Let the Right One In

Charcoal portrait of actor Lina Leandersson as Eli in Let the Right One In. To my way of thinking, it’s the best vampire movie ever made. I love that movie so much. If you haven’t seen it, now is the time. And don’t be fooled by the American remake (Let Me In); that thing is an embarrassment to all involved parties.

This portrait came together quite quickly, about 90 minutes from start to finish. That’s a bewildering pace for me. I am slow! I was doing a methodical process where I drew basic shapes on top of the reference to simplify it, hid the reference, then did a painstaking recreation of the shapes in a clean, freehand canvas. That process took hours by itself. I recently realized I was still focusing on outlines, not shapes, and that was hampering my ability to get the freehand drawings right without measuring. “This line looks like it’s about so long.” I wasn’t even really comparing things, like “this line stops at about the same X coordinate as the back of the knee.” I don’t know how often I need to learn the lesson to focus on shapes, but it feels like it’s finally sinking in.

Anyway, the likeness on this portrait took shape in record time. I didn’t do the steps, just went straight to the freehand sketch, and even with the fuzzy, broad charcoal tools, it took form. If you don’t recognize the moment I’m depicting, you may not understand that’s blood running down her face, but you won’t mistake it for stray hair. A vampire may not enter your house without permission!