Speak softly and carry a big charcoal pencil. Have a great weekend, everyone!
Me: “Dude!”
Teddy Roosevelt Drawing: “Bully!”
Me: “Dude!”
Teddy Roosevelt Drawing: “Bully!”
About this image: charcoal drawing on Bristol Board
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Refrigerator Magnate 
Fantastic piece.
I’m a fan the mustache’s texture.
Nicely done.
Why, thank you so much, Mr. B!
That’s wonderful to hear… and very kind of you to say!
🙂
annother wow portrait! thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for your kind thoughts, P&K!
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can’t spell, though. that was supposed to be “another”. 🙂
Wait… people can spell?! Honestly, I’m so bad at it that half the time my spell-check won’t even pull up the word I was attempting to type!
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I am waiting for Roosevelt to move – – he is so lifelike! Amazing!
Hahaha… his horse should be along any minute, now…
How very kind of you to say! Thank you!
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Yeah Dude! 😉
Hahaha… thanks, Dude!
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How cool. The eyes are so dignified
Thank you very, very much, sir!
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Oh wow, Sig, this is amazing work! Bravo, beautiful, brilliant and all the other great word to describe perfection! 🙂
Have a great day, and weekend! 🙂 xo
Wowza, Deb! You are far, far too kind to me! But I sincerely appreciate that! Thank you so very much!
I hope that you have a great one, too!
🙂
I understand the need to converse with him, as lifelike as he is. I would have a few questions myself.
Your detail is amazing.
Hahaha… something tells me I have a few more questions than any drawing has answers for!
Thank you! Very, very much!
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Fantastic portrait! I love it! Such marvelous tones.
How kind of you to say, thank you!
One of the things I like about charcoal is that wide tonal range… trying to apply it is another thing entirely, but… well… it’s nice to know it’s there, anyway!
🙂
When I went to the Grand Canyon, I rode a mule (!) all the way down to the river. The guides reminded us how President Roosevelt had done the same 100 years before. If Teddy could do it, then I could too. I wonder if his butt was as sore as mine at the end of the day!
Wonderful portrait!
That seems like a l-o-n-g way to ride a mule! I’ve never been on one, but I imagine they give a new meaning to ‘Rough Rider’! My butt feels sore just thinking about it!
Thank you very much, Ms. C!
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Congratulations on this gorgeous piece of art.
Thank you very, very much for such a kind comment!
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Super talent. You should go on one of those talent shows. How fast can you draw one of these. I think you’d have to do it in about 3 minutes all while one of the hosts ridicules you. 🙂
Oh, and Teddy Roosevelt was manly insane. Didn’t he once get shot and then give a 90 minute speech before going to the doctor?
Hahaha… I’d be in trouble… not only do I have trouble ‘working’ while people are watching, but these things take me much longer than I care to admit… I’m not sure I could pick-up the pencil in 3 minutes!
I think I’d heard something like that, too! From what I understand he was really kind of a b** **s! Kind of awesome!
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I am in absolute awe. Wow. You are so very talented, Robert. It looks just like a photograph.
You are far too kind, Amy…
I’m hoping that if I keep at it I’ll figure it all out… some day… maybe.
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Awesome — looks like PRINCE Roosevelt, lol! Happy Easter weekend to you and yours, SIG, and everyone.
Hahaha… ‘We’ thank you (that was my best ‘royal we’, you know)!
I very much hope you had a fantastic holiday as well!
🙂
Fantastic likeness. Intersting way of using charcoal, it actually looks airbrushed with such smooth gradations.
Many thanks, sir – that is incredibly kind of you to say!
Hahaha… half of my apartment looks airbrushed at this point (I really like the tonal range charcoal provides, but man… that stuff gets EVERYWHERE)!
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Wow, this is amazing! You have so much talent/skill/ability/patience, etc. “…and carry a big charcoal pencil.” And a sense of humor, too!
You are always so very kind, Patti – thank you!
Hahaha… well, it’s debatable… I can usually make myself laugh, though – which is half the battle, right?!
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Do you ever tire of reading “Incredible!” “Wonderful!” “Amazing!”? Because, I hate to think the fact that I seem to say the same thing over and over again makes you tired.
