Tag: drawing

SAD #3: shadow dancers

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After a week of rainy weather, finally had a beautiful day and could sketch outside. This is from my patio into the back corner of the yard. In the spirit of sketching, namely not looking to get a complete drawing, I tried to get the essence of all the late afternoon shadows that make this space so tranquil.

Sketching tree leaves is an exercise in futility, but massing values and giving the hint of texture seems to work. I don’t have much practice with this type of landscape sketch, but it’s very rewarding when you get it right.

The cast shadows were all over the place – trees on trees, on the far fence, on the grass. I had to rework the values frequently, darkening the shadows on the trees to ensure things didn’t get flat, but also to make the far shadows on the fence look like shadows. Of course this was done outside, so the partly cloudy day made the shadows suddenly disappear for 10 minutes at a time. At first this was disruptive, but then I started using this time to review my work and realize where some of the holes were, then when the sun returned I could jump on the fix.

Used a wide range of pencils to get the necessary variations – HB, 2B, 4B and 8B.

27 to go…

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SAD #2: air guitar

Ok, if I can muster the motivation on a Friday night, tired, after a couple of cocktails, then maybe 30 days is doable. This is #2, “air guitar”, inspired by my all-encouraging wife and her suggestion to draw something from memory based on the movie we watched tonight. I think she was just messing with me, but turned out ok for a 30 minute effort. BTW, the movie was called “Rudderless”, and I highly recommend it.

28 left…

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Sketch… a day? : #1 – Vase wrapped in saran wrap.

Toying with the idea of trying to do a sketch a day for 30 days. Some might be really remedial, namely what can I sketch in 10 minutes while fighting off sleep. While others might be a full hour of practicing a new composition that will ultimately turn into a painting later. Either way, I’ll give it a try and see if I can do it. Actually, one exception to the “per day” rule – painting sessions count towards the sketch-a-day commit.

Here’s sketch #1 – the vase wrapped in cellophane, which is the very same subject I’ve been painting. Thought a sketch working through the values in the cellophane with graphite might help tackle the actual painting, which I hope to work on this weekend. This sketch was done in about 45 minutes. The photo sucks, but the lighting effect is kinda cool, with the light source over stated from the left side. For the drawing artists out there, this was done with a 2B mostly, but I used an HB for some of the lighter cellophane areas. I used a gummy eraser to pull off some of the cast shadow shading to get a transparent effect of the vase. Working the value ranges of the cellophane was insanity. It will probably be easier to manipulate with oil paint.

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“Play with Me?” – done… really

A few posts ago I had declared a drawing of one of my dogs completed, but was drawn back in. I didn’t like the floating head look and wanted to fix that problem. With some guidance from my drawing teacher (thanks again Laurie!), I got to the finish line with a drawing that I’m proud to hang on the wall.

Some significant enhancements: 1) added the wood floor, 2) a plain rug, 3) darkened some of the darkest areas of her face with an ebony pencil, and lastly 4) added a light cast shadow.

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Drawing – Dog Curled on Bed

With a close-up of a dog face under my belt, it was time to tackle a different perspective. This is my mom’s dog, Dixie, in full dream mode. She’s very camera shy, so this is as good as reference photos get for her.

 

First session lasted a couple of hours, but only after having done an initial reference sketch, which helped get the difficult curled up shape and proportions of body parts just so. Once I had this much done I had to give my arm a break. All those hairs start to drive you nuts. Pretty good start, but a little creepy since she’s floating on the page. Dixie Drawing Lg Another session, probably 90 minutes, got the obvious dog bed in place, but also worked the ebony pencil to get the values right on the folds of Dixie’s coat. Dixie Drawing Finished

Pretty happy with the final composition. I’m genuinely surprised at how quickly this came together. There were 3 big challenges with this drawing.

1. The face and general complexity of dog parts involved in a curled canine. But the reference photo was really washed out for the face, so I had to draw what I knew was there rather than just what I saw, b/c I knew what I was looking at was wrong.

2. The hair is much different compared to my previous effort with Zip’s dog face. The strokes are longer and thinner. It was also very tricky to get the white dotted pattern and random splotches in some places just right. Used a 2B for most of the hairs, but in some spots experimented with an HB.

3. The values on a curled up dog SUCK! I’d love to blame it on the lighting in the photo, but even if the lighting was studio quality, I’m pretty sure the challenge of gradating values to show the change in depth in the curled center area would be the same. But I got it to a good point and decided I better leave it alone.

Overall very happy with this one. I’ll have to do a similar composition of my dogs curled on their beds.

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“Play with me?” done

So it may not look like much was done between the last post of Zip’s face, which I’ve decided to call “Play with me?”, but I spent a couple of short sessions trying to get the shading just right so the composition has more depth. I think I’ve taken it as far as I can and ready to move on, although my drawing instructor (Laurie) may have something else to say about that, but I’m really happy with it for my first real effort at a dog face drawing. Now I have 2 other dogs who are jealous and ready for their turn in the studio.

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For those interested in the technical details:

  • Used 3 pencils in the composition – 2B, HB, and an ebony
  • Strathmore drawing paper, 14×17, but used about 75% of the page
  • Not sure how much total time, but best guess is probably 6 hours
  • Reference photo of Zip was taken indoors, light source was a table lamp in upper left corner
  • Zip is a 2 year old rescue mutt, Aussie Catahoula mix; she’s ball obsessed and the biggest personality on 4 legs I’ve ever met
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Zip Drawing update

Thanks to some very helpful guidance from my drawing instructor, I learned how to draw the nose and “presto!”, Zip has a complete face! The nose was done with an ebony pencil and the key was getting the values right by working over the area repeatedly. Finally, the paper texture was helpful in giving the nose that dotted/pitted look of a dog sniffer. Never saw that coming, but apparently it’s a reliable trick.

Worked some more shading on the darker side of the face and the paws. I’m guessing one more session should finish this up.

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Sketch - dog body (rt hand)

Stage 2 incorporating values, hair, and some of her coat patterns. Saving the challenge of the face for last. Liking the way this is shaping up. First time attempt at complete dog drawing.

This took a couple of 30 minute sessions, so another hour or so.

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