Popcorn – EDM Challenge 158

Popcorn

Another quick post. Popcorn is so strange. But it’s really fun to draw. It’s another one of those things that I’ve never really looked at. That’s pretty sad considering all the handfuls of popcorn that I’ve shoved into my face in my lifetime.

It’s totally sunny and 70 today. I can’t keep up with the weather. Earlier this week it was cold and rainy. I’m heading outside with my sketchbook and plan to bask like a turtle.

Thanks everyone for stopping by and checking out my drawings! I’ll be posting new art soon.

EDM Challenge 39: Draw Your Toothbrush

Draw your toothbrush

I thought it would be fun to go back to my Everyday Matters challenge list. This is one of the less glamorous subjects. Guess I should get a new toothbrush soon.

Spring: Here, Gone, and Back Again

Daffodils

Last week it snowed. Snow is a pretty exciting event where I live. We really don’t get much snow even in winter. It quickly melted as it usually does. Then this week it was sunny and warm. Yesterday I lay in the grass in the backyard gazing at the blue sky. It was like a spring day that you might read about in a poem. Today it’s cold and rainy. But yesterday was a day to savor over and over in my memories while I wait for the sun to come out properly –in June or July.

Lulled by warm sunshine yesterday I drew these daffodils. Glad I did, because nothing is making me go outside today, or tomorrow, or the next day…

Turn Out Your Pockets

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I haven’t done anything this week that isn’t, well, let’s just say rhymes with clap. So today I decided that I would just empty my jeans pocket and draw whatever I found. I promised myself that I would post it no matter what it looked like. It’s not the greatest drawing I’ve ever done, but it’s not even close to the worst thing I’ve scribbled this week.

I get so frustrated with myself when I see so many people who have such style and the ability to draw something wonderful every day. I know that I shouldn’t compare myself to others, but come on, don’t we all? Sure it’s a destructive habit, but I do it anyway.

I’m trying learning to accept my rhythms. Some days drawing can be so easy. It’s like silk off a spool. Smooth. Effortless. I sit back and say to myself, “Wow! Look at that! I did that!” Other days and sometimes whole weeks it’s like my hands just go on strike. The hand-eye relationship just goes sour and the two of them just give each other the silent treatment. At some point while I’m asleep, they come to some sort of truce, or decide that they love each other after all and the drama is over. I can draw again. Crazy. I’m taking the gamble that if I just accept my drawing for what it is, it will become consistent in time. Either that or I will just stop caring. However it turns out I’ll end up winning.

Who Is This Woman?

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A while back I had ambitions to do a self-portrait a day. I look back at this and laugh. Well, actually it’s a bit of a chuckle. Since the beginning of 2008 I have only done four drawings, and this one I did today is the only one I feel confident in sharing.

Who is this? One of the fun things about doing these self-portrait drawings is seeing how I interpret that person in the mirror. Do I feel any connection? This time I feel completely disassociated from the image. There are bits that are very like me, but what is up with that expression? I’m either mildly pleased about something, or I am hatching some cunning plan. What does it look like to you?

Something To Be Thankful For

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I’ve been gone for a while, but I’ve had a wonderful week! Birthday celebrations (mine), guests from out of town and a general sense of well-being that comes from looking in the mirror and realizing that even though I’ve grown a year old, I still don’t have any crow’s feet. YES!!! Life is good. Now back to drawing.

I’m posting some drawings I’ve done last week of my husband Michael. I’ve decided that should work for EDM Challenge 42 – Draw Something That You are Thankful For. Well I am thankful for Michael, my best friend and all-around favorite person. I could go on for quite a bit about all the wonderful things about him. But I’ll skip all that mushy stuff. He knows why I like him so much and that is the important thing.

The drawing above is an attempt to work with watercolor pencils. It seems that everything I’ve been trying lately has been such a struggle for me. While I like the drawing, I don’t like the muddy look of the shadowed side of the face. I also know that I would much rather use a hot press paper than cold press. The texture of this paper was really unsuitable and I struggled mightily with it. But you don’t learn if you don’t try, right?
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This is a quick sketch of Michael I did while we were sitting outside having coffee yesterday. I don’t know why I like this one so much. I think because I feel I really captured his characteristic squint/frown that he gets when he’s reading the paper. I used my sepia Pitt Artist pens and then colored it with watercolor pencils when I got home.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you come again.

Colored Pencil Portrait: Daniel Craig

Daniel Craig

Well, I did it.  Geez, it felt like forever. The scan of the pencil portrait worked great as a sort of grisaille which saved me a lot of time.  I didn’t have to build layer after layer of shadow.  I really admire people who work in colored pencil. There is so much discipline involved. You have to be even when applying strokes. As you can see my background is pretty uneven because I wasn’t patient enough to really move my pencil in a way that would ensure even color. Oh and working on vellum Bristol board didn’t help either. It was nice to have the texture at first because you can apply so many layers of color. The problem with that is that I realized that I don’t have the patience to apply the number of layers needed to really do this right.

It took me days to finish this, and I’m sorry that I rushed the background. It’s no masterpiece, but the flesh looks fleshyenough to suit me, so I will put this in my success stack. This was a wonderful exercise.  It was definitely worth doing.  I see potential here and if I stick with it I could be pleasantly surprised by the results.

So bless all of you colored pencil artists. There should be a special medal for you.

It’s been a wonderful two days. The sun has been out and my daffodils and crocuses are up. It’s feeling like spring and my heart is singing with it!

Pencil Portrait: Daniel Craig

DCraig

After all of the drawing from life I’ve been doing, I thought it would be interesting to draw a portrait from a photo. I had been reading a post on Ujwala’s blog Draw the Line and she asked folks to comment on whether they preferred to draw portraits from photos or from life. There are lots of interesting comments. The link will take you directly to the post if you want to check it out.

Later I was watching the last James Bond movie, Casino Royale and I decided that I just had to try that guy’s face. Daniel Craig reminds of the tired private eyes that Paul Newman played in the mid-60s, like Harper.  I guess it’s the tired expression and the icy blue eyes.

My aim here was to draw in a more controlled fashion and be careful about really looking for the values. I wanted to get away from my usual haphazard sketching and make a real drawing. I’m really pleased with how the nose came out. I drew this a couple of weeks ago, but then the other day I printed it out on Bristol board and started going over it in color. It’s looking pretty good so far. If it turns out well I’ll post it here.

Playing with Colored Pencils: Woodgrain

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I got busy and didn’t manage much drawing. I did this exercise from Beverley Johnston’s book The Complete Guide to Colored Pencil Techniques. It looks like it’s not in print anymore. That’s too bad, because it has great demonstrations in it, like how to draw and color satiny fabrics and animal fur. I’ll have to see if it is available on Alibris or something. Anyway, she gives permission to copy and share your version of the exercise, so I thought I would share mine. It’s not bad, but I still need a lot of practice. I had to return the book to the library so I couldn’t do much else. Colored pencil is fun to work with, but it takes so long. *sigh* I’m sticking with it though.

Kind Heart Award

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I wanted dive in here real quick to pass this award (isn’t it beautiful?) on to these lovely people:

Joan/Shirley/Cedar Raven/Wendy/Doudy

You can pass this along to 5 others if you like.  If not, that’s okay too.

Thanks again Kris for giving me this beautiful award. I’m still glowing.

More art soon!

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