This really is incredible, wonderful, and amazing. It’s your fault, I have to keep repeating myself. You’re a dude with serious talent, Robert.
I don’t think it would be possible to tire of such great kindness, Ms. D. Although I’m fairly certain I’m getting very spoiled. I’ll try not to complain about that, though. It seems like the very least I could do, you know!
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Your portraits are so good I don’t know how you ever make them. Superb!
That’s even nicer to hear coming from an artist as talented as you, sir! I thank you! Very much!
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Wow factor for sure!!! You captured Teddy so well…he’s one of my favorite historical characters! Have a nice Easter holiday! 🙂
Thank you so much, Mary! I have to admit I don’t know as much about him as I should… or as I’d like to, either (because so many of the tidbits about him I do hear are ridiculously fascinating)!
And thank you again! I hope you had a fantastic holiday as well!
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He’d have been a great poker player. Do you think if I clap my hands he’s blink? It’s so lifelike they could extract his DNA.
Hahaha… you know what’s funny… now I have ‘Poker Face’ stuck in my head…
which is kind of strange, in a way…
when / while I’m looking at / discussing an image of Teddy Roosevelt…
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Hell, my photos aren’t even that realistic. Wonderful work!
You are far, far too kind! I thank you! Very much, sir!
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Very cool! I’ve toasted TR at the Menger Bar in San Antonio!! one of my favs. 🙂
Now that sounds like a good time! I really need to do some more reading about him… everything I find out is fascinating! He was really kind of a b** **s, wasn’t he!?
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This drawing of yours is superb SIG
For once I am lost for words, being that
your zest for artistic brilliance is second
to none 🙂
I need to practice a lot if my Fraz
sketches are going to look artsy 🙂 lol
Happy Easter SIG 🙂 🙂
Your kindness is always second to none, sir!
I thank you! Very much!
I always enjoy seeing what you’ve been working on – including your visual pieces – you are no slouch yourself, Andro!
Thank you again! And I hope you had a wonderful holiday as well, sir!
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So damn realistic it talks???? Dude, bully for you!
Hahaha… not always as much fun as you might expect… a lot of these conversations are heavily censored, you know!
Thank you very, very much, Peg!
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Goodness me, Robert, your drawings never cease to amaze me. You are so very talented. Bravo!
Oh, they always look better on screen / small scale…
but I thank you so much for your great kindness and encouragement, S.E…
I appreciate it very, very much!
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Hmphh! I bet they look good big too! :p
Aw, thanks, S.E!
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Uff: As you know I am a lazy visitor. Today, being on Ashley’s site I thought (something like) ‘Ah, well, let’s pop over to Robert, for a change’, saw your drawing, thought ‘Amazing!’, scrolled down to leave my short com(pli)ment and … learned Ashley had about the same thought. Amazing! 🙂
Anyway, thus I can’t be too wrong, eh?
All I know is that you are a kind visitor! And I thank you very much for that!
And your agreeing with S.E. is only further proof of that!
🙂
Amazing drawing . . . it looks like a photo. Just perfect.
My favorite Teddy quote: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
So very kind of you, Nancy, thank you!
I like that! Hahaha… and I do what I can, you know… well, sometimes, anyway!
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Fantastic – You’ve actually made ‘Night at the Museum’ real with this! Fantastic work. I wish I had your drawing talent! I guess I’ll stick with the Pornograph – sorry, I mean Camera 😉 and encourage my lad with his Clarinet 🙂 Great drawing 🙂
My apologies, Martin – I only recently discovered I had somehow managed to miss quite a few comments on this post… I’m really not sure how that happened (the odd one or two, maybe… but this is ridiculous… makes me wonder how many times I’ve managed to do this)! 😦 Anyway, thank you very much for your kind thoughts, sir! 🙂
PS – Alasdair says “That’s Great!”
