Sketching

It is not easy to find people to draw. I drew these two high school students while they were studying. I tried to be as unobtrusive as possible . My own children think that drawing people without their knowledge is creepy. But I have to practice....

EDM #2 Lamp

This is a drawing of a lamp that my Grandma gave to us a few years ago. Looking closely at this lamp in order to draw it, made me appreciate what I thought to be just another everyday item in our house. We no longer have the plant on the table. We were plant sitting for our neighbors until they arrived back home from their vacation. Until the next challenge....

Portraits

I picked up a copy of The Fundamentals of Drawing Portraits by Barrington Barber. I too want to learn how to draw more realistic and interesting portraits. For the time being though I have posted a copy of a pencil portrait that I copied from a Navajo artist. As I learn to draw portraits, I will also try to copy them from accomplished artists as a way to study the way they do it and to observe more closely.

Copying

Every now and then I copy a painting of the Great Masters. Granted, I have to look at books and photographs to find images to copy. However, I still learn a lot by making pencil drawings from these paintings in the books. Trying to draw the master works compels me to notice where the lights and shadows are and the subtle change in the colors being used. When I copy a portrait, it helps me to work on such things as my proportions, placement of the eyes, or how to draw in the nose and lips. Copying great works can sometimes feel overwhelming. Recognizing that I'm beginning to notice more of the details in the master works inspires me to keep copying.

Drawing While Waiting

I was stuck waiting for a car repair. I flipped through a magazine and then realized that this was going to be more than a 15 minute wait. Luckily, I had tucked my sketchbook in my bag. I had never drawn in public yet. A waiting room seemed like a safe setting. It also helped that there was only one other person there and then just the dealer staff walking through. Happily, no one seemed to notice that I was drawing away. Drawing in public wasn't so scary after all. I'll have to try it again soon.

From the Desert Wash

One of the plants that grows profusely in the wash behind my house is the mormon tea. It is bushy and green and does not have thorns, an unusual trait for a desert plant. I took a clipping of this plant and drew it in my journal on a page I had earlier painted over with green watercolor paint. It is interesting to find that drawing a portion of a plant that many people consider a weed can develop your appreciation of its beauty.

Challenge #4

This drawing of one of my mugs is done with black and white charcoal on a piece of gray paper. I've been working with charcoal on and off and I really enjoy how it adds volume to my drawings. The Everyday Matters challenge list is keeping me inspired to draw. It's a great list of ideas made up of common items that can be found anywhere you are. "I don't know what to draw..." is not a good excuse for me anymore when the challenge list can be found with a quick button click

Colored Pencils

It is back to school season and I have a surplus of colored pencils from past years. After supplying my children with a variety of pencils for school, I experimented with the leftovers. This is a drawing of a watermelon that was soon to be part of lunch and dinner and snacks....

EDM Challenge #1

I found the Everyday Matters (EDM) facebook group and I'm excited. I have really enjoyed Danny Gregory's book Creative License and found it to be a great motivator to draw. I am looking forward to reading his Everyday Matters book soon.

I took up Challenge #1 on the EDM facebook site and this drawing is a copy from my journal. I hope a sandal counts as a shoe.

Charcoal

While walking in the morning on a nearby trail, I collected several bean pods that had fallen from nearby Palo Verde and Mesquite trees. By afternoon the temperatures outside were too high for another short walk, so what better way to remember the outdoors than by drawing a souvenir.

In this drawing, I first toned the newsprint with black charcoal. Then I erased out the pods. Finally, I lightened the highlights and darkened the shadows. I'm continuing to work on my shading and proportions. All I need now is a little courage to publish this drawing attempt.

A Challenge

My submission to the July challenge over at the Awfully Big Art Adventure comes from a recent drawing in my sketchbook. http://bigartadventure.blogspot.com/

Learning Paint

Paint is a program that comes with Microsoft Windows. This picture is my attempt at cropping an image and then adding text. I took the photo yesterday at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, AZ. "Solar Wind" is a sculpture made by Heloise Christa. The photo was cropped with the Picasa photo editor program and then the text was added with Paint. It is hard to believe how quickly time went by as I worked my way through all the different fonts and colors. I almost forgot to fix lunch for myself and my son. It takes time and patience to learn new tasks.

To Start

I started drawing in January 2009. It is an exercise in self teaching. At first I just thought I'd try to trace tanagram shapes or copy pictures, until I discovered Betty Edwards' Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain book at the library in March. I worked my way through all of the basic exercises in the book and by May I was hooked on drawing. In the meantime, I've been keeping a sketch book, drawing pictures of everyday items around the house, and experimenting with charcoal. I try to make time everyday to draw, even if its just for ten minutes. The drawing above is a quick drawing of part of my lunch. Today it could be my water glass. I will draw just about anything if it will help me to develop my artist's eye for seeing more clearly.
I'm creating this blog to share my art journey from simple line drawings with pencil to my experiments with charcoal and shading. I'm also interested in learning more about graphic art. It is a process. My hope is that my efforts will encourage other beginners to keep drawing.