Don't know about we learn much about the difficulty of drawing beautiful faces, however the images of the artist's work were impressive.
The traditional boundary between "art" and "illustration" isn't hard and fast. The latter is valued for its utility, but there's always a possibility that mere workman's duty will be exceeded, with the result carrying a sensibility well above its intended purpose.
I think that may be the case for this particular sketch artist. The drawings seem to capture not only how individuals look, but also portray something of their emotional states, contrasts among them obvious, interesting and surprising. The relational elements are echoed in the subtleties of spacing, angles and proportion, factors that begin to delineate "art" from the prosaic.
The article shows the artist to be quite a character himself. In a way reminiscent of 1940's newspaper photographer "Weegee" (Arthur Fellig), who similarly transcended the common utilitarian aspects of his job, ranking among the best photographers of the 20th century.
It's refreshing to know there are inspired souls putting forth such noteworthy effort and contributing more than we could expect.
The traditional boundary between "art" and "illustration" isn't hard and fast. The latter is valued for its utility, but there's always a possibility that mere workman's duty will be exceeded, with the result carrying a sensibility well above its intended purpose.
I think that may be the case for this particular sketch artist. The drawings seem to capture not only how individuals look, but also portray something of their emotional states, contrasts among them obvious, interesting and surprising. The relational elements are echoed in the subtleties of spacing, angles and proportion, factors that begin to delineate "art" from the prosaic.
The article shows the artist to be quite a character himself. In a way reminiscent of 1940's newspaper photographer "Weegee" (Arthur Fellig), who similarly transcended the common utilitarian aspects of his job, ranking among the best photographers of the 20th century.
It's refreshing to know there are inspired souls putting forth such noteworthy effort and contributing more than we could expect.