I LOVE Van Gogh faces

The other day I was flicking through some old art books in my studio and I came across a book called Van Gogh by Pierre Cabanne which I hadn't seen in ages. It reminded me of the first time* I ever saw Van Gogh's work and how much it moved and inspired me.

I also LOVE faces and distorted portraits fascinate me so when I found Van Gogh's 'Portrait of a Man (Joseph Michel Ginoux)', I just had to do my own version...

My Interpretation of Van Gogh's 'Portrait of a Man (Joseph Michel Ginoux)' - really enjoyed doing this! The beauty of doing a portrait of a distorted portrait for fun is that it doesn't matter if its a bit more distorted!? Instead of using oil paint as per original, I used Derwent colour pencils and black charcoal to finish for dramatic effects. Have I ever mentioned how much I  LOVE using charcoal?

*If I remember correctly it was 'The Scream' and 'Starry Night' in a book at school. I have LOVED his work ever since. It touched my soul almost as if I could feel and understand every expressive paint stroke and colour he had used. There was something so wild and exciting about his style... I wanted to paint like him.