I’d be quicker to draw a smilie face if I still wasn’t so embarrassed about having missed all these comments! 😦
But, still… 🙂
“Bully !Absolutely Bully!” Which translates into Superb. 😀
Many thanks, sir! Sorry about the complete un-bullyness of my response (I recently dropped by this post to respond to a recent comment and discovered there were quite a few I had missed somehow… I have no idea how I managed that)! Yikes! 😦
Hello, mister 😀
Happy April Fool!
That’s right! It is April Fool’s Day today, isn’t it! I had nearly forgotten (which might have been bad)!
A very happy April Fool’s to you, too, Cristina!
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I only believe this is charcoal because you say so, and because you are so incredibly talented!
As are you, Ms. K! AND incredibly kind as well! I thank you!
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That is a charcoal drawing??? Surely you jest???
Hahaha… thank you very much, Mr. M… I appreciate that, sir!
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You’re amazing. This is FANTASTIC, dude!
Truly, just amazing work.
Very, very kind of you to say that!
I thank you so much for your incredibly generous comment!
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Lawrence my boy this guy is crazy.
Hahaha… I must be crazy (how did I only recently notice I hadn’t responded to this comment? – very sorry about that, J.B)!
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Awesome, SIG! You are so talented.
And you are so very kind, S.F! Thank you!
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This is more than AMAZING!!! May I ask how much time you have spent on it? Did you work on a black paper?
You are far to kind! Thank you very, very much!
Not at all – just trying to remember now… much longer than it should have… I would have to guess… 10-18 hours, maybe… give or take (I tend to loose all track of time when I’m working on things like this). The black is all charcoal – this was done on a bristol board (I like how smooth it is – I generally don’t like much of a tooth for some reason).
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The credit is all yours, your drawings are incredibly beautiful!
Thanks a lot for the info, adding all those dark shades with a charcoal pencil and have such sharp bright edges and clean bright tones at the same time needs so much skill and talent. May I ask what kind of charcoal pencil you use? Sorry if I’m asking too much questions, it’s that I still hope not to be the only reason that charcoals don’t work for my drawings, maybe it can also be the pencil’s fault! 😀 I used contè B and HB for some of my drawings, and it seemed just mission impossible to keep the white parts of the paper away from the charcoal particles flying off the dark drawn parts.
How terribly kind of you – thank you so much!
Not at all – I’m not always able to answer questions, but if I can I’m thrilled to do so! For all the drawings I’ve posted here I used a ‘General’s Soft Charcoal Pencil’ (on a smooth Bristol Board). I like the pencils because it seems much easier to create a nice, sharp point.
It is indeed a bit of a challenge to keep the paper clean. I try to frequently gently blow-off any dust that has started to settle and then gently erase off any areas I know I want to remain paper white with a kneaded eraser (the kneaded eraser also works great for creating various thing soft to sharp lines by pulling it through an area of charcoal and back out again). I also need to rest my hand on something when I work, so I try to work from left to right top to bottom (more or less – unless I can reach in far enough from the table). If I have to place my hand on an area I’ve already worked I like to gently put down a piece of smooth paper first to try to minimize any smudging. I’m guessing you probably have tried all of that already – I’m sorry if that doesn’t really help much. The dust really is a challenge. After this T.R. drawing the bottom of my socks were black (because I had blown so much dust off the drawing and it had all settled on my floor)!
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Wow! How much precious info, thank you very very much! You’re so kind, and also very modest.
I didn’t know about General’s charcoal pencils, thanks a lot for letting me know. Indeed one of my biggest problems with charcoal pencils (beside the unknown flying objects!) was to create a sharp point, they got grounded or broke into pieces very easily.
It’s a great idea to work from left to right, unfortunately I don’t have much patience for that, just want to jump from a point to another! 🙂 What you said explains better why it needs great skill and talent to work with charcoals, I just can’t keep that piece of paper under my hand without smudging the drawing under it! Wait… maybe because I don’t blow the dust very often! Guess I should wait for the General’s charcoal pencils and then just retry, keeping in mind your helpful advices. Many thanks again!
After I wrote this I stopped back over at your blog and felt so silly for saying those things… it’s obvious there is nothing I can share with you that you don’t already know… you are RIDICULOUSLY talented!
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Omg… just so impressed!!!
How incredibly kind of you to say! Thank you very much!
🙂