Gesture Drawings - stage 1

I have been doing some gesture drawings - following Nicolaides 'Natural Way to Draw' (apart from the schedule!). Today was the first time I've sat down to a real 'session' using Virtual Pose to get some poses. These were the first two drawings I did - the one on the left 3 mins and the one on the right 4 mins....

W/C Pencil Landscape from photograph

This is another w/c pencil landscape using a reference photograph. I did it last week and it's interesting having left it for a few days and now seeing side by side with the photograph I can see areas I'd make darker / lighter. I wasn't so much interested as getting a faithful representation of the scene as getting a good range of values / colours and sense of space. I did do a quick thumbnail value sketch before I started - this is something I am trying to do now. Not sure it helps that much in terms of the final result but at least it gets me thinking about values at the start. I also took my time with this and dried each layer with a hair dryer in between so as to make it easier to work on. Everytime I use the pencils I learn something more!

Log basket

A classic example of how 20 minutes waiting for the news can be better spent than watching Neighbours.... I need to remember that you don't need hours of time to draw. Just one minute and then another and then another...

Flowering meadow exercise in watercolour pencils

I used a photograph as a starting point for this - partly because I wanted to do something similar to one of the exercises in Watercolour Pencil Magic so I could learn and be a bit more disciplined about the process. This time I dried each layer before moving on to the next. I like the way the flowers recede into the distance and I like the trees individually but they don't really work in this composition as they are too much 'garden cultivated' trees rather than wild. I have to confess I did deviate from the photograph and just got a bit carried away with trying out different ways to paint foliage. Still that's okay - it was meant to be a learning exercise not a piece of art (I have to keep telling myself to let go of the need for things to be perfect every time...) Looking at this now I don't think have got enough of a value range - I found it difficult to get the darks and if anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated. I think perhaps I should have carried on layering?????

Cloud Studies in Watercolour Pencil

Stuck inside due to the strength of the winds and driving rain I decided just to play with the pencils and do some cloud studes. The clouds were quite dramatic and it was a struggle to get any sense of that without it looking heavy-handed. I was looking at some watercolours by Turner in a magazine this morning and the light he achieved was incredible. His colours are incredible - quite strong. So perhaps I'm being too prissy with it all and just need to keep on doing layers.... I liked doing the studies as there was no pressure to produce a 'picture'. It felt as if I was just experimenting and learning and that relaxed me much more I think. A bit like the grid does.

First Watercolour pencil landscape...

A few days off down in Cornwall finally gave me the chance to try out my new watercolour pencils - with the help of Cathy Johnson's Watercolour Pencil Magic (Thanks Kate!). So this view from the conservatory was my first attempt. I like the foreground with the fence but don't think the rest works quite so well. I didn't get the muted colours of the hills in the distance or the sense of light at all... still I enjoyed the feeling of drawing yet painting..,

Early morning views in Cafe Nero ... November

Grid View from No 27 Chalk Farm

Back in London starting a new job I found it hard to find time to fit in any drawing AND I was starting a new moleskin so was paralysed for several weeks with the NSS (new sketchbook syndrome). However EDM got me through it with the idea of grids and starting a few pages into the book. These were snatched sketches on top of the No.27 on my way to work. A very bumpy ride and often only fleeting glimpses of what I was drawing. I was sort of doing the EDM Challenge on signs.... Also it's easier to draw people from behind as they can't see you! the final one is just to confuse you. It's my mouse at my desk and bares no relation to the others.....

Ink Sketch of 12C Church Cambridge

Another first... I sat on a wall in Cambridge on a Saturday afternoon in August and drew this church. I love it - it's one of the earliest churches extant in the city and for the first time I used my sketchbook as an aide to composing the picture and getting the basic relationships right - or more or less right. I think the tower on the left is a bit thin in relationship to the rest. I did it in ink at the scene and then added the watercolour later - then I realised the ink wasn't waterproof - doh!

Architectural - August 06

These two are both pencil on a graphite ground. I was pleased with how I managed to get the perspective and the scale right by using a basic unit and measuring relationships. Felt a real 'first' for both.

Portraits

I'm ashamed to admit I haven't been keeping this up. Too many life events and everyday matters crowding it out but I have been drawing - just in fits and starts. Here are a couple of portraits I did in a class in August - father and daughter.... Both were done in pencil on a graphite ground. I did them at the same time - 20 minutes on one and then switching back and forth over the afternoon.

