filmed. All that was left for me to do was to do the only thing I do well: strip a few layers of mythology off this boy and find something pure and accessible.
I discovered quite quickly that it wasn’t easy to make Elvis relatable. I wanted him young and hopeful, defiant and ready for whatever the world had to offer him or take away. A moment of immense opportunity so many of us have sensed when we were young and the world ahead was full of mystery and promise.
I’m much closer to his age when he passed away. I’ll have a think about a bookend to this portrait in a couple of years’ time. After some sadness had crept behind his eyes.
Perhaps it’s fitting that I chose the Half Series for my first drawing of him.
You can purchase the one-off original drawing of my Elvis Half Series minimal portrait, until it is sold. Signed print copies are also available.