Category: Graphite

Gypsy…

104_1146Gypsy

Graphite on Bristol Smooth

     I sent my cousin an email asking her if she would like to see her picture now or let it be a surprise.  She replied, “NOW!”  So I sent it, she loved it and put it on her Facebook wall.  I am so relieved and since she has seen the picture…I can post it! 

    The picture she sent me was so cute and the dog is adorable, but I laughed the whole time I was drawing him!  I don’t know what Gypsy was looking at when his picture was taken, but he was cross eyed as could be.  So Thanks for the Laughs Gypsy!

Young at Heart….

 

Canis Lupess

 

Graphite on Bristol Smooth

From a photo taken by  Canis Lupess at Wet Canvas 

    I have drawn so many dogs that they almost have become second nature.  When I have too many flops and my trash can over flows,  somehow drawing doggies always make me feel better about about my drawing ability.  This dog is the result of feeling really bad about my struggles with trying to learn other mediums.  The process of making art can be so overwelming at times,  well most times really and sometimes I lack the patience that  art requires.  I have faith that I’ll get it eventually and I guess that will have to be enough for now.     I’ll just have to press on.

Saying Goodbye….(for now)

Mtn. Dew canEDM #116 Draw something green

Graphite on sketch

      Sorry, the image is a little crooked.  But I’m feeling rather crooked at the moment.  This is my third week of no soft drinks, chips, cookies, cheese, white bread, pasta, candy bars, ice cream or any thing else that tastes really good but is extremely bad for you.  I have already lost about 6 pounds which is really good considering that I haven’t been working out, but it’s still very hard.   I still drink a half a cup of coffee in the morning and tea if I start getting caffeine withdrawal headaches, but mostly its water for me about 3-4 liters of it a day.   The whole family is in on it, so it could be worse…  But eating healthy?  Counting calories and fat grams?  It isn’t fun so don’t believe the hype!

    I’m not giving up on junk  forever.  But like most things are fine every once in a while, but not fine everyday.  I was promised that I won’t miss them after a while.  

 HA! I still want it, so we’ll see.

Beach Baby…

Nathan

(click on image to enlarge)

Nathan

Graphite on Bristol smooth

    I learned a lot  from drawing Nathan and I’m glad that I stuck with this portrait to its completion.  What I have learned is that there’s a fine line between drawing a button (nose) Benjamin and a Benjamin Button.  Drawing this little guy took four attempts and to be honest I didn’t think I would ever get him drawn right.  When rendering  portraits  I do not like any of the paper showing through on a face.  And though it may seem funny,  I draw as though I am applying make up.   It just makes it easier for me to break down the shading elements. The only white   (color of the paper) I have is the white of the eyes.   I really don’t know how I would draw a man considering the few portraits that I completed were women, but I know this does not work for children, because it ages them too much.  In my earlier attempts,  I had an elderly man’s head sitting on top of a toddler’s body. GROSS!   So, I didn’t know what to do…I knew that I couldn’t shade a whole lot, but I still felt that not filling in the space with graphite was just wrong because unless you were a zombie or a vampire a person’s face is not stark white.  So, after much thought I shaded the entire face in a fine layer of graphite and used a tissue to wipe the graphite off  the paper leaving  a slight stain.  Then, I  used an old blending tortillian to do the rest of the shading on the face.  Now he has a more youthful appearance.  That’s what I love about drawing…it is never what you expect, you always find little surprises and you’re never bored. 

Draw a pencil…

EDM 240 Draw a pencil

EDM #240 Draw a pencil

Graphite on sketch

 This is a sketch of one of my Derwent Graphic pencils with a value scale.  I have drawn more value scales than I can count.  When I first started drawing scales, I used (light to dark) 2H, H, HB, B, 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B and 6B.  Now,  I just use a 2B mechanical pencil and blend and  blend and then I blend some more.  This technique was gleaned from reading Lee Hammond’s book Lifelike Drawing.  Great book by the way.  I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their drawing.  

 

Remember those lost in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

We Will Never Forget…

 

 

 

Beamer…

BeamerBeamer

Graphite on Bristol Smooth

     I guess summer is officially over now as today is Alana’s first day back to school.  It makes me a little sad and lonesome.  We had a fun time together even though her idea of learning to draw was to color drawings that I completed! She’s a slick one!  I hope she has a great year!  Well, enough of being melancholy, on with the drawing!

   This is Beamer the dachshund.  I have never met a more camera-shy dog in my entire life.  Beamer would be playing along happy go lucky then when the camera came out the only shots that I could get were of his backside!   I didn’t use a flash, so couldn’t have been the light.  This was a really strange situation  because even though I ended up with this shot, there was a lot of unnecessary stress that was put on the dog by me.  I don’t like that.   I really don’t know what to do if this comes up again, maybe I could let the dog sniff my camera  or something… Beamer is a sweet loving little dog.  What if I get a big, not so sweet, not so loving dog who is as camera-shy.  I don’t want to get my arm taken off to the shoulder!  Maybe I should talk to the vet when I bring Sam in for his shots.  Better to be safe than sorry.  

