Design Stack: A Blog about Art, Design and Architecture: Pencil Portrait Sketches of Celebrity Actors

25 Jul 2025

Pencil Portrait Sketches of Celebrity Actors

00-Celebrity-Sketches-Molly-Reichen-www-designstack-co

A selection of celebrity portrait drawings, all created using pencils.

Molly Reichen drew all of the likenesses you see on this page.

I think that right now, they are all in movies, series and one singer in the form of Billie Eilish. if not out right now, they are in a running project. I am not sure if Emma Watson is in something right now. If you know better about her or any of the other artists, let me know.

Reichen has a very distinctive style. There are some variations between picture and picture, but like siblings, they look like they are part of the same family.

There are two that have grabbed my attention more than the rest. The first is Beth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit, played by Anya Taylor-Joy. The expression is the first thing that hit me. That look deep in thought. Her body is right here, but her mind is elsewhere. The line work plays beautifully on the undulating hair and more subtly in the face and neck. It then takes a more coarse application in the dress that evaporates into nothing...

The second portrait is the one of Thomas Brodie-Sangster. Expression plays a great part in this one as well. A completely different one, though. It's a forceful. If not threatening, definitely defiant. There are supporting features that increase the power of the look. The head is slightly tilted forward, the irises touch the top of the eyelids, the eyebrows are converged and the shadows are more pronounced on the face. The latter is to add more of a sinister appearance.

Capturing the likeness of a person is not all there is to it. Finding an interesting face, pose and expression are qualities that are going to hit the likeness with plenty of bonus points. The kind of appreciation you see in the viewer's face when all of these aspects come together. And they definitely do here.