Rulers of the World

Sketch of Vladimir Putin seeming less than amused

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thomas-dalsgaard-clausen-2015-11-25a portrait of vladimir putin in pen

I did my angry Erdogan sketch earlier, so here’s Putin. You could argue that there’s something uniquely fitting about his facial expression. But then again – this is just how he always looks. His eyes got a little wobbly. I can’t seem to draw portraits with aligned eyes – at all. On my previous baby portrait, Laura commented that she thought it looked cute. I’m not 100% sure that the same goes for Putin, but I’ll let you judge that one.

Putin is next in line for my “Rulers of the world” project where I will eventually draw every head-of-state in the world.

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Angry portrait of Turkish president Erdogan

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thomas-dalsgaard-clausen-2015-11-24e sketch turkish president erdogan

 

There’s some crazy stuff going on in the world, and my intention is not for this sketch to be a comment on a conflict that I don’t understand even a fraction of. This is Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the middle of a very agitated speech – the photo is from google images and has nothing to do with today’s event, but I think it was a good exercise in sketching a very expressive face.

I used to do this series of “Rulers of the world” where the idea is to make a portrait of each head of state in the world. I stopped before I was half-way there, but why not add another face to the list today?

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Portrait of Juan Carlos Varela, the president of Panama

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This is Juan Carlos Varela the president of Panama I’m not too happy with how it turned out. The hand, the mouth and the ear is off. I need to draw really carefully when drawing portraits, it can’t be as sketchy as the other things I do, which is a little annoying. See the rulers … Read more

396 Portrait of Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany. Drawing in watercolor and ballpoint pen

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Merkel’s time has come – to get her portrait drawn that is. I doubt she needs introducing, but just for the homogeneity of these blogposts, let me just say that Angela Merkel is the chancellor of Germany I wasn’t completely true to the proportions, but i think it looks like her. The hair is a … Read more

392 Portrait of Islam Karimov, the president of Uzbekistan in ballpoint pen

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Hmm, yeah well. Don’t know what happened here. Believe it or not, but it still looks like the reference photo. I think he’s got the sun in his eyes. He’s called Islam Karimov and he’s the president of Uzbekistan. Go check the list of the Rulers of the World And then don’t forget to join … Read more

388 Portrait of Petro Poroshenko, the president of Ukraine in pen and watercolor

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This is Petro Poroschenko, the president of Ukraine. One of the “Rulers of the World” that I’ve been tip-toing around for a while. This is with a kind of ballpoint pen, that I have previously used for writing. It’s very very thin for a ballpoint pen, though. When using fineliners or pens with a felt … Read more

387 Portrait of Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in watercolor and fineliner pen

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Portrait of Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in watercolor and fineliner pen

This is  Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in watercolor and fineliner pen. I’m still trying to work out this fineliner thing. Memadtwo (or one of them!) pointed out how you can just leave your “wrong” lines be, and draw on top of it with a “correct” drawing.. Maybe I … Read more

386 Portrait of Charles Michel, the Prime Minister of Belgium done in fineliner and watercolor

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This is Charles Michel, the Prime Minister of Belgium This time I started out with the fineliner (or pen.. what’s it called?) to first make the drawing and then I put on the watercolor. The ink has the disadvantage of not being erasable, so you can’t correct your mistakes. You can’t conceal it with watercolor … Read more

380 Portrait of Emomalii Rahmon, the president of Tajikistan, painting in watercolor

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This is the president of Tajikistan, Emomalii Rahmon It’s my zombie Saturday – I did the habitual night shift yesterday and it really destroys the whole weekend. I did manage to do this one, though. I think it turned alright for a quick sketch. Tajikistan is a country in Central Asia. And this is a … Read more

377 Portrait of Portia Simpson-Miller, the Prime Minister of Jamaica

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This is (supposed to be) Portia Simpson-Miller, the Prime Minister of Jamaica It’s not my proudest moment in portraiture. I think that I will start doing more landscapes or street scenes and step away from these portraits for a little while. Thomas W. Schaller spends around 1 hour on his wonderful paintings – that’s pretty … Read more