 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:

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