Friday, April 30, 2010

Shiny Things...

Journaling:

Shiny Things...

...that I wantwantwant
but don't needneedneed.



Not sure this yarn keeper thingy is practical, but I really liked the colors and design of the top fabric.

This knitting needle case caught my eye simply because it was black and white polka-dotted with hot pink trim. Another instance where I could have used the paint color "Opera."

I want a big ol' floppy mop brush that will hold lots of paint. Don't need one because I don't paint on a large scale. Still wantwantwant.

Paint. What can I say? One can never have too much paint. I want a tube of every color made. Lately I've been lusting after some Daniel Smith Quin Magenta.

I keep trying to convince myself those needle cases would be good for art pen storage.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Catch-Up Day



Had a journal crisis three weeks ago where my journal came all from togetherness. The paper was weird in it too, the paints and inks were bleeding through. I have another sketchbook of the same brand and the paper doesn't bleed like that. I thought I could soldier on and work around the paper issues but then the binding threads snapped and the signatures starting falling out. Crap!

Ordered a new Hand*book journal but had to wait a week for delivery. It arrived last Friday and I've been furiously recreating old journal entries, creating journal entries for the waiting week, and drawing current daily entries too. Whew! That's a lot of work! I just finished Sunday's "Spaghetti & Eggs" tonight.

So today is my catch-up day. I'm actually drawing today's journal page today, not a week later. What a relief!

Just realized I still need to do *last* Sunday's journaling and get that posted. Grrrr....

The journal entry for today was going to be a portrait of Karen Blados in ink. My thought was to do a simple pencil layout then ink it with the brush pen. I got carried away and kept going. Oy. Gave her a big ol' long nose and huge crackhead irises. Not good.

I redrew the eyes three times and the nose twice then gave up and just scribbled around on it. Grrrr.... (Sorry Karen, I'm *not* posting this one!)

I think the problem was I got the eyes too far up on her head. Human eyes are actually right in the middle of the face from the top of the head to the chin but my brain keeps telling me they aren't. Shut up brain!

I can draw the different parts of the face OK, but really struggle getting them in the right places and in the correct relationship to each other. Practice, practice, practice I guess. Sometimes faces come out perfect and sometimes they're a mess. I need to figure out what I'm doing differently on the good ones and keep doing that!

After drawing for 2-3 hours today starting with the tedious plate of spaghetti and ending in frustration at my inability at portraiture, I wanted to draw something quick, easy, brainless and sketchy-sketchy. I opted for azalea blooms.

I pruned the azaleas today. The blooms are all but gone and they were getting leggy. This is the first time they've been pruned since planting four years ago. Hopefully they'll be bushier next year.

I've never studied these blooms up close before. They look pale pink from a distance but have an explosion of color and "sparkles" from the center. I really needed the paint color "Opera" to capture the vivid, intense center.

In not-art related events, I crossed off one more item from my long-standing to-do list - culled and emptied two banker's boxes of old project files. One garbage bag to the burn pile, one to newspaper recycling. Two more boxes out of my workspace, Yay!

Made a slow-cook pot roast for supper - six hours simmering on the stovetop. I love pot roast days. For one, it's an easy meal. Two, the house smells heavenly like home cookin' all day. Unfortunately it smells like onions all night and the next day. Ugh.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Look Ma! No Cavities!

Journaling:

Most dental hygienists I've ever been to were rather timid when working in my mouth. But not Grace Ann. She looks sweet, sounds sweet and smells sweet, but that's where the sweetness ends.

She got me in a headlock and pulled out about six inches of my bottom lip to get to my teeth.

Heyheyhey! Waitwaitwait! That thing's attached!

She had a death grip on it and wasn't letting go.

My immediate thought was "That's the very same maneuver they use on horses to get them to stand still while they're being groomed."

I'll be still Grace Ann, I promise! You can let go now!


My second thought was to wonder if she has a pair of six-inch stiletto thigh boots at home in her closet laying right next to her whip collection. I'm calling her Mistress Grace Ann next time I get my teeth cleaned. Dang!

(Above the plane)
Model of the Wright Brothers plane at Kitty Hawk
(on top of the file cabinet in the front office)

I drew part of the plane before my appointment and finished it as they were locking up the office for the night. Painted it at home.