  Thank you Beamer’s Dad and Sorry about that Beamer!

It’s Friday…

Zentangle 7-30 Zentangle 7-30-2009

Pigma Micron and graphite in derwent small journal

  This is another Zentangle that I threw together while watching TV.   It’s a little odd looking but who cares:)

Nothing goin’ on this week really, except for cleaning out somethings.  I did go to the library and checked out a few books on Acrylic painting and one on abstract landscapes that I am really excited to dive into.  But we’ll see.  Abstract is on my “Art Bucket List” so I will atleast have to try it again (the right way) instead of this way and this way.

We are picking Alana up Sunday, and I’m pretty excited.  I miss the little thing terribly!  My Grandma use to tell me that the reason I had her was to have somebody to play with and I’m starting think she knew what she was talking about.  I’m sure she had a great time.  We will have Somer next week, so I don’t know how much time I have for art, but it will be a good time none the less.

Have a great weekend!

A Zen Weekend…

Zentangle 1 Zentangle I

Pigma Micron in Derwent small journal

(Click on the images to enlarge them)

   I came across the Zentangle about a year ago from a twelve year old artist’s blog.  I wish I could remember her blog because she has some outstanding Zentangle artwork.  The Zentangle has been on my “Art Bucket List” and now I can mark it off (yay me). 

    The only way that I can explain it is that it sort of  like doodling with  purpose, and  you have no idea of the outcome.  Well, that’s not exactly true you are guaranteed not to mess it up.  Beware though, they are extremely addictive.  The supplies needed to create your own Zentangle is smooth card stock, and a fine felt tip pen and a pencil if you want for shading.  The directions are fairly simple make a shape fill in with squiggles and fill them in with doodles.

Zentangle 2

If you want your zentangle as a keepsake,  I recommend acid free  paper and use archival ink to keep the paper from turning yellow and your ink from fading.   The second Zentangle was drawn while traveling to Farmville to celebrate the birthday of David’s Mom and Aunt.  Sadly, David’s Aunt and her husband couldn’t make it, but just about the whole family was there.  We had such a good time visiting with the family.   It was just a feel good kind of day and I really hope we can have times like that more often.  

GetAttachment[3]This is a photo of the family.  Thank goodness Vicki had brought her camera and tripod.  Thank You Vicki, for the pictures!  I brought my camera but only took one picture.  Now how pitiful is that!  I should be ashamed of myself because I was too busy running my mouth. lol 

After the party, we drove to South Boston to meet up with my brother and his wife to drop off Alana for a week so she could spend some time with her cousin Somer.  Then we will meet up again and Somer will stay with us for a week.  The traveling is a pain, but a promise is a promise. 

The weekend ended with swimming, dinner off the grill and a movie.   It just doesn’t get any better than that.

Well, for now that’s about it.  I’m sorry this post is rather long winded, but I thought I’d share my Zen Weekend.

Marilyn Monroe…

 Marilyn Monroe

Hollywood is a place where they will pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.  -Marilyn Monroe

Graphite on Bristol Smooth

EDM #151 Free Choice

 Well, this is my third  portrait…All I’ll say is that I got a lot to learn, but I’m getting better (hopefully).  I love drawing hair, but drawing blond hair is pretty hard to pull off.  It may not look exactly like her but it was a good learning experience so I’m not going to be too hard on myself.  Drawing celebrities is intimating because everyone knows what the drawing is suppose to look like, but they sure are a lot of fun.  I can see why a lot of artists draw them.   I wonder who I’ll draw next?  

Bug Eyed Baby…

Shasta

Shasta

Graphite on Bristol Smooth

     This little beastie belongs to my mom and little sister.  She is a Brindle Boxer and usually their ears stand up, but they opted to get her fixed instead of getting her ears clipped.  She is a sweet but hyper dog who has a hard time dealing with the fact that she’s a dog instead of a little girl.  Her bark is massive, which makes up for the fact that she’s scared of just about everything including the dark.  She loves to chew gum like a person and she will chew and chew until you take it away from her.  She has also tried to blow bubbles, but she can’t get her tongue to cooperate.  She can open doors and turn on any faucet in the house when she’s thirsty. Sounds really good except she can’t turn the faucet off.  She’ll get mad at Gail when she goes out, and fills her bed with garbage from the trash can, now that’s pissed huh?  
     Drawing her was a challenge.  Her eyes are so bugged and more almond shaped than I usually draw for dogs.  She’s really dark but I opted to make her lighter and “muddy’ up her appearance so all her little squished features would show up better, which was a wise choice in the end.  Doesn’t she look like a Shasta to you?