Kevin Candon is primarily self-taught.  He started his portrait business in May, 1998 and has drawn numerous commissioned portraits since that time.  He draws all his portraits from photographs from his studio in Chicopee, Massachusetts.

Depending on the size and detail work involved in the portrait, his portraits can take anywhere from 20 - 40 hours to complete.  He is known for his precise detail work and for his extraordinary ability to capture a person's likeness.

"I get an impression of a person when I see the photograph and I work very hard to capture the essence of that impression.  In a child it may be a certain playfulness I see, or a mischievousness, or a quietness or calmness.

When I did the commissioned drawing of Al Pacino in 'Scarface', I worked to capture the essence of his character and the essence of the scene I placed him in.  When I drew Princess Diana, a woman I truly admired, I worked to capture the sense of relaxation I saw in her face and the sense of interest in what she was looking at.

What I try to capture depends entirely on the person I am drawing and the impression I get of that person, in that moment, in that photograph."

-Kevin Candon 

Kevin shares a studio with his wife, Fine Artist, Lucie Bilodeau (www.luciebilodeau.com).

Kevin uses a series of pencils when he draws.  He uses a high quality, 2 ply Bristol paper for his portraits, a sturdy paper which gives him the hard, smooth surface he needs to capture details and smooth skin tones.

Here is a picture of Kevin at work, taken on August 30, 2008.  He is pictured here working on a 20" X 24" commissioned portrait of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his two race cars:

Here is a picture of a drawing bench Kevin sometimes uses for his portraits: