Daily Sketch #17: Who the hell is that guy?

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The problem with committing to 30 consecutive daily sketches is that sooner or later you’re going to run into a truckload of bad. Today, I got run over.

This isn’t a self-conscience thing, although deep down I’m sure there’s some of that, but rather it was just an off night. Or the fact that I’ve only done one portrait in the past, and it looked a lot better than this one. It was also done over the course of 3 hours, not 35 minutes. Enough with the excuses. I present to the viewing public “self portrait”.

I can honestly say that while this looks nothing like me, once again I learned a lot in a short time thanks to the rigors of daily sketch. Proportional sketching when it comes to still life and landscapes can be a lot more forgiving than drawing a face. The slightest swerve to the left, right, up or down and something won’t look right. It’s a very unforgiving endeavor. I did enjoy the process of getting the parts about right, but just not the proper positioning. In the end, the Mr Potato Head result is not something to frame, but it will be a fun one to revisit with more time to spare and see what kind of result can be had.

Daily Sketch #16: Alaskan Ice

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Today’s sketch is an Alaskan Glacier. The actual photo has these brilliant aqua blue colors against the white snow. But it also has this very carved and complex blocks of shading throughout, which makes a sketch very challenging. Also a good test on perspective and how to give the impression of distance without using any real clear reference point in the sketch. Hoping you get the sense of sheer size of the glacial wall.

Daily Sketch #15: Squeeze Me

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Bit off more than I could chew this time. With another hour or two I can probably get this paint tube more complete, but given the self-imposed daily sketch limitations, I chose to concentrate on the ends, which had the most interest.

This is a large tube of oil paint (ultramarine blue for the curious), which looks like it’s been through a torture chamber. I’ve cursed this tube many times because the top often gets stuck and I have to use pliers to grip the lid to turn it off. You painters out there know exactly what I’m talking about! This causes the body of the tube to twist into some pretty cool ropy shapes. Because the tube material is similar to a toothpaste tube, it’ doesn’t show shadows as easily as fabric. I didn’t think about this before starting this sketch. It’s like painting twisted metal fabric, or something like that. I tried to imagine what the shading should look like b/c it was very hard to see on the live object itself, and once I did that, I made some progress.

Ironically, this composition would definitely be easier in oil.