Process notes:
It was tough trying to figure out the perspective on this. How exactly would a six-inch pulled lip look from overhead? Made my brain hurt to think that hard.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Spaghetti & Eggs

Journaling:

Hubby wanted a Chef Salad for supper tonight so I put some eggs on to boil. Realized later there was only enough lettuce for one salad so I heated up some leftover spaghetti and took two of the eggs.

Hubby looked at my plate and said, "All you're missing is the fried bologna."

"Fried bologna? What???"

Then I got it.

Oh.

When my sisters and I were young, my mother, who is NOT a cook, would make weekend suppers of macaroni and cheese, boiled eggs and fried bologna. She fed a family of five with one small box of Mac -n- Cheese, four boiled eggs, and three pieces of bologna. There were leftovers. No wonder we were all so skinny back then.

After we all grew up we looked back and realized what a horrible combination of food this was for a meal. We ate this fairly often too.

Now it's a running joke with us.

"What are you having for supper tonight Sissy?"

"Oh, I don't want to cook. Probably macaroni and cheese, boiled eggs and fried baloney."

=============================

The slice of bologna was cut in half and when fried would curl up into a football shape. Everybody got 1/2 piece except Daddy. He got two halves.

(pointy arrow to white spot on bologna)
<--Shiny grease highlights


As a footnote to this story, I have not eaten fried bologna since I left home. If I never eat it again it will be too soon.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

$1 Watches

Journaling:

There was a "Relay For Life" silent auction at Hubby's work yesterday. He bought me these three watches and the funky stretchy bracelet for $1.00 each.

His contribution to the auction was a framed, autographed photo of himself. (eyeroll) He had me take the picture of him sitting among the purple iris in a cheesy cheesecake pose. (double eyeroll)

If someone bought his photo, they also got a really nice framed and matted kitty cat print.

It sold for $12.00.

Good grief.


He teased the lady who bought it that she should take his picture home and put it under her pillow so she would have sweet dreams of him all night. (sighing eyeroll)

Can you tell Hubby has a big ego??? And a very weird sense of humor?

Friday, April 23, 2010

Crochet? Me?

Journaling:

I've been watching the TV show "Knit and Crochet Today" on PBS's CreateTV (my new favorite channel.) It comes on right before one of the painting shows I like to watch. The more I watch the show the more I think I'd like to try crocheting again.

My grandmother tried to teach me now to crochet when I was young, but I always ended up making what looked like ping-pong ball covers. Obviously I was doing something wrong.

My sister-in-law knits instead of crochets but I knew she had inherited some crochet hooks from her momma. I asked her if I could borrow a hook and a bit of yarn to play with.

She sent me a backpack full of furry, heathery yarns (so soft!), a circular knitting needle, a crochet hook, and what looks like the start of a knitting project.

I'm not sure what I'll be able to do. I only vaguely remember what my Mammaw taught me but it's slowly coming back after watching the TV show.

Maybe I can manage a 6" square potholder or something.

We shall see.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Pencil Portrait, Lady Bowler - WIP

Journaling:

I'm working through yet another how-to-draw book - Lifelike Portraits from Photographs by Lee Hammond. It recommends practicing faces using cover girls from magazines.

LOL! I don't have any women's magazines with cover girls. The closest thing I could find was Hubby's US Bowler.

I got all my chores and errands done by 9:00 am this morning. I was looking forward to a whole day of zen-like drawing since Hubby wasn't due home until 10:00 pm tonight.

I poodle-dewed around and didn't break out the pencils until 4:30 pm, then Hubs showed up early at 5:00. Didn't get back to drawing until 11:30 pm. Got her face finished by 1:00 am, then called it a night.

I think it came out great! It actually looks like the photo! Woot! Still need to do a little bit of tweaking and finish the hair.



Oh yeah, almost forgot, I drew a nose too.
Beware the Cosmic Nose of Death.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Kitty Helps Daddy Read

Journaling:

Hubby has infinite patience with our little furry housemates, even if it means he has to read with a catbutt on his chin and a fuzzy tail up his nose.

He'll stay in an uncomfortable position for an hour just so he won't disturb the cat on his chest or in his lap. He'll do anything for the comfort and convenience of the kittehs.

He's a saint.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Open Studio Tuesday

Went to Open Studio today to show my progress and process to Miz Gay and ask for a few tips on gouache and acrylic. Whilst waiting for her to work around the room I drew the other folks.

