As part of an ongoing series of portrait drawings that I began during my 2016 trip to Guinea, West Africa, I present to you the latest drawing in the series, titled: Ibrahim et son petit-fils, featuring a friend of mine from a village near Kouroussa.

Ibrahim is a friend of mine from a small village in the Kouroussa region of Guinea. Something about him fascinated me. He had an aura of knowing something, or perhaps seeking to know something that was just beyond knowable. His eyes always held a faraway look, but also had a glimmer and a light. He’s lived quite the life, and told me many stories. He left the village when he was younger in search of work, and spent 15 years as a merchant marine, and saw the world…before returning home to the village to be with his family. He was worldly and kind; children always flocked to him.

This artwork is included in my book Drawing on Culture: An Artist’s West Africa Travelogue, which is available to purchase here.

Ibrahim et son petit-fils
14x17” pencil on bristol by Dave Kobrenski

The Process:

Here’s a little bit of the drawing process!

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