Monthly Archives: January 2016

Fur & Hair, Adventures in Pencil

This was supposed to be the year of acrylic painting (and may yet be), but January has mostly been the month of the pencil! Most recently, in a break from watching Poirot reruns, I have been watching hair and fur tutorial and speed-drawing videos. Here is my first serious attempt! Took about four hours of layering, and is missing a bit of brightness.

Grady’s Coiffure, 9″ x 12″ pencil

I think Grady’s got a bit of a Seussian aspect, but with fancier hair!

Pencils: 2H, F, B, 2B (because that’s what I had handy) I did not get a blending stump (tortillon) but one of the videos suggested a q-tip and it worked pretty well. I also found a kneaded eraser but need more practice with it. I am going to pick up a couple mechanical pencils and try those, and I also need some darker pencils, maybe a 4B or 6B. Darker is better but I fear the smudging! I really need to be more conscious of the smudge guard I try to use.

Some related videos I found very helpful:

LethalChris Drawing:
How to Draw a Bear, How to Draw a Panda Bear, How to Draw Realistic Hair

Proko, How to Draw Hair (I’ve mentioned Proko before. He is charming and a great teacher.)

Daisy van den Berg, Drawing Fur (dog)

Mark Crilley, How to Draw a Kitten

Fine Art Tips, How to Draw a Mouse with a Mechanical Pencil

Do you have any favorite youtube art channels? Please share! Thanks for stopping by!

Fanciful Pencil Beasts!

Horace and Friends, 9″ x 12″ pencil

Lots of drawing in pencil continues! All 9″ x 12″ as I work through some Bristol board drawing pads. These are I think the better ones, each done in an evening or sometimes two. (I post more frequently on my Facebook page .)

: Hound with Tiny Hat

: Dulcibelle

: Percival in Bloom

: Wulfrid in Camouflage

I do have a new painting started though I have yet to work out a consistent painting schedule. Do I need a schedule? It seems like maybe I do. Thanks so much for dropping by!

Horace and Friends
9″ x 12″ pencil and 12″ x 12″ early painting stage

Continued Acrylics – with progress shots

Acrylic painting and pencil sketching continue.

11″ x 14″ Acrylics, in progress

This one is feeling much more forced than the last one! Probably overthinking things. The black outline was not the best move, but it will probably see a lot of changes yet.

And these are two favorite recent sketches. I am finally using a piece of paper as a smudge guard. Hooray!

Horned Oracle, 9″ x 12″ pencil

Pavel’s Pet Portrait Palace, 9″ x 12″ pencil

I haven’t decided what to do with these, Copics won’t work with this much pencil and the Bristol is no good for acrylics. I could trace the outline on a new sheet, maybe. More likely I will just start the next one.

Thanks so much for dropping by! (All acrylic tips appreciated!)

Could it be an Acrylic Painting post? IT IS.

two painted beasts, omg.
11″ x 14″ Acrylics

Wooo, I’ve been painting! And pretty big too, if you keep in mind I’ve been mostly drawing 2.5″ x 3.5″ art card size the last couple years.

Since my last progress shots post, some WordPress update business or another has removed my slideshow function. I may search out another for future posts, but here is a little gallery of shots. You can click on each to enlarge, but tragically you cannot page through them.

: 11″ x 14″ sketch

: Step one, outline

: Step two, filling in

: Step three, new color

: Step four, new color

: Step five, background color

: Step six, refining shapes

: Step 7, adding detail

: Step 8, shading and detail

So, I was pretty happy at step seven. The next day, after a couple hours working at it (with some frustrations!), what a big difference! I still have to fix up the background. Might just cover the splatters, or might add something new. Or might start the next painting! Here’s a sneak preview:

11″ x 14″ sketch on canvas board

Thanks so much for dropping in! Please, please feel free and encouraged to drop any and all acrylic painting tips in the comments. I’m a bit of a hack at it still, and probably will be for another few years. (But that’ s ok!) :-)

January One, Sketches and Musings

Horace with Friends, 6″ x 6″ pencil sketch (with lots of smudging, d’oh)

When she saw that Horace was feeling melancholy, Gina called in the troops to cheer him up. Just moments after this image was captured, Horace cheered up immeasurably, grabbed his bright green mandolin, and led them in a rousing rendition of “I Want to Be Your Friend” by 11 Acorn Lane. Gina beakily provided horn accompaniment, while Oditi (far left) insisted on repeating the Deedlee-doo, Deedlee-dee bit. They jumped and clapped and spun around.

Happy January 1! The year ahead is filled with promise, opportunity and undreamt surprises. New discoveries, rediscoveries and unwelcome news. Birthdays, lazy Saturdays, and days when the sun will seemingly fail to shine.

But you are here! Thank you for coming. I hope this year holds lots of the good things and less of the bad things, for everyone. More recent sketching below.