dylan monochromatic

For the past month and a half, we've been working on a monochromatic piece based on well, anything. I chose Bob Dylan, for obvious reasons, and I chose the color purple, because initially, I couldn't get the right yellow dye. The paper absorbed the ink fairly quickly as well, hence the visible brush strokes. It was ink, it wasn't tempera, acrylic (the medium I usually paint with), pastel or oil, which made it pretty difficult. After we finished inking, we had to shade in the shadows with a calligraphy pen in black ink (crosshatching, lines, texture etc.).

I just took the photograph today. His face is way too thin, and god, the camera just shows all the imperfections I didn't realize before. His left eye is fucked, which magically makes him look Asian (not that Asians have ugly eyes). He looks rather stingy and conceited in this one, although I'm sure he is amazing in real life, and his lips look a little too full. I guess I made it stand out too much, but that is by far, the best ear I've drawn/painted in my life. Truth be told, I'm kind of proud of it, given that it is the first time I experimented with ink. But at the same time, I'm a little ashamed of it. I've done better portrait pieces, not to sound arrogant.

The picture looks as if it's tinted yellow, but really, blame the lighting in the art studio.