• A collage of drawings: one of sewing notions in color pencil, one of three pumpkins in color pencil, one of seashells in graphite, and one of croissants and coffee in graphite.
    Drawing,  Sketchbooks

    Last week’s sketches: Sewing notions, seashells, croissants, and pumpkins

    Took a week break from blogging and then I’m back, hooray! It’s been a busy few days so I have a few things lined up to share. Color pencils and graphite pencil still life studies for tonight. The 14 day observational drawing challenge didn’t stick, unfortunately, but I have been drawing other things. Mostly keeping it very simple and relaxing for sketchbook number 9.

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

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  • A photo collage of simplified line drawings, of a snail, boots, and a skeleton wearing a hat. Text on top states: Drawing Basics line work practice.
    Drawing

    Drawing Basics – Line work practice

    Happy new year! Kicking it off with posting to my blog, yay! ^_^ These drawings are from working through the Proko Drawing Basics Course, specifically the CSI Lines exercise. Even though I’m going through the course much slower than I’d hoped, I can’t recommend it enough – Proko courses really feel similar to college level or atelier style workshops, compared to other online tutorials. Not to say I don’t also love and appreciate other courses and tutorials, I just think Proko courses are worth the cost, 10/10 would recommend. My photo game was very off with these – it was late at night, no natural sun unfortunately. Just sad desk…

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  • A college of pencil drawings, with pencils and erasers on a table in the background. On top are two color photos of my gray cat Kimmie.
    Drawing

    Continuing to Create

    It’s been a rough summer, and I’m happy for the turning of the wheel, and the gentler energy of fall. Last night Ricky and I had a little backyard fire, with the full moon overhead and the sound of crickets carrying across the cool air. And now, with the weekend almost over, I’m pausing to post here. I’m so tired of these gaps in my creative journey – but perhaps in a strange way they are building my artistic character, unique to my path?

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  • Photo collage of a sketch of a woman in a chemise, a blue sketchbook cover, and a drawing of a pile of dishes
    Drawing,  Sketchbooks

    Sunday Sketches

    Today I made vegetarian lasagna for dinner – and while it was in the oven I sketched my dishes pile. It made for a fun contour line study, with lots of overlapping forms. I’ve been reading An Illustrated Life, hoping to inspire myself to let go more in my sketchbooks and draw whatever might spark my interest, no matter how banal or humble. So dishes pile it is!