No Up, No Down

This project is the result of me being a goof-off.  One day, I sat doodling and sketching some basic shapes in my sketch book with no intent whatsoever of doing anything with the project...

About four years later, glancing through my sketch book in an attempt to find a blank page, I ran across my first version of this drawing.  I traced off the drawing so I could have something to work on without actually revising my original, and also to be free of the confines of that dratted sketch book. At that point I decided to rework parts of the sketch and revise the concept somewhat.

When I liked the outline I had, I added colors.  I used Derwent's Inktense and colored pencils from one or two other product lines from the same company.  Again, I failed to keep a record of which colors from which lines were used. I avoided using water in the colored pencil area, even though the brands used are water-soluable. I wanted the texture of the pencils strokes to show. On the original, they do show, quite nicely.

For the background, I used a mixture of watercolor paints that appears to be black, but is not a true black. It is mainly a mix of red, yellow and cobalt blue, but I also added some Indigo to further darken the paints. I then applied the mixture thickly, without much water, as this paper would not stand up to a very wet paint mixture.  Completed about mid-September, 2013, this project is intended to be framed, and could be hung in any desired orientation because I deliberately left off the shadows.

Still Life in Colored Pencil

I had been working on this one several weeks off and on, so once again no clear dating. I should have cleaned up this scan, because the white paper/lack of background shows a lot of stray marks near the top of the page that shouldn't be there.  Oh well... It's not as if this drawing is worth anything more than a record of my progress.

This drawing was done on cheap 8.5 X 11 inch paper with mixed brands of colored pencils.  I didn't keep a record so can't say which colors from which brands made the cut. Somewhere along the line, I lost my highlights on this one, which I repaired by using a white, soft pastel stick.  I'm calling this one finished as of sometime in May of 2013.

Lily - WIP

No doubt I've mentioned that one of my favorite drawing books is Drawing for Dummies by Brenda Hoddinott.  I'll clarify here that I mean the first edition, because there is also a second edition.  The publisher got someone else to do most of the work for the second edition, and used artwork from several contributors, so there's a lot of difference between the two books.

At the end of most chapters in the first edition, there is a project to complete that helps let you know if you've understood the material presented in that chapter.  For Chapter 14, beginning on page 185, the project is titled Lovely Lily.

The lesson as written is done in graphite, but I wanted color, so I used my set of 150 Prismacolor Premier colored pencils after I had achieved an acceptable outline; from that point on, I disregarded the project instructions. I did not complete the shadows or highlights, which are both important and something on which I tend to do substandard work, therefore, I'll label this a WIP... because I can still go back and correct and/or revise the drawing.

The scan you'll see here was done in May, and shows the progress on Lily that I had achieved as of the end of April, 2013. This drawing is on cheap paper, which I cut to 8X10 inches to fit a frame I have on hand. I foolishly disregarded the orientation of the paper when I began to sketch my flower, using the horizontal, or landscape orientation when I could have used the portrait orientation to better advantage, so the version you see here has had the resulting excess white space cropped off of each end for better display.

Untitled Still Life

I completed another colored pencil piece Thursday, March 8. I didn't give it a name or much thought about framing, because the original has a defect in the paper that I didn't notice until this piece was nearly finished. Other than the defect that you won't find in this scan, I kind of like the piece.

Great White Heron

This outline comes from Terry Madden's Wonderful World of Watercolor: 1200 series, Volume 2, which I bought used... and, like last time, I've ignored his instructions on painting the picture... instead I did my own thing with Heron and Dragonfly (his name for the picture).

I used Derwent Inktense water-soluable colored pencils to complete the picture on a standard medium-weight drawing paper.  Until I went to do the background, I hadn't intended to use any water... but then I determined that I couldn't get the effects I wanted with dry pencils, so this background was painted over with clear water after the pencils had been applied. I also used a colorless blender on the foliage and reeds and parts of the dragonflies and the heron, which brightened some of my colors.

Colored Pencil Drawing

Prismacolor Verithin Colored Pencil on coldpress watercolor paper. My finished piece is 9 inches wide by 6 inches high, yet would also work as a vertical display. The basic line drawing I used here was inspired in part by a lesson from Watercolor Painting for Dummies by Colette Pitcher, although I didn't trace, so my freehand drawn start is different than hers... and of course, I listened to my own muse rather than following the instructions given in the book... I like how this turned out. As with most of my blog entries, you can click this image to see the full sized version.

Notes: 

1. The background appears darker here than on my original... darned scanner.
2. For those who haven't used them, it should also be noted that Verithin pencils are harder and sharpen to a finer point than the basic Prismacolors do, hence the appearance of scratch-marks near the center of this piece.