I inadvertently picked up the wrong pencil so my sketches came out light. Didn't realize my mistake until time was almost up. Phooey.

Frank - Was just warming up with Frank. Hadn't drawn anything since Saturday and boy, could I tell. I shouldn't do that again. Need to draw every day.

Sylvia #1 - I missed her the last two times I went to Open Studio, so I wanted to be sure to capture her this time. She is *so* cute. She has round, thick-rimmed funky glasses and the cutest little chic haircut. I put 30 pounds on her in this first sketch and made her look like a tubby grandma. Sorry Sylvia.

Sylvia #2 - Consensus of the room was I caught her perfectly here. This is my fav of the day.

Tippy - Was concentrating on his nose and lips. Might have gotten his chin a little prominent, but otherwise he's recognizable. I think this might be the first sketch of a face where I've gotten all the parts in the right place and the right size. Microscopic improvement. Yay!

Sylvia #3 - She was leaning dreamily on her hand, about to doze off in the warmth and hum of the room. I thought the way her glasses and eyebrow looked at this angle were really cool. Oy, the mouth could use some simplification but otherwise I like it. I finally got the right pencil in my hand for this sketch. What a difference!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Books, Kids and Librarians



Got the book The Duggars: 20 and Counting! in the mail today from Uncle Buck. Had to sit down and read it right then from cover to cover. Velly interlusting. Something about that whole family seems cultish and it squicks me out a little. Buck knows this. That's probably why he sent it to me, he's just that kinda guy.

Karen Blados blogged about her first-grade son being excited about checking out a "chapter book" from the yellow section of the library. First-graders aren't allowed books from the yellow section. That triggered an ancient old memory and I had to rant. Spent the rest of the day writing and spewing in a long, rambling blog post, "Traumas at the Library Check-Out Desk."

Still haven't found my muse yet. Still drawing other people's photos dang it. The illustration today is from a photo by Mary R. Vogt, or "taliesin" on Morguefile.com.

Showed it to Hubby and he asked, "Why does she have a Band-Aid on her thumb?" Grrrrr. That's a shadow. Then he said, "Looks like that finger would be good for booger pickin'." Sigh. I can tell when he has spent the day with his golfing buddies. He becomes 12 years old again. (eyeroll)

Friday, April 16, 2010

Museum Head or I Need a Muse



Cleaned out some old photo files on the computer and found one of this guy. He's just a head, part of a sculpture exhibit from who knows where. I thought he was wonderfully weird looking and liked the way the light accentuated the strange chiseled cheekbones.

Late at night I want to draw. I have a passion, a need, a craving, to make marks. But I don't want to draw the stuff in my house. Yawn. Nor do I want to draw more flowers (although the purple iris have bloomed and are gorgeous.)

I also don't want to draw from other people's photos. That's their creative work and I don't really want to duplicate it. Sometimes I do just to work on a technique, but I want to create something original, something from my head. But what?

My imagination is rather unimaginative lately. What to do, what to do?

I need a muse.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Still Life with Cat and Pickles

"Still Life with Cat and Pickles"
Watercolor and gouache
4" x 6"


This started out as the color study for yesterday's sketch, but I had so much fun playing in the paint pan I just finished it out and signed it.

No self-depreciating critical commentary today. Just a happy little woot - woot!



A little background on this painting...

I *love* the TV show Hoarders on A&E. There is an on-line forum about the show at Television Without Pity (TWoP). The tagline there is "Spare the Snark, Spoil the Networks."

One snarker, posting as lorax523, wrote about a Season 1 episode, "There was one shot early in the show that was just so surreal, it was like a Magritte painting. The Siamese cat, placidly sitting next to a giant jar of pickles from Sam's Club. Still Life with Cat and Pickles."

The cat and pickles have now become a running joke on the boards. Even though I have seen every Season 1 episode at least twice, I have yet to see this particular shot. My active little imagination concocted one to paint.

Thanks to lorax523 for the title and all the snarkers on the TWoP board for the inspiration.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Cat with Pickles


This is a concept sketch for a future painting. The idea has been bouncing around in my brain for a while.

I'm thinking of painting it Van Gogh-ish with all bright, pure colors and the brush marks showing; soft edges on the cat, harder edges on the jar.

It would be gouache or acrylic (if I ever get around to opening the set). I don't think my vision could be realized in watercolor.

Here's the color scheme:





And the weirdness factor of the day...

