Category: Uncategorized

My Sweetie Pie…

Graphite on Bristol Board

portrait-of-alana3From December 2 Post

(When I wasn’t cooking or visiting I was drawing a picture of my daughter. I wasn’t expecting much, since it was my second portrait, although it  was going slow it was going really well.  I had spent about 18-20 hours total.  It’s a pretty large drawing at 14 x 17 and when I was doing the finishing touches, my eraser left 2 drag marks across her cheek.  The marks weren’t noticeable until I put down a layer graphite and there it is!  It looks almost like a grease spot with pencil marks on top.  Needless to say, I was heartbroken and I must confess I was close to tears.  I mean that was a lot of work that is completely unsalvageable.  At first I thought it was the paper, but using the same eraser on a different paper the same thing happened.  So another lesson I have learned is to NEVER use a white eraser no matter what the drawing books say, just use a kneaded eraser and pat . )  I decided to post the picture anyway.   portrait-2-alana3Below is the same picture with the spots circled so you could see what I was talking about.  I have tried many times to get the likeness right in other drawings.  But for some reason I can’t capture her as well as I did in this portrait.   So…… this is my beautiful little girl Alana spots and all.  There is alot of pressure in drawing portraits rather than other subjects.  I mean if the smallest thing is off, it looks nothing like the person.  My favorite part of drawing this portrait is the hair.  I could have drawn each individual strand.  I guess drawing all that fur on animals paid off. 

David was very helpful and would tell me when I needed to change something.   I think he is going to be next on my hit list. 

The Tazmanian Devil….

EDM #98 Free Choice.  Draw anything you like.

Graphite on sketch

e-j-drawing    Well, I haven’t posted anything in a while, but I have been really busy trying to get ready for Christmas before the season actually gets here.  I will have lots to post after the hoildays.  I don’t want to spoil any surprises. 

     Well, this good lookin’ little fellow is my nephew.  He is the baby of the family, and we all have spoiled him rotten.  I got to keep him for a whole week over the summer.  It was his first time away from home for that long. We also live about six hours away, so he was a real trooper.   I wonder how many time-outs we caused him to get when he got home.  I hope he will get to visit next year. 

     This is my first completed portrait that’s not balled up in the trash.  I would love to give this picture to my brother, but I drew this with a grid and you can see squares all over it.  I was too pleased how it was coming along to throw it away.  I tried transfer it, but it didn’t work.  It definitely looks like him, well, atleast enough to resemble him.

A necklace to share…

necklace3

EDM#78 Draw a souvenir

Graphite on Sketch

This is my daughter’s  souvenir from Busch Gardens Amusement Park.  It is rice with her name encased in a dolphin from one of the stands.  We love going to Busch Gardens and we live close enough that we can go after supper for a couple of hours.

When she was picking out her beads to complete her necklace, I went on a covert operation just to see how the lady was able to write on that tiny little grain of rice.  Then when I got home I grabbed my bag of rice and gave it a go, and I did it. This drawing also completes the book of drawings that I made her for Christmas. 

Now, I can get a job at any amusment park, fair, kiosk writing on rice. 

Sunflower

EDM#124 Draw something yellow

Craft Paint on 5 x 7 canvas panel

 I gave this little Sunflower to my sister-in-law this weekend when we all got together for our yearly shopping trip.  We started this tradition about eight years ago and it is a nice little girl’s only get away.  Our trip involves alot of shopping, alot of eatting and then we pile in a hotel room for the night leaving the kids and the hubbys at home.  I usually use the time to Christmas shop but came home empty handed on that end.  Either I wasn’t in the mood  or nothing caught my eye.    Either way, This trip was just what I needed.  Boy. . .  I can’t wait til next year!

My remote and a tulip.

EDM#103-Draw some exercise equipment you use.

Graphite on sketch

Yep, there’s my excercise equipment.     My thumb is the strongest in town!