Handy Rose

One attempt at a mixed media piece. Basic drawing in colored pencil, chromatic black background in watercolor paint. The rose is one of an artificial bunch I bought a couple years ago... the hand is my trusty manniquin hand I purchased for just such purposes.  Glad I was able to find the hand used; it's not nearly as flexible as I had hoped, which strictly limits the positions in which it can be posed.

Colored pencil and watercolor on Bristol Board. 7 x 11 inches.

Quickie Sketches

 

 

Here's a couple of the quick sketches I did this week. Lessons from About.com  Sea Turtle and, Dog. I used Derwent Studio Colored Pencils and Pro-Art, 90# [147gsm] paper. On one 9 X 12 sheet, both of these sketches and room for a few others... No, they're not large at all.

Starr Fish - In Progress sketch

I'm fairly happy with this sketch... I see only one major mistake I made, on the right side of the starfish, there's a larger gap between the two arms than intended.  My own impatience and the lighness of my original outline of this subject are the cause there, and it's something I should keep in mind for the next time.

Note that water hasn't been applied to this sketch... yet... The coloration will change when I do that. I need to research how to produce a sandy-looking texture for my background before I add some water to change the colors of this drawing.  As with my turtle, I used water-soluable colored pencils, but intending this one to only be a practice exercise, I didn't transfer it to watercolor paper.

Also worth mentioning: The colored pencils  I use don't erase well, so correcting the error at this stage isn't possible.  If I had spotted it before I added the color, yes, I could have made the correction... which I should also note is a good reason to delay a bit before adding color and after I THINK the initial graphite sketch is correct.

Starr Fish - A Drawspace Lesson

Roses of Happiness

These roses were done from a Drawspace lesson, except, of course, I went for color instead of just graphite.

11X15 - Strathmore 140 lb cold press watercolor paper
Derwent Inktense water-soluable color pencils and about 2 months off and on of my time - first with an 8b graphite pencil on cheap paper and then the colored pencils on better paper.

Okay, I'll admit it. The framing and signature you see here were done digitally; although the original sketch does bear my real signature...  And I can see now that I didn't do such a great job of cleaning up this scan... but oh well. The original hangs in my livingroom, a gift to my beloved husband, and that original does look better than the scan.

Turtle Sketch

Like my previous sketch, this, too, is based partly on a Drawspace lesson and partly on a photo. Unfortunately, as with other source photos I've used, this, too, is no longer available online.

Two weeks - more or less - is what I've spent on this beast. To be fair, it wasn't two weeks straight though. I took a lot of breaks after doing very little, and spent a lot of time just that last night on it. I finished it May 18, 2008. The shadow - leaves a lot to be desired... and that's the best I can say for that part of the drawing. As for the rest, I'm satisfied that at my present knowledge and skill level (talent not included) I've done the best I could.

I used Derwent Inktense (water soluable) colored pencils on 140 pound cold pressed watercolor paper. And yep, I did use the water, although that's not strictly obligatory. The original is 9.5 inches high by 13 inches wide.

When my mother asked what I was doing, I mentioned drawing... and she said she wanted something I drew... so the original sketch is hers. But I decided long before I started, that I'd keep copies of all that I do.

Original Art

Like many others, my first exposure to art was during elementary school. While I was granted opportunities to experiment with different media during school hours, there was little or no encouragement at home and fewer opportunities at school as the years passed.

For a very long time, I've wanted to draw, but did nothing much about it. Four years ago, I found what is - to me - a marvelous website, Drawspace.com now full of over 200 different lessons on drawing and painting. The artist who created the site, Brenda Hoddinott, speaks to me through her art... so I began following some of her lessons and purchased her book, Drawing for Dummies in which the author/artist does not assume the reader has any previous knowledge of drawing... which is exactly what I needed.

All too often, my efforts prove unworthy of showing, but over the last several years, I have drawn and/or painted a few pieces that will be posted here. Comments are active and constructive criticism appreciated.

This is the sole picture I don't actually deem worthy of being here, but it's something to compare with my more current pieces to help see my progress.

Original sketch dated 11/04/2007, this is a blend of a Drawspace lesson on atmospheric perspective and some ideas (loosely) taken from a couple of photos of Mount Lassen, located in northern California; one taken from Kings Creek meadow, and the second one taken from the vicinity of Hat Creek. Unfortunately, my second source photo is no longer online.

I used a standard 2B pencil for the line drawing, several colors of Derwent Graphitint pencils for most of the shading, and a blue Faber Castell watercolor pencil for the stream. The paper is from the little sketch pad Derwent included with their pencil set, which is 80lb paper suitable for multiple media. Because the Derwent and Faber Castell pencils are water soluble, I could do a very similar drawing with the same pencils and get a very different look if I used them wet instead of dry, as you see here.

As you can tell, my result doesn't much resemble any of the source materials or anything remotely real either. I jokingly say it's nowhere on earth... but I'd really like to be able to be more realistic with my drawing.