Drawing

  • A sketchbook page with studies of a large antique wooden spool with thread, and a small pair of modern scissors, with a photo of the still life objects collages on top.
    Drawing,  Sketchbooks

    Daily Drawing Day 4

    Gah, it’s already 9:30pm and I still have a lot left that I want to get accomplished today. I did sketch today in a coffee shop, which was a nice change of pace, but I want to add more to that page before posting it, so here is yesterday’s daily drawing, from the Proko 14 day challenge.

    Comments Off on Daily Drawing Day 4
  • A sketchbook spread, with pencil drawings of pumpkins. A red-violet colored pencil sits in the middle of the book.
    Drawing,  Sketchbooks

    Pumpkin sketches

    The weekends always go by way too fast. Still, I managed some quick sketches. Didn’t quite finish the page I was working on, but I’d rather post a WIP photo here then wait until it’s done. Seasonal studies, yay! ^_^. My mom gave me a pumpkin on a recent visit – it’s larger than the small ones we grew in the garden this year, and barely fit in my still life box/lighting box, but it still made a great object to study. Especially the twisting planes of the stem.

    Comments Off on Pumpkin sketches
  • A college of two sketchbook pages, one showing studies of leaves and forest scenes, and the other graphite pencil sketches of an apple and bell pepper.
    Drawing

    Sketching apples, peppers, & leaves

    I managed to finish day 2 of 14 days of graphite drawing yesterday, yay! Of course I haven’t done today’s drawing…yet ^_^*. I got to use my cardboard box still life diorama thing for the first time, too. It has a hole cut out of the top that I can place a light against, to have really harsh shadows, rather than the general ambient light of a typical well-lit room. And I’ve also got a bonus page with studies of leaves to share – so that next time I’m hiking, I feel better prepared to draw forest landscapes.

    Comments Off on Sketching apples, peppers, & leaves
  • Photo of a green, metal picnic table. Ontop of the table is a an open sketchbook with drawings of trees, an plastic cup of iced coffee, a purple backpack, and a pencil case with art pencils and erasers.
    Drawing,  Sketchbooks

    Making Time

    I’m going to try to commit to 14 days of daily sketching, specifically for posting at Proko’s drawing basic’s course, but I have tried to commit to this several times over the last year, and I always end up skipping out. It feels a little like a cursed task, every time I add “Day 1 of 14 days of drawing” to my daily to-do list. The idea of blocking off time in my calendar is nice and all, but chores or sleeping at least 7 hours or whatever takes precedence. I still like to think I can just wake up 30 minutes earlier and draw, it’s just no matter how…

    Comments Off on Making Time
  • An open sketchbook spread showing multiple abstract patterns, one side in black ink and the other in colored pencils.
    Drawing,  Meditation

    Practice or Procrastination?

    I think an artist could get stuck doing practice drills and basic drawing exercises forever, and never really make whatever they have inside of them, waiting to eventually be expressed. The thought is kind of haunting, and it makes me worried when I practice art: am I just wasting my time, “practicing”, when I should be trying to make the art I want to actually have in my portfolio, or make prints of to sell at artist alleys?

    Comments Off on Practice or Procrastination?
  • A featured image collage, showing various looping marks and drawing drills to practice line work. The background is digital, and on top are three photos of copy paper sheets with various drawing drill marks. Text top top states: Chaotic Drawing Drills.
    Digital Painting,  Drawing

    Chaotic Drawing Drills

    I’d paused posting in here for the later half of January 2024, as some very serious health issues have been happening to a close family member. That’s as much detail as I want to give here on my blog for now. How does one stay creative in times of extreme stress? Drawing drills have always been my go to, but even those have felt like a challenge. There are so many variations on drills, and they’re all meant to be very simple: draw ovals, practice line confidence, etc. Recently, I stumbled on a practice of outlining looping marks. The approach is very chaotic looking, but overall I’ve found it’s a…

    Comments Off on Chaotic Drawing Drills
  • Collage of sketchbook pages showing various drawings of clouds, mostly in bright and light blues, some that are gray and violet. They are simple studies of small cloud shapes. Text on the collage states: Calming Cloud Drawings in Colored Pencil & Marker
    Drawing,  Sketchbooks

    Calming Cloud Drawings in Colored Pencil & Marker

    More small studies, similar to my lace ones that I recently posted. This time the focus was clouds and thinking of them more as three dimensional forms rather than flat. These studies were fun and quick, and a nice way to start December. I’ve tried to approach these as: OK what’s the simplest, easiest and fun version of the subject I’m studying – even if it’s a doodle on scrap notebook paper – and how can I refine and push that version to something else? Hopefully this approach challenges me while still allowing me to maintain a non-judgemental view of my skill as an artist overall.

    Comments Off on Calming Cloud Drawings in Colored Pencil & Marker