Eagle-eyed

Finished this just in time for the 4th July. Hooray for fireworks.

Come Out to Play

Last year I received a small fashion catalogue from a company called Vince. Immediately I knew I had to make it the subject of a fun project.

I look at the clothes on the page and try to imagine what activity she might be involved in and what could be going on in the background.

I started with a black pen before introducing white and brown pens and eventually a range of colours. 

The drawing doesn't have to be sophisticated, it is all about having fun and being creative.

Sketchy Work

Sometimes I get focused on one medium and forget to work in the other areas that I also enjoy. In an effort not to do this, I have written little notes telling myself to work on all kinds of projects concurrently. 

One such project is to work in one of my sketchbooks in watercolour. To help me along I am also taking a short creative course with summer as its inspiration.

This particular sketchbook started life as a novel. I bought the book for $1 at a local library and use it for drawings, collage projects, and watercolour sketches such as this. To provide an interesting and plain base for painting, I covered the pages first in gesso (although white acrylic paint would also work). The gesso doesn't allow the watercolour to absorb into the paper so the finished effect is different.

Laying It On

The first layer is done. Standing back from the drawing the reflection looks better than it does close up. Six to eight feet away is the optimum distance for viewing artwork. Sometimes I forget this and fuss about how a piece of work looks until I leave the room and see the work anew as I come back into the room.
I think the reflection will look even better when I put another, darker layer of blue on the drawing. If you want something to look lighter then put something darker beside it.

Not Quite White

I am continuing to work on my seagull drawing. 

I am not too happy with how the reflection looks at the moment. I began wishing that I had done this drawing on toned paper (perhaps a grey) which would mean I could use a white pencil to put the white in. Because I am using the paper as the white it is harder to see how the white will look until all the blue and grey is coloured in. The white in my source photograph is very bright and the paper may not be bright enough to express that.

It is important not to make a negative judgement too early so I intend to continue on and see what happens when more of the blue is added. Although it is harder to erase coloured pencil than graphite, I can erase or lighten some of the reflection colours and make adjustments later on.
It is in the struggle that you learn to become a better artist even though that struggle is often discouraging and/or frustrating.

Gullible

After constantly telling myself that I would get working on my seagull drawing this day or that, today I finally did. I worked mostly on the bird although it is not finished yet. 

However, I feel I have overcome whatever it was that was blocking me from working on this drawing. Instead of feeling frustrated and dwelling on the challenges, I tried to just enjoy the experience. It worked.

Prior posts about this drawing can be seen here, here, here, and here.

The Art of Travel

It always takes me longer to sort myself out after a trip than I would like or is even reasonable. But it is the way it is.

I have made very little progress on my seagull drawing mostly because I couldn't draw for a long time (and then not for very long) due to my accidents (yes there were two). So I am out of the habit.

I took my drawing with me when I went away and as I sat down to work on it I found my sharpener wasn't sharp enough to get the point on the pencil that I like for my drawings. A sharp point gives me more control on how and where I place my marks. The dull blade on the sharpener was ripping at the wood below the pigment. I didn't have a small screwdriver to change the blade so I thought I might try to do what I could.
Not a good idea. Every step I took just made matters worse.

Focus and looking at what is there (rather than what you think is there) is important when working on a drawing like this and for whatever reason, I jumped in and wasn't paying attention. So I made a mess of the legs by putting  yellow in the wrong place and not concentrating on the shape of the bird's legs. 

A combination of dull pencils, lack of focus and less than optimal lighting. 

What I need is one good positive session with this drawing to get back on track and feel motivated to continue on.

While I was away, I was lucky to catch an exhibition of religious art at Brigham Young University's Museum of Art called 'Sacred Gifts'. 

Some of the works are on loan from Churches in Denmark, Norway and New York. My two favourites can be seen on the flyer below. The first is 'Agony in the Garden' by Frans Schwartz (top far left) and the second 'Christ and the Rich Young Ruler' (bottom).

You can see all the paintings and learn about the artists here.

Charting a Course

The next step in the drawing exercise, I started last time, is to make a chart or plan of the colours I want to use.

I get all my different pencil sets out and try the colours that seem to most closely match those in my subject photograph.

I forgot about the tiny bit of yellow I'll need for the bird's legs. I don't quite have the right colour for the palest blue in the water but I can layer the blue with some white to lighten it up.