 

Tulip

Crayola crayon and ink on Bristol Smooth

 

The ink didn’t get along with the wax of the crayon, so I have a few marks of ink but not much.  This and all my sketches are to go in with a project that I am working on for my daughter.  She is always asking for my drawings, so I bought a scrap book and I am filling it with sketches.  I think (hope) she will like it, because I am really having fun making it.

An Apple A Day…

EDM#24 Draw a piece of fruit

Colored Pencil on Vellum Bristol

And so I drew another apple.  This is from a tutorial that I found on the internet.  But I used my own reference so I could call this my very own.  My drawing is wonky  and highlights and shadows are off, but I like how this turned out.  I have been in the world of black and white too long, it was so nice to play with my colors.  I wanted to do a couple of paintings this week, but my acrylics bit the dust.  They were cheap artist acrylics.  So I guess I got what I paid for.  I am going to bite the bullet and save up for Fluid acrylics.   I love to paint.  I am still at the hobby/learning/screwing up/pissed off/crying for my mommy/screwing up again stage and I hate to spend so much money on supplies, but what other artists say is true.  If you use poor quality materials, you get poor results.  And even though a lot of what I do is not up to par, atleast using good quality supplies makes it alot easier to learn. 

  In the meantime, my colored pencils came to the rescue and lifted my spirits immensely. 

     I think I am going to sign up for an art class on line in lieu of taking art class at PFAC.  I really liked my art class, but I don’t think she really has time to devote to her students. 
I’m a little disappointed, she is really talented and the class started out with a bang but ended in a fizzle.   It is such a shame I could and wanted to learn alot from her.  I still don’t know about the on line classes yet?  I have to do some background research on the instructor. 

FYI (from my last post) – Drafting film hates solvent, it takes the color completely off the film.  So it would probably make a great eraser. 

 

 

 

UGH!!! This is horrible.

“Flowers”  in Prismacolor colored pencil on drafting film

This is a close up of some small flowers that were mixed in with roses that David gave me for Valentine’s Day last year.  I have heard cp artists rave about drafting film so I thought I’d give it a try.  If you are interested in giving it a go here are the specs:

Grafix Dura-lar, Matte film 2 sided .005  (I ordered it from Dick Blick)

  • archival quality
  • lays fat
  • consistent color/clarity
  • non-yellowing
  • dimensionally stable
  • non-tearing

The fim was opaque like but you could still see through it.  So,  I put a dark blue piece of paper behind the film because my pencils were very light colors.  The pencils went on the fim very smooth and just seem to glide with very little effort,  I really liked the feel.  The downside to this film for me is that I use a medium to heavy pressure and I found that I could only put down three layers.  I wondered  if I could  spray a workable fixative then maybe I could add more layers, but I was too afraid to try this time around.  But all and all I was very happy with the overall appearance….well…..I was until I painted the backside.  I thought since it was so pretty with the blue paper behind it, then I’d use the blue pencil on the back.  I was soooooooooooooo wrong.  It changed all the colors of the painting and made it look  too harsh and went from pink to purple.   But I guess we learn from our mistakes, right?  I am not going to give up on this film yet,  But next time, this will happen:  I will choose a base color and a light and a dark of the same family,  and  when I paint the back  will sort of match the front for example: pink flowers: light pink or a darker hue, green leaves: light green or darker hue of the same color family etc.  

Although, I didn’t really like how this turned out, It was still fun and a good practice.  If you are familiar in working with drafting film, your hints would be very much appreciated.

Fall is Coming. . .

EDM #34 Draw a fall leaf

Water color and Ink on Strathmore 140lb. cold press

ACEO (Art Cards, Editions and Originals)

 

(Click image to enlarge)

      I was in the mood to paint.  So I decided to follow the lead of  the many bloggers and I went a searchin’ for some fall leaves.  I didn’t have much luck finding the perfect fall leaf with the perfect fall colors.  You’d think with nine trees in the background I’d find atleast one nice leaf.  I didn’t.  So these two are the best of the worst. 

      I am looking forward to fall.  I have no idea why because I don’t like to be cold…no….I hate to be cold.  I guess I am just ready for homemade soup with a side of cheese toast and dressin’ up dog for halloween.