This is an image from a dream I had several nights ago. It got stuck in my gray matter and I had to draw it out to get rid of it.



It was an erotic dream.

Send in the shrink.

I asked Hubby what he thought it was. He said a uterus with fallopian tubes. Um, no.

You are welcome to venture a guess what it is, but I'm not tellin'.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Playing in Paints

Gouache


Broke out the gouache set tonight to see what I could do with it. Oy. I have no idea what to do with it.

I don't know whether it's supposed to be used like acrylic or built up in layers like watercolor glazes. What I do know is I need a spritzer bottle to keep the paints wet. They dried out very quickly and I struggled to get the paint to stick to the paper. It wouldn't come off the brush. When I added water to get them moving again they turned transparent and that nullified the point of using gouache.

I wasn't thrilled with this when I finished it but it's growing on me.

Decided to try the fruit again using ink and watercolor. This is the last opportunity to paint this plate of fruit. The bananas are disappearing daily into Hubby's lunch. I started with a bunch of seven and now I'm down to four. The tomato is going mushy, and the avocados are part of tomorrow night's supper. Had to get 'er done.

Ink and Watercolor



Well, this sucks. First of all I didn't use watercolor paper. I thought I could get by with the paper in my big sketchbook.

***Ernk!!!***. Wrong. Thank you for playing.

It sucks up the water so I couldn't get the background flowing around properly. Sigh.

Second, I don't have a large watercolor brush to do large washes. I used a 1" brush for acrylics and it was too firm. It brushed off the surface of the paper. Not good. That's why the background looks so wonky.

Third, I forgot to put the brown speckles on the bananas so they look rather flat and cartoonish.

If this wasn't permanently attached in my sketchbook, I'd chunk it.

Hey, but in the immortal words of Scarlett O'Hara, "Tomorrow is another day." I still haven't broken the seal on the acrylics yet. Perhaps they will work in the way my brain thinks paint should perform. At least I have the right brushes and paper for them. Still need a spritzer bottle though.

Stay tuned, more to come.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Iris!



SQUEEE!!! The purple iris are just about to bloom! It looks like there are lots of blooms this year.

Last year Cheezburger thought the fluttering petals were wonderful playthings and knocked them all down.

If he does it this year he's fixin' to be unwell. I'll see to it. (snarl)

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Hubby Reading - Oil Pastel

(Oil pastel)


The Hubster, reading yet another Clive Cussler book in bed on a Sunday afternoon. Smudge wandered across his chest several times during the sitting making it difficult for him to read and me to draw. Yes, we have wildly exciting weekends.

I have come to the conclusion I have no idea what I'm doing with these oil pastels. There is probably some time-honored technique of using them that results in a decent drawing. I, obviously, have not yet found that technique.

I had bits of colored stuff all over my hands, the paper, and the dresser serving as my drawing perch. Ewwww! Retreated back to my desk and rubbed around on the drawing with Q-tips trying to make something of it.

Rubbed the bits of his face that should have been highlighted and the pastel medium lifted away leaving just a minimum tinting on the paper. Hey! Cool effect. I'll take that!

Even though this drawing ended up very goopy, I think it's kinda cool in an American Primative Folk Art kinda way.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

You Can Draw! - Class #5


Tonight we had the option of drawing three things: a garden deer statue, a bugle, or the Indian doll. I opted for the doll even though she was more complicated. There was more opportunity for fudge factor with her. If I gimped up the bugle or the fawn it would have been obvious. I think about those kind of things when I pick what to draw. Cheatercheatercheater.

There were lots of geegaws on her dress I couldn't make out. Just rubbed the pencil across those parts and called it done.

The teacher said that he was please with the progress of the class. We all took lots of time tonight and spent the whole two hours drawing just one thing. The drawings of the other four are vastly improved over the first night. I think they're beginning to "see" what they're drawing and can get it down on paper.

I don't know if my drawing has improved but my patience has. If I spend more than about 15 minutes drawing one thing I get antsy and have to move on. I finally got in the groove last night and found the zen place of drawing. It felt good.

It stands to reason if I take time with a drawing it will be better than a quick sketchy-sketch. However, I do have the tendency to overwork and not edit. I can see myself spending hours on something and putting in every single nit-picky detail. That's not always a good thing. Still trying to hone the editing factor.

