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.

 

Landscapes – sketchbook assignment 6

This assignment was simply to find four different landscapes and sketch them, one of which will be developed into a final landscape drawing. I’m leaning toward the last one, which is of a beach in Newport, OR (I lived in Oregon for two years before moving to NC), and that in my photo of it has some cool shadows on the sand that I kind of really want to draw.

Anyway, here are the four: the Traunsee in Austria, a bridge in Newport, a view of the Great Salt Lake from Antelope Island, and the Newport beach.

And just for fun, the photo of the beach that I will ultimately be working from is at the top.

Complex shapes drawing assignment

For this drawing assignment, we were to create a composition of complex shapes (i.e., not simply rectangular objects, or circular, etc.) that exhibits attention to unity, balance, and focal point. I immediately began to think in terms of color, but knew that I wouldn’t want to create a large drawing with colored pencils (all that teeny-tiny finger work!), so I went to oil pastels. (Confession: I totally used colored pencils on the spoon. I have no idea how to work oil pastels in such a tiny and detailed space.)

My oil pastel skills were a bit rusty to begin with, and I messed up in my first go at the underpainting for the background, but I am pretty happy with the results. I have to admit, I really dig the shine on the mug. Plus I proved to myself that I still (sorta) know my way around oil pastels. Yay!

As required, first the sketch page that has a couple different angles and close-ups. As you can see, it also includes some color mix tests.

And the end result is in the top photo. I say end result, but there are a few things I’d like to tweak at a later date, when I’ve replenished some of my oil pastel stock. But I like this for now.

1-, 2-, & 3-point perspectives – sketchbook assignment 5

This sketchbook assignment was about practicing 1-, 2-, and 3-point linear perspective, with choice of media and subject up to us. I had a cold that week, so these turned out fairly simple, and graphite-only.