Category Archives: sketches

The Majestic Unicorn, Drawing Challenge Progress

The Majestic Unicorn, 4.5″ x 4.5″ pencil

I really enjoy seeing all of these together.

I may have mentioned it before but it’s so interesting I took a drawing class from Ian Roberts when I follow him for his oil painting videos. It’s also interesting because I don’t have as much interest in painting the kind of landscapes he normally paints. But he has a lot of great insights and is a great teacher, and his YouTube channel is great!

I have signed up for Ian’s Brushwork course that comes after the drawing one (the prerequisite is the drawing class). I don’t often have art-related momentum so I’m not going to give it up just yet. I will be painting in oils for the first time, and trying out some of the non-toxic medium and cleaner options.

I can’t believe it’s April 2022. The pandemic has made time even more unreal than usual. Thanks for dropping in!

Week 2, 30 Day Challenge

Pencil drawings on smooth Bristol board, 30-day drawing-composition challenge Mar-April 2022.

The end of the second row has the only landscape (and out of order). Otherwise I’ve been on this crazy still life kick. Part of the reason, is that we are supposed to be taking and cropping our own photos for this challenge, and there’s not much outside where I am at the moment. (Of course, there is beauty in mundane things, etc, but it’s the end of winter and overcast, so no additional landscapes for me yet.)

I mentioned in the last post that I never thought I would be interested in, or any good at, still life drawing. But now I’ve done a whole lot of them, and they are going pretty well!

Ladle and lemons watching tennis on television. (I thought this one wanted a name.)

A Drawing Class & a Drawing Challenge, March 2022

6 days of 30-day drawing challenge using your own photographs. Approx 6″ each, pencil on smooth Bristol

These are the first 6 days of a 30-day drawing and composition challenge, which is the final (optional) part of Ian Robert’s recent Mastering Composition drawing course. Mainly Ian draws and teaches landscape, but for this challenge we are tasked with using our own photographs, so some of us are doing still life photographs.

Who knew, first of all, that I would enjoy drawing a still life? Or think I could actually do like, a decent one. And in pencil!

Red Onion and Paintbrush, 6″ x 4″, #2 and #4 Staedlter and Blackwing Matte pencils on smooth Bristol

This onion and paintbrush went well. It goes against the parameters of the challenge just a little bit, as the challenge is intended to highlight the main dark and light shapes in an image, and this one has just a few too many details. But that’s probably because I kept going after I got the main shapes in. And that was possible because I took this really excellent class.

Ian Roberts website. Ian Roberts on YouTube.

3 Apples and Goblet, 4″x6″, #2 and #4 Staedlter and Blackwing Matte pencils on smooth Bristol

Perhaps I’ll be back with seven more at the end of next week. Thanks for dropping in!

Ten Hundred Art Class at Monthly, April 2021

It’s just over one year since the last one so time for a new post, surely.

I am in the middle of a month-long, intensive online art class at the platform “Monthly”, called Draw & Paint Your Imagination with Ten Hundred.

Reader, it goes poorly. The goal of the class is to produce a finished 11×14 acrylic painting on a wood panel. And this is the no good very bad condition my painting is in right now. In fact, I started a second one (also poorly) in case I throw this one in a fire.

Not. Going. Well. The face has been repainted about a dozen times. You can see how I got mad and scrubbed it with sandpaper (and then had to redo a bunch of the pencil lines). I am not used to this painting style and so far have adapted poorly. I am pretty sure this style demands a level of patience I do not possess! But it’s not over yet.

We do have two weeks left. This is the middle The middle is the hardest, right? And then I figured I would write a blog post and share the misery with the few lost souls who find it. I tell you what, I am NOT saying don’t take this class. Everyone has a different experience, is my guess. I am doing more art than I normally would and that was worth the price of admission. Oh yeah, it’s kind of pricey. I used some stimulus check on it and I consider it well-spent.

I will also say this class has a large variety of peers, many much more skilled than me, and some maybe with fewer skills. But the ones who are posting their updates are all KILLING IT with their painting progress. On the other hand, many people are not posting any updates at all, and I am worried about them.

Below is most of what I’ve done for the class. We started with sketches and ideas and then worked toward a final character and image, transfer that to a wood panel and get to painting.

I believe it started going wrong when I wasn’t really happy with my final image, but went with it anyway. The bottom left with the bird is not resolved and needs another or a different creature. The dog character looks too much like a malformed dog and not like an imaginary creature as he should have. Then I didn’t decide my colors ahead of time. THEN I could not get the hang of painting smoothly and being patient. Which is where I am today, as I write this blog post.

Here is my timeline of progress.

So there it is. I hope my next update is much more chipper!

Thanks for dropping in!

This Post Contains 24 Pencil Critters!

Mundy Meadows Advisory Board, 9" x 12" pencil

Mundy Meadows Advisory Board,
9″ x 12″ pencil

Percy, and Rebel and Fortunata

Percy, and Rebel and Fortunata

Lots More Pencil Critters!

Lots More Pencil Critters!

I’ve actually been back to Copic marker art cards the last week or two, but it’s been so long since I posted the art is piling up. So. Here’s some new pencil critters! I do like putting them in groups.

Hello to Paint Party Friday! I hope to post the other stuff I’ve been up to next week. Or uh, maybe the week after.

And one last thing. I know the world seems more horrible than ever. It is, and it isn’t. The media would rather make us crazy than inspire or calm us. But those sorts of stories are out there, too. And if you need a daily break, one option might be the Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary on Facebook. SO MANY cute photos of sweet, old pups. :)

Life Drawing, Spring 2016

Life Drawing, May 22, 2016 Prismacolor Nu-pastels on toned paper

Life Drawing, May 22, 2016
Prismacolor Nu-pastels on toned paper, 18″ x 24″

I have mentioned my new life drawing adventure a few times, and finally here is some of it! I joined an open Sunday session (12:30-3:30) at the local art center. I only managed to make it to 7 of the first 10 sessions, but have just completed day one of the next 10.