Teacher said I should take this home and frame it. That was a very nice compliment but, ummm....no. Don't really want her hanging on my wall but will be pleased to have her live in my portfolio.

Next week we start a new class, "Sketching Historic Downtown." It will be good to get out of the classroom and sketch in the wild.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Blicked Again



A box from Dick Blick arrived on the doorstep today. Yay! It's official, I now have more art supplies than a hobbyist doodler is allowed.

Hubby is muttering "hoarder" under his breath from across the room.

Booty for today:

-Set of Reeves Gouache, 24 x 12ml tubes (the guy on the racing bicycle is on the front of the box.)

-Set of Staedtler Calligraph Duo calligraphy markers in black, blue, red, green and purple. They have waterproof ink so I can watercolor over them.

-A masquepen for laying down tiny lines of masking fluid for watercolor work. I tried dipping toothpicks and sewing needles in my jar of masking fluid then painting with them. That just didn't work. Sometimes ya gotta break down and buy the right tool.

-Winsor & Newton watercolors, 14ml tubes, Titanium White and Permanent Alizarin Crimson. I simply needed those.

-A brown Pigma Brush pen and a brown Pigma Micron 05 for the gridded journal. I already had a Pigma Micron 005 in brown. I love the color of these pens against the creamy pages and brown grids.

-Gray Blending Stumps, 12 assorted, for working with different drawing pencils. I found I needed more than one because when I switched pencils the stump still had residue from the last pencil and it cross-contaminated my drawing. Ugh.

I feel like a kid at Christmas. I have so many new toys I don't know which one to play with first!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

More Art Supplies I Didn't Need

Journaling:

Hit yet another crap aisle at yet another Wal-Mart to buy more art supplies I didn't really need.

Found two Cachet Earthbound Recycled Sketchbooks with wonderfully toned kraft paper. I had looked for sketchbooks with toned paper on-line but couldn't find any. Whooda thunk I'd find them at Wal-Mart? Also found a top wire-bound Canson sketchbook marked way down for clearance that I couldn't pass up.

Then I went back to the art supply section to see what I couldn't live without. Found an introductory set of acrylics. I've had a hankering lately to paint with acrylics but didn't want to spend a whole lot. After 3-4 paintings my acrylic itch will probably be satisfied. Had to get some suitable acrylic paper too of course.

On a whim I also got a set of oil pastels. I'm not a big fan of pastels because of the dusty mess, but I thought the oil base in these might diminish that. They are still messy but in a gooey way.

Wow! They really lay down some intense color! They can be smudged around with my finger to make a satiny finish. These may be messy but boy will they be fun to play with!



Saturday, April 3, 2010

Saturday, Part Two - Eli & Isaiah

Hubby was through raking and I was drawing his arms when the neighbor boys, Eli, age 5, and his brother Isaiah, age 8, came over to see what we were up to. Eli is a firecracker, Isaiah is the quiet one. Both boys are sweeties and have a maturity several years beyond their actual ages.

Eli wanted to know what I was drawing so I showed him. That led to Hubby and Eli comparing muscles to see who was the manlier man:


Then Eli asked, "Can I draw?"

Ooohhh, I've had this opportunity once before to nurture a kid's artistic curiosity and I missed it. I remembered not to miss it this time.

"Sure!" I said, handing Eli the big Black n' Red sketchbook and the pencil.

"I want to draw next!" said Isaiah. Instead of making him wait, I fetched an identical Black n' Red and drawing pencil for him. I knew those extra Black n' Reds would come in handy at some point.

The boys sat down and went immediately to work, Eli on the top step and Isaiah just behind him in the rocker. They were sooooo cute. Their little baseball capped heads were bowed intently over their work; the huge ledger books were balanced in their laps, and the drawing pencils looked like logs in their tiny hands.

It was amazing how a blank piece of paper and a pencil could enthrall two active little boys into complete silence. It was a magic moment.

I was afraid to breathe for fear it would disturb the magic. There are times in life to take photos, times to sketch, and times where it's best just to be still and experience life's little moments. This was one of those times.

I looked at Hubby and he looked at me and we both grinned. This whole scene was Life Perfected. I'll remember it for a long time and so will Hubby.

So what did they draw? - Cheezburger the Porch Cat. They love Cheezy and Cheezy loves them.

Eli's drawing:

Hubby told them that all artists sign and date their artwork. Eli (Elijah) couldn't quite figure out which way the J went so he had to work on his name for a bit. He couldn't figure out how to make a number 4 for the date so he left that part out.

