New Drawing

Well I am officially starting my first drawing in a while. I have been busy and traveling quite a bit these past few months. It really feels good to sit down and start a drawing after some time.
Yesterday I went to a few antique shops looking for some drawing inspiration. And I sure found some...

WIP - Children

Starting on a new drawing after having completed the fish drawing. This drawing is requiring me to use different techniques, and one thing I am really excited about is using my new kneaded eraser.

7/52

What a wonderful week this has been. I was so pleased to see an old friend after 5 years. I've got some sketches in the works and have some spare time to share my most recent updates for Sketch 52. I am supposed to draw something from a high angle, and was pleased to finally get a chance to work with a photograph I took a month ago. This will be interesting to see how it turns out since I have never really "seriously" drawn a fish. Escaping my comfort zone, one sketch at a time! 

WIP - Complete!

This has taken some time to do, but I have finished drawing these succulents for the 52 week drawing challenge. This took days to draw since I split my attention between multiple projects. I really am pleased with how this came out, and am looking forward to more drawings like this. With each drawing I hope to add more detail and keep improving.

Details: Just prior to finishing.

3/52 WIP - Progress & Canon A2E

Succulent Drawing Practice

  I've gotten a little further with this drawing this week, as well as taken a better photo of it. This past week was full of distractions including the fact that I just bought a new film camera. After much research I decided to get into film and bought a Canon A2E (EOS 5) and a nice EF 50mm f/1.8 lens to go with it. I'm pleased how easy it is to get used to. There are a lot of controls on this camera and not only that, it has a feature called "eye-control". That feature when programed will allow the camera to know exactly what part of the scene you are looking at through the view-finder and focus on just that. Unfortunately, I was quick to give trust to "Walgreens" for developing my first roll of film. Everything came out "cloudy" and there was a consistent streaking across all the images. I checked the back plate on the camera for pressure or any dust that might cause that and could not see anything, so I came to the conclusion that it was how it was developed. Lesson learned, I will take my next roll to a professional to be developed. After all this though, I am quite impressed with the camera (it is essentially brand new and shipped quickly - thanks Keh.com). I look forward to what this opens up for me creatively. 

One of the better shots to come out of the batch of film. Taken at night into an antique shop.

A WIP - 3/52

I've got a work in progress (since I'm late with the Sketch52 challenge I figured I'd go ahead and post what I've done so far). One of my current favorite plants is the succulent, and I chose it since it's quite a challenge for me to draw. Once I'm completed, I will upload a better version as well as the line art and progress throughout this drawing.

Old vs New

Throughout the years I have tried different styles when drawing. Some have worked, while others haven't. I think my most prominent years for drawing were 2009-2010. I really had a spark of inspiration. That inspiration led me to draw portraits. Here's one of those portraits below (Neil Young). The reference image was from a magazine. 

  

Since then I have started drawing with that same spark of inspiration, just in different places. I no longer want to stick with just one medium or one subject. Below is a recent out of the ordinary piece I did (Robin Olds) with watercolor. I was shocked at how easily the color mixing came to me. Especially since I tend to stay away from using any color.

For the past maybe 10 or so years I've also concentrated on digital design. I had a chance this past year to work with a local boutique owner who wanted a design that would allow her customers to view her new website. We used a frame from her store and I immediately went to Photoshop to see what I could create. I was proud to see the final outcome on print which was passed to all her customers. This was really one of the first times I can remember where my art was so widely viewed in the real world.

I can't wait to see what's to come and hope to get some meaningful practice in so I can improve on my work.

2/52 The Sky

For week two (yes I am behind on uploading my challenges) I drew the sky. For reference I used a photograph from my interesting clouds gallery. This drawing came out well, better than I originally expected. It's very easy to get caught up in the details so I mamaged to keep it somewhat simple.