Final project

Here it is, the last drawing project! For this one, we were to use a model and draw a bust portrait, having the model draped in cloth. Fabric is possibly the only thing I’m still a little uncomfortable drawing, even with the practice I gave myself before doing this piece. So in an attempt at fearlessness, I used two blankets in this composition. Because I’m like that.

The model is my husband. He was drafted for this project primarily because it was easy for him to find time to sit for it, but I think he actually enjoyed the experience. Behind him is a menorah in a Tree of Life design. It’s not just a prop, he is Jewish (why else would we have one laying around?). But I admit I included it because after looking at him sitting in front of a blank wall with a big glare on it, I felt like there needed to be something to catch the light and add a different texture. Plus the gold candle cups provided a pop of a different color to contrast the blue wall.

Materials: dry pastel, charcoal, colored pencil, white ink.

 

Self portrait 3

The last of the self portraits! This one’s directions were just “anything [we] think is interesting,” and I find profiles to be interesting because they can look almost impromptu, like you’ve sketched the person while they were in the middle of something else. Except in this case, I sketched myself. So.

Anyway, this one is also graphite, and to keep up the pattern of using a different technique for each self portrait, this one involved gesture drawing strokes to create the shapes and forms, lights and darks, and no blending or highlight-pulling with erasers. It’s also my favorite of the three, because I think it looks most like me naturally, as opposed to me posed.

 

 

Self portrait 2 – weird face

The second self portrait in the series was to be of a silly, sad, angry, or otherwise odd face. I chose to draw this quizzical expression, mostly because I thought the way the facial muscles pulled around the eyebrows, nose, mouth, and chin looked cool. This is also done in graphite with a hatching technique for shading.

 

Self portrait 1

This is the first in a 3-part series of self portrait assignments. Each is supposed to show a different face or expression. This first one shows just a straight expression. For this I used my graphite pencils, which have been sorely neglected this term. Also used were erasers to pull out lights and highlights in the hair, and dry paint brushes for blending on the face (since I didn’t have any clean big tortillons, an early attempt with Kleenex proved nonviable, and I didn’t want to leave finger-streaks in the graphite).

 

Colored pencil sketches – sketchbook assignment 7

This assignment was to put our knowledge of form, shape, & value into working with color, specifically colored pencils. I did this on an earlier assignment, the soda can, but it was nice to just do a sketchy assignment with them and choose objects with great colors to draw. Six sketches are below.

If I’d been a little more ambitious, and if my white ink pen hadn’t died on me just the day before, I would have added the lettering to the book covers and the pen canister. Alas.

Landscape drawing assignment

I know, it’s been a while since I updated. Spring Break happened, and then I just kept…not updating. But don’t worry, I’ve been busy all the while!

Here at last is the finished landscape. Charcoal and erasers, and a paper towel used on the sand to approximate the texture. The sand was definitely the most challenging part of the drawing, while the clouds were just really fun to make.