Isaiah's drawing:
You'll notice he got the pads on the bottom of all four of Cheezy's feet. Good eye for details kid.

Isaiah also drew Sonic. He said this was a video game character. I thought Sonic was a hedgehog, or he was back in the 90's, but then I'm an old fart.


Yes! We have two new little artists in Neighborhood Speck!

Gesture Drawings

Realized last night that the art books from the library were due back on Monday. Had to crack one of them open for the first time today.

The Natural Way to Draw by Kimon Nicolaides was published after his death in 1938. It has been THE how-to-draw book for decades. My three-penny review is that it is more a how-to book on seeing rather than drawing. There are no tips or tricks on drawing per se, but how to think, feel and relate to the subject.

He uses four kinds of drawings:

1) Blind contour - Draw slowly without looking at the paper, *feeling* along the edge of the subject with the pencil as if you are touching the edge of the subject with your finger.

2) Gesture drawing - A scribbly type of drawing to capture the essence of the thing as a whole, not concentrating on any details, just the motion or gesture of the subject.

3) Weighted drawing - Mashing the pencil to the paper to make darker scribbles where the weight of the subject would occur: hips, thighs, the leg with weight on it.

4) Modelled drawing - Mashing the pencil into the paper to make blacker marks where the form of the subject goes away from you and lighter where it comes closer. Similar to a sculptor mashing his thumbs into a clay head to form the sides of the nose.

And that's it. That's all the kind of drawing exercises there are, just in different media: Pencil, charcoal, watercolor, oil.

To use the book properly would take a year of hard work, and that is no exaggeration. There are 64 exercises, each one having five sections, and each section requiring three or more hours of drawing 40 or so drawings. The basic premise seems to be that if you draw three hours a day every day for a year you'll get better. Ya think???

The only part of the book that stuck with me was the gesture drawing. Nicolaides said that in 30 seconds you should have a whole, recognizable form on the paper. Oy. Thought I'd give that concept a shot. So I trotted out on the porch with the big Black N Red to watch Hubby rake the last of the leaves.

Hubby was taking a break on the porch and that was a good thing. It was less daunting to draw him sitting than trying to draw him raking leaves. Usually if I ask to draw him he immediately finds a pressing matter to which he must attend and bolts. He actually agreed to sit absolutely still for a few minutes while I drew.

Sitting 1:
Sitting 2:
Reclining:Hubby said these were OK but they make him look like he has a big ol' belly and moobs. He does have a big ol' belly and moobs.

Hubby got bored with posing and went back to his leaf raking, so I drew the neighbor's car.

Hubby took another break and Cheezburger joined him for a little lap time:
They sat there together for a long while, so I started adding facial features. Shouldn't have done that.

Hubby went back to work, so Cheezy became my sketching victim:

Then Hubby got a phone call....


...and switched the phone to the other ear.


The neighbor came out to chat and inspect:
Believe it or not, the drawing on the right is recognizable as the neighbor. That one gets a Woot! The drawing on the left with the thin lines is where I showed them to her and had to trace the features so she could understand what the scribbles represented. I thought it was obvious but she was having trouble seeing it.

Tried tackling Hubby actually raking leaves:



Hubby finally wore himself out raking and piled up on the porch to cool off. I drew the only part of him I could see as a whole from a distance of two feet, his arms:


I realize these are rough drawings, not really post-worthy, but they are valuable to me because something clicked in my brain about halfway through them. I got it. I got what Nicolaides was attempting to teach his students through repetitive drawing exercises. I have a new way of seeing things as a whole, not just as the sum of their parts. Eureka!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

You Can Draw! - Class #4


This is supposed to be a Teddy Bear but it looks a little like a Teddy Pig to me. Oh well, this is Arkansas so a pig is fittin'. I think I got his feetsies too small. He's got a big ol' head compared to his feet. Hummm....

I used the chiaroscuro method of drawing the shapes of the lights and shadows on this. Wow! That made it sooooo much easier than drawing an outline and the result was much better too. Woot!

The second drawing of the night was our hand. I only got the basic shape down before everyone else finished and starting packing up to leave. That's probably a good thing because it was starting to resemble Frankenstein's hand. Eeek!

The class started with 10-11 people. Tonight there were only four. Next week is the final class. Wonder how many will show?