FREE SHIPPING Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago.
I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This is a pencil portrait I made of my former student Claire, and it’s one of my favorite drawings from my Renovated Reputations project. That whole series was based on vintage photo booth pictures I’d collected, and Claire’s drawing came from a photo taken at one of the exhibits—we had a working photo booth at a few of them, and I’d often use those images later for drawings and paintings.
Claire was one of those students you just don’t forget. She not only participated in the shows, she helped install them and worked as a gallery assistant while I was running the art gallery at Ohlone College. She went on to graduate, study at San Jose State, and ended up working in museums across the country as a registrar. I think she may have even moved back to Hong Kong. She was at every show—at the Los Gatos Museum, ArtHaus Gallery, and others—and was always fully involved in what I was doing. That’s part of what makes this piece so special to me.
Technically, this is a simple but deliberate drawing in pencil on paper. I focused on getting the mood and weight of the pose right—there’s a quiet presence to it. The shading is soft and controlled, and I pushed the values and structure just enough to suggest light, form, and texture without overworking it. It’s a classic head-and-shoulders portrait, about 8x10 inches, and it’s in excellent condition.
This drawing is from the original Renovated Reputations series, which was a huge project that spanned six or seven venues and resulted in several books and catalogs. I’d invite people to write 1,000-word flash fiction stories based on these artworks. The winners would get the drawings, and their stories were published in stylized newspaper-style catalogs and monographs. The show traveled to places like the Los Gatos Museum, ArtHaus in San Francisco, and multiple college galleries.
I’ve held onto this drawing because of my connection to Claire, but I’m now including it as part of my Fresh Finds project—where I’m releasing pieces from my archive that haven’t been available for years. These works represent important parts of my artistic and teaching life, and I want them to live on in other people’s collections. They’re part of my story and legacy.
Details
Title: Claire
Artist: Kenney Mencher
Year: 2012
Medium: Pencil on paper
Size: 8 x 10 inches
Style: Realistic portrait drawing
Condition: Excellent
Frame: Unframed
Subject: Former student Claire, drawn from a photo booth image taken during one of the Renovated Reputations exhibitions
FREE SHIPPING Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago.
I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This is a pencil portrait I made of my former student Claire, and it’s one of my favorite drawings from my Renovated Reputations project. That whole series was based on vintage photo booth pictures I’d collected, and Claire’s drawing came from a photo taken at one of the exhibits—we had a working photo booth at a few of them, and I’d often use those images later for drawings and paintings.
Claire was one of those students you just don’t forget. She not only participated in the shows, she helped install them and worked as a gallery assistant while I was running the art gallery at Ohlone College. She went on to graduate, study at San Jose State, and ended up working in museums across the country as a registrar. I think she may have even moved back to Hong Kong. She was at every show—at the Los Gatos Museum, ArtHaus Gallery, and others—and was always fully involved in what I was doing. That’s part of what makes this piece so special to me.
Technically, this is a simple but deliberate drawing in pencil on paper. I focused on getting the mood and weight of the pose right—there’s a quiet presence to it. The shading is soft and controlled, and I pushed the values and structure just enough to suggest light, form, and texture without overworking it. It’s a classic head-and-shoulders portrait, about 8x10 inches, and it’s in excellent condition.
This drawing is from the original Renovated Reputations series, which was a huge project that spanned six or seven venues and resulted in several books and catalogs. I’d invite people to write 1,000-word flash fiction stories based on these artworks. The winners would get the drawings, and their stories were published in stylized newspaper-style catalogs and monographs. The show traveled to places like the Los Gatos Museum, ArtHaus in San Francisco, and multiple college galleries.
I’ve held onto this drawing because of my connection to Claire, but I’m now including it as part of my Fresh Finds project—where I’m releasing pieces from my archive that haven’t been available for years. These works represent important parts of my artistic and teaching life, and I want them to live on in other people’s collections. They’re part of my story and legacy.
Details
Title: Claire
Artist: Kenney Mencher
Year: 2012
Medium: Pencil on paper
Size: 8 x 10 inches
Style: Realistic portrait drawing
Condition: Excellent
Frame: Unframed
Subject: Former student Claire, drawn from a photo booth image taken during one of the Renovated Reputations exhibitions
