Sam Brownback sketch 2

I think this is actually further away from a good likeness, just moving in another direction I guess, around him rather than getting closer. But I liked where this sketch was going and worked on it as a character study as much as a Brownback likeness. I think I need to go back to my reference and work up some new quick sketches though. This is my second attempt (not including my first set of quick studies) and still it's missing something. But again, I like this as a character study, a bit of a Tales from the Crypt reaction (maybe the blood-red tie?), shows some buried influence from Alex Toth's line work. I really enjoyed his comic art in the 70's Warren magazines I collected as a teenager, Creepy and Eerie. Here's a link to one of his Eerie stories, from 1975. What I like about his line work is his use of short direct strokes that quickly, succinctly state details, referring to representation in a short expressive manner; abstraction of details that allow us to recognize and complete them.