William Hartnell

When I am not drawing commissioned works for http://pencil-pictures.co.uk, I draw people whose faces I like. I am a fan of the TV series 'Doctor Who', and it seems that an interesting face is a requirement for the job of the lead actor, because certainly Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee, Colin Baker and Patrick Troughton have very strong and distinctive features, not to mention the new boy Matt Smith, with his deep-set eyes and unmistakeable chin. However, I feel that the chiseled and well-worn but charming features of the late great William Hartnell lend themselves to a pencil portrait better than any of the others, so it was he who I chose to draw next.

I went through all of the pictures I could find of the great man, and discounted all in which he was not wearing his famous Doctor Who wig (yes it really was a wig!), and settled on a picture taken on the set of the very first episode of Doctor Who ('An Unearthly Child') taken back in 1963. The photograph shows off his mischievous eyes and severe nose to great effect, giving him the air of a professor who is not averse to going off the beaten track. In fact just looking at this picture alone it is easy to see why Hartnell was chosen for the part... but I digress.

I started as usual with the eyes. Hartnell's eyes were quite a light colour, so in addition to the usual shades caused by light and shadows, I had fin with the darkness of the pupils, the lightness of the iris, and the glint of light in the corner of the iris, which is the plain white of the paper shining through.

The symmetrical nose actually posed a problem. Noses are much easier to draw from the side. Face-on relies so heavily on getting the shading just right... but since the light sorce looks to be top-left, the heavy shading under the nose makes this part stand out the most, making the shading of the sides slightly less consequential to the overall portrait.

In this picture the Doctor is giving a familiar grim smile, so no lips are visible. I was a bit worried that this would look unnatural in the finished portrait, but as usual, all I had to do was draw exactly what I saw and it turned out okay! (I always think this during a portrait - should I try and be creative or draw what I see? In every case, drawing what I see is the best option! Some artists have great imaginations, but not this one...)

I am very pleased with the face in this picture. The only parts not quite up to scratch are the hat and scarf. One of these days I might go back and revise it... but probably not.

Next stop, Patrick Troughton. Watch this space...