EDM Challenge No. 79 - EAR

My left ear... I noticed about halfway through doing it I reached a point where I was thinking 'I can't get any depth/shaping to this with this pen' but I just carried on. I'm still experimenting with hatching directions/styles etc and seeing what effects you get which is why it looks a bit 'measley' hmmm that doesn't look right... 'speckly' sounds better than 'spotty'. I want do it again but in another media - try it in colour perhaps and if I can balance the mirror right perhaps do my right!
Used my 'any old fountain pen' with black ink straight into moleskine notebook...

Self portrait with hat...

Although I like this as a drawing I'm not sure how good a likeness it is... I wanted to pose with hat and was tilting my head up and consequently it doesn't look like what I see in the mirror but I guess we are all made up of many different views.
I laid a graphite ground first on cartridge paper, sketched very lightly the key boundaries of nose / eyes / chin and top of head etc and then rubbed out the highlights and worked up the darks and just carried on doing that...

Two old men...with thanks to anon

I owe thanks to this to someone on EDM but unfortunately I can't remember on whose blog I saw this exercise of tearing a picture in half and finishing it off...I loved what you did and it inspired me to have a go so thank you! I really enjoyed doing this and it was much harder than I thought. I'd like to try it again with another picture in pencil perhaps or even in colour... PS also apologies to Dan White for bastardizing his wonderful image (check out his fantastic photographs on www.danwhite.com).
PPS see Jan Harris' blog http://purplebirdart.blogspot.com/ as her post inspired this one! Thanks again

Hand with Keys

I was totally wrapped up in drawing the keys and shapes around the fingers but then there was a sudden noise and it was like an off switch - totally lost it and became disconnected.. Then just felt really impatient so just scrambled the shading on the palm of the hand...

Fresh Flowers...

I just had to try this in colour - it was all rich in pink - unfortunately the photo has bleached it a bit. This was my first watercolour for years and I really loved doing it but of course it's not how I saw it... I wanted to get the clean crisp colours and keep the details of the flowers instead it all ended up blurring and mixing into each other and while I like the effect I wish I could get the technique of the other way too! I think I go for the darks too soon and should be more patient at layering and building up the colour gradually - I got lazy with the tile too (present from Islamabad from a recent trip by my parents).. it's much more densely flowered but I didn't feel there was enough room to do it. I'd like to try it on it's own. So a lot a feel could be better but it was fun to do and I just loved using the colour - got to do more of it...

Charing Cross to Headcorn... latte in hand

This was a bit of a bumpy train ride but still managed to get some drawing time in...

Canary Wharf at lunchtime...

This week has been so hot it's unbearable in the office (no air con) but the little park is an oasis and there was a cool breeze yesterday. I still felt self conscious about looking people as I draw but less so each time I do it.

and Feet...

Feet are always good too when when I get stuck for what to draw... I concentrated on the negative space for these ones and tried not to get too bogged down in details but instead get a broad sense of light and shade. I find the pen gets a bit heavy at times with the ink and I lose any subtlety...

Drawing every day...

This has always been my stumbling block. I've dipped my toe in the water in terms of sketching but always jumped out pretty quick... I always felt it was such the opposite of what I wanted to do but at the same time finding the time is always a challenge. Creative License by Danny Gregory just inspired me to do it - to let go of whether it had to be good / bad or indifferent.. I suppressed the desire to go and buy lots of new materials (the bank balance wouldn't like it either) and instead just worked with what I had. I stuck to pen because I knew I would find it a challenge. These were 10-15 minutes found while waiting for trains. I felt less self-conscious if I wasn't trying to capture a likeness (and didn't have the time) so instead I concentated on trying to capture 'weight' - some work better than others...

HANDS

When I get stuck for what to draw I can always resort to my hands... I have a little library of hands but I don't get bored with them. I wanted to get the texture of the feather but it didn't quite work. It's a really clean/sharp feather and I just couldn't get that feeling across - perhaps a harder pencil??

Drawings...

I love sitting down for an hour or more and just getting immersed in a drawing. The trouble is finding several hours is always a challenge. Still, I have managed it the last couple of weekends so here's the first one - the gate. I got tired by the time I did the ground so the perspective is a bit out... I did this sitting in the communal gardens - I felt very conspicuous but after a bit of nosing out the windows everyone left me alone.