The colorful fellow above was actually wearing a black hat and tuxedo jacket (with regular brown cigar), but I was trying out my Prismacolor Nu-pastels and wanted to use more colors. He’s a sort of naughty Willy Wonka I suppose (though not on purpose). :D

The next one is from my third 3-hour session with the Nu-pastels. This time it’s a bit of a Hindu goddess aesthetic rather than a Wonka one.

Life Drawing June 5, 2016 Prismacolor Nu-Pastels on toned paper, 18" x 24"

Life Drawing June 5, 2016
Prismacolor Nu-Pastels on toned paper, 18″ x 24″

The next is a portrait, so not exactly figure drawing. I probably spent more time on the hair than anything. This took three hours and I am pretty happy with it.

Life drawing June 12, 2016 18" x 24", graphite

Life drawing June 12, 2016
18″ x 24″, graphite

And finally, this week’s figure using the full three hours. I didn’t show you all my attempts, but suffice it to say even a few weeks of practice can make a big difference!

LD June 12 2016

Hello to Paint Party Friday, and thanks for visiting!

Post #375, Further Pencil Adventures

Tree Bird, 9" x 12" pencils

Tree Bird, 9″ x 12″ pencils

A tree! A bird! An odd creature at the bottom of the tree, wondering how it got there and where it was going and whether it was supposed to meet someone or was in the midst of an errand? Sometimes it’s hard to know.

Many pencil works happened this month! And I am squeaking a post into May, as I try not to think about how quickly this year is moving. Here’s more!

Winfred, with a small contingent of her many admirers, 9" x 12" pencil

Winfred, with a small contingent of her many admirers, 9″ x 12″ pencil

A Turtle Merchant, 9" x 12" pencil

A Turtle Merchant, 9″ x 12″ pencil

Cosmo and Bess, 9" x 12" pencil

Cosmo and Bess, 9″ x 12″ pencil

So there you have it! I may put some in my shop, rather than leave them neglected in piles around my office. I hope everyone is enjoying their (speedily passing) 2016! Hello to Paint Party Friday.

Thanks so much for visiting!

More imaginary creatures in pencil!

Dash and Philipa

Dash and Philipa

The latest 9″ x 12″ pencil drawing, Dash and Philipa. Perhaps you are of the opinion that Philipa should have more of the letter L or more of the letter P. Look, she spelled it for me and she should know!

I haven’t posted in a while. So here’s lots more pencil critters, new since the last post.

Fiona and Ming, Jules and Willow

Fiona and Ming, Jules and Willow

Hat with Birds, Dingo

Hat with Birds, Dingo

Fifi and Juniper, Irina in her party dress

Fifi and Juniper, Irina in her party dress

You should be able to click on these images and enlarge them. But WordPress has been tinkering, or something, and things are not working like they once did. Arrgh! However, I have added these to my pencil portfolio, and you can see em a bit bigger there!

Thanks for dropping in!

Daisy and Others, in Pencil

Daisy, 9" x 12" pencils

Daisy, 9″ x 12″ pencils

Daisy in Progress

Daisy in Progress

Daisy started as a sketch I considered using for a (requested) coloring page. I’ve been trying to practice/add more botanical elements as a way of making these recent portrait type pencil works more interesting.

You may remember these guys before the flowers:

Two in Flowers, 9" x 12" pencils

Two in Flowers, 9″ x 12″ pencils

And more from the past couple weeks:

Ernestine in Cloche, Niles Each 9" x 12" pencils

Ernestine in Cloche, Niles
Each 9″ x 12″ pencils

I have started a gallery of recent pencil art and here is a link. You can also get there via the menu at the top of the page, on the far right. The gallery is a work in progress and not working perfectly quite yet. (I may try to find another portfolio-making widget.)

Some excitement at the blog this weekend! Apparently some Indian hackers were using my bandwidth for Indian porn. (Nothing any of my visitors would ever see. No, they prefer to be sneaky and use some behind-the-scenes BS! But my hosting peeps Dreamhost run a thing called Stop the Hacker! so they let me know there was a problem.) And I am SO lucky to live with an excellent computer programmer who can fix such things. And he did. The end. :D

Welcome visitors! Hello to Paint Party Friday!

 

Enid, Hamish, Peko, Bordeaux, Lindy. Pencils!

Enid, 9" x 12" Pencils

Enid, 9″ x 12″ Pencils

Enid in progress

So, instead of one or two nights like most of these 9×12 pencils I’ve been doing, I put in an extra couple days on this one for added depth and detail. Frequent visitors to this blog may recall my love of snoods!

And here is some of the rest of the gallery from the past couple weeks (with bird friends!):

Hamish with New Friend, Peko & Midori

Hamish with New Friend, Peko & Midori (click to enlarge)

Midge & Bordeaux, Lindy and Margaret

Midge & Bordeaux, Lindy and Margaret (click to enlarge)

A few notes. So much smudging! In some cases, I have tried to remove the smudging (in Adobe Elements where I do most of my brightness corrections and resizing), but some still show more smudging that others. Also, I have included my blog address because while lots of people re-post images, many of them do not mean to “steal” but to share. Those sorts of folks will leave an identifier so I have included the link.

Friends, I must confess – I have THREE ink projects I have put off. The bad excuse is that I am in pencil mode! But the truth is that procrastination and fear of bad outcomes continue to bedevil me. That much said, I may have some inky things (and procrastination recovery to report) next time!

Thanks so much for dropping in! Hello to Paint Party Friday!