Jenny Dolfen

Xabi Alonso (and more about football)

Added 2024-04-21 17:49:02 +0000 UTC

I've mentioned it once or twice - the side of me that you haven’t seen much of is that I'm a diehard fan of Bayer Leverkusen and have been since 1990. It's been pretty much exactly 30 years since I've last drawn a football player, but I've decided when 15 year old me can fall in love with a twenty-one year old midfielder, then fifty year old me can fall in love with a forty-two year old coach. Especially since he formed a team that brings tears of joy to my eyes afer many, many years of (football-related) hurt.

Below: A drawing of Ioan Lupescu I did in 1990, age 15. Lupescu played for Bayer 04 from 1990 to 1998. When he left, my fandom cooled a little. I used to have seasonal tickets for three years in a row between 1994 and 1997 (then I went to England for a year).

Next up: Ulf Kirsten, drawn with charcoal in 1994 when I was 19.

Drawing football players from photographs was what improved my anatomy and drawing skills in general. Previously, I had never fallen for any real person I could have drawn from a photo, but this new craze proved to be very good for me.