Beef and Bravado, 11x14 inches, black and white crayon on gray Rives BFK, by Kenney Mencher
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 one of those drawings where the whole thing just came together—gesture, texture, and attitude. I call it Beef and Bravado because that’s exactly what I saw in this pose: raw power mixed with theatrical flair. It’s a portrait of movement as much as a figure study, and I really leaned into the drama.
I used black and white crayon on a gray-toned Rives BFK paper, which already has that soft toothy surface I love. That combo gave me a way to build up value without the smudginess you get from charcoal. The white crayon lets me lay in bold highlights—especially around the shoulders, thighs, and beard—and adds a kind of sculptural intensity. Think chiaroscuro, but with crayon instead of oil paint.
What stands out to me is how much mass and motion I could get from just two colors. The bristly textures on the arms and legs come from the pressure and direction of the strokes. There’s a kind of ribbing across the body that feels like both motion lines and anatomy—almost comic book in spirit, but rooted in classic figure drawing.
Stylistically, I’d say this has a little of J.C. Leyendecker’s flair, some of Robert Crumb’s gutsiness, and maybe a touch of Baroque tenebrism in how light wraps around the form. The cropped composition pushes it right into your face, like a still from a fight scene or an old-school wrestling poster. I wasn’t thinking of any one artist, but I’ve spent a lifetime looking at Rubens, Sargent, and Diebenkorn, and I’m sure they’re all in here in some way.
To someone seeing this for the first time, it might feel like strength, pride, even humor. It’s physical and exaggerated and joyful in its own way. These kinds of drawings are part of how I work through form and emotion at the same time. They’re a little bit art history, a little bit Saturday matinee, and totally part of how I think as an artist.
Details:
Materials: black and white crayon on gray Rives BFK paper
Size: 11 x 14 inches
Year: 2025
Unframed; ships flat in a clear sleeve with board
Signed on front, dated
Ships in a rigid mailer
Certificate of authenticity included
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 one of those drawings where the whole thing just came together—gesture, texture, and attitude. I call it Beef and Bravado because that’s exactly what I saw in this pose: raw power mixed with theatrical flair. It’s a portrait of movement as much as a figure study, and I really leaned into the drama.
I used black and white crayon on a gray-toned Rives BFK paper, which already has that soft toothy surface I love. That combo gave me a way to build up value without the smudginess you get from charcoal. The white crayon lets me lay in bold highlights—especially around the shoulders, thighs, and beard—and adds a kind of sculptural intensity. Think chiaroscuro, but with crayon instead of oil paint.
What stands out to me is how much mass and motion I could get from just two colors. The bristly textures on the arms and legs come from the pressure and direction of the strokes. There’s a kind of ribbing across the body that feels like both motion lines and anatomy—almost comic book in spirit, but rooted in classic figure drawing.
Stylistically, I’d say this has a little of J.C. Leyendecker’s flair, some of Robert Crumb’s gutsiness, and maybe a touch of Baroque tenebrism in how light wraps around the form. The cropped composition pushes it right into your face, like a still from a fight scene or an old-school wrestling poster. I wasn’t thinking of any one artist, but I’ve spent a lifetime looking at Rubens, Sargent, and Diebenkorn, and I’m sure they’re all in here in some way.
To someone seeing this for the first time, it might feel like strength, pride, even humor. It’s physical and exaggerated and joyful in its own way. These kinds of drawings are part of how I work through form and emotion at the same time. They’re a little bit art history, a little bit Saturday matinee, and totally part of how I think as an artist.
Details:
Materials: black and white crayon on gray Rives BFK paper
Size: 11 x 14 inches
Year: 2025
Unframed; ships flat in a clear sleeve with board
Signed on front, dated
Ships in a rigid mailer
Certificate of authenticity included
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 one of those drawings where the whole thing just came together—gesture, texture, and attitude. I call it Beef and Bravado because that’s exactly what I saw in this pose: raw power mixed with theatrical flair. It’s a portrait of movement as much as a figure study, and I really leaned into the drama.
I used black and white crayon on a gray-toned Rives BFK paper, which already has that soft toothy surface I love. That combo gave me a way to build up value without the smudginess you get from charcoal. The white crayon lets me lay in bold highlights—especially around the shoulders, thighs, and beard—and adds a kind of sculptural intensity. Think chiaroscuro, but with crayon instead of oil paint.
What stands out to me is how much mass and motion I could get from just two colors. The bristly textures on the arms and legs come from the pressure and direction of the strokes. There’s a kind of ribbing across the body that feels like both motion lines and anatomy—almost comic book in spirit, but rooted in classic figure drawing.
Stylistically, I’d say this has a little of J.C. Leyendecker’s flair, some of Robert Crumb’s gutsiness, and maybe a touch of Baroque tenebrism in how light wraps around the form. The cropped composition pushes it right into your face, like a still from a fight scene or an old-school wrestling poster. I wasn’t thinking of any one artist, but I’ve spent a lifetime looking at Rubens, Sargent, and Diebenkorn, and I’m sure they’re all in here in some way.
To someone seeing this for the first time, it might feel like strength, pride, even humor. It’s physical and exaggerated and joyful in its own way. These kinds of drawings are part of how I work through form and emotion at the same time. They’re a little bit art history, a little bit Saturday matinee, and totally part of how I think as an artist.
Details:
Materials: black and white crayon on gray Rives BFK paper
Size: 11 x 14 inches
Year: 2025
Unframed; ships flat in a clear sleeve with board
Signed on front, dated
Ships in a rigid mailer
Certificate of authenticity included
