Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Carnations, colored pencil in sketchbook, 2/14/09
I was feeling a little sick of doing portraits so I did this small sketch of some carnations I had. Normally I am super detailed, trying to capture the minutiae of every leaf and petal. This time I decided to keep it loose and focus on generalities. I need to do this kind of thing more often.
I’m actually considering making a change to my general “style” overall (or at least doing things differently). I feel like I have been too caught up in the details and haven’t considered some other important elements, like mass and form and composition. I am all about improving myself in 2009, so we’ll see what happens.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Anonymous Man from Ivory Coast (#6), graphite in sketchbook (9 x 12), February 2009
This drawing really took a lot out of me. It took a lot longer than I had expected, mostly because I have never done anything like this before. I stopped myself from tinkering around with it any further because I knew I would have messed it up worse if I had. I do know how I would do it differently if I were to try it again, but I’m ready to move onto some other things. I based this drawing from this photo by babasteve. His photostream is phenomenal and you will feel like you are traveling the world when looking at his photos.
When drawing this I was reminded of a circle of friends I had some years ago from Ghana, which is right next to Ivory Coast. They were some of the most friendly and witty people I have ever met. We used to get into heated debates about developmental economics and Barack Obama when people were just starting to speculate about him. I miss being in college.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Anonymous Man with Facial Hair and Glasses (#5), graphite in sketchbook, 2/10/2009
These days I generally do art while in a neutral mood. I’ve been thinking of it more as a task to check off my list and less of my outlet, which is how my artwork used to be in the past. I made this drawing while upset (about the state of my life in general). I fought the urge to curl up in a ball under my covers and I started drawing instead. I’m glad I made something instead of wasting my anger. The glasses are off and he’s not quite right, but it was worth it.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Jake (#4), graphite in sketchbook, February 2009
This is my brother-in-law Jake. He is a true people person and he has a talent for sales. He is inspiring to talk to as he can motivate people to aspire for greatness.
Drawing family members from fuzzy facebook photos is a difficult task. First of all, drawing family is hard because everyone knows what that person looks like and everyone likes to point out that your drawing doesn’t really look like them. For me, it is risky to draw family. It is also hard to draw people from low resolution photos as you have to fill in the details that aren’t there for you. That said, I think I did an awesome job on this portrait.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Anonymous Man (#3), graphite in sketchbook, February 2009
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about myself growing older and wasting my life away. I also spend a lot of time with elderly people, both at home and work. So I thought I would draw an old man for a change. I’ve been in a huge rut (slump) in my general life and art life recently. I’m trying to shake myself up by drawing things that I’ve never done before, which I am succeeding at in general. What I need to do now is change my approach. I feel like I am over thinking and overworking everything these days.
Anonymous Man (#2), graphite in sketchbook, February 2009
I spent quite a lot of time on this drawing, based on this photo. I’m not sure how successful this was, but it was definitely a good exercise. I have never drawn a face with so many wrinkles and I have to say it was really fun. I felt very comfortable with him as well.
On another note, this is how I’ve been feeling about life lately:
“…I shall have to dress a little better now. I know now the direction I have to go, and need not hide myself, so I shall not avoid meeting other people–neither shall I seek them.” -Vincent van Gogh (in a letter to Theo), January 1882
One of my goals for 2009 was to work in a series. I do have another series planned when the warmer weather comes around, but at the moment it is cold and depressing out. For now, I decided to start a series that I can do indoors and that will also improve my skills. In April I am going to be taking a week long portrait and figure course so I feel like warming up for that. I’ve never done much by way of figures, but I will move on to that soon enough.
I decided that I was going to master portrait art 10 years ago when I was in Montmartre observing the street artists. The portraits they were drawing were so amazing and they really blew me away. I remember they used these gigantic blending stumps about an inch thick. My old art teacher happened to be traveling with my family and I remember she taught me the basic facial proportions while we were driving through the Dolomites. By the time we got to Paris (our last stop) and I saw these artists drawing really amazing portraits, I was completely inspired.
That trip was really a turning point in my art life (someday I should write another post about it). When we got home, I bought stacks of fashion magazine and couldn’t stop drawing portraits. Eventually I got pretty good and I had quite a collection. (Unfortunately, a lot of those early drawings were destroyed in a fit of teenage rage.) I drew mostly females though, to the extent that I developed an irrational fear of drawing men. Hence, this new series: A Series of Men. These will be mostly anonymous men from (legal) photos with maybe a few people that I actually know thrown in there.
The drawing above was based on this photo. He reminds me slightly of someone my sister used to date years ago. I’m sorry to say that capturing a likeness is not yet something I know how to do.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
White Rose, watercolor on 5 x 7 greeting card, 1/31/2009
I painted this last weekend and it was one of the only times that I ever had a “zone experience” while painting in watercolor. If you’ve never experienced “the zone” I will now describe it to you. It is when you are so completely absorbed in what you are painting, drawing, etc. that you completely lose track of time and you get this euphoric feeling that comes over you. Whatever you are working on seems to come very easily to you and when you are done, you sometimes can’t believe that you did it. When you are in the zone, you will stay up all night long to do art even though you know that you have to get up early the next morning. I don’t experience this too often, but it is the reason why I keep coming back for more.
I was painting very quickly and not thinking too much about how it was going to come out. I needed to send a thank you note to someone and I wanted to do a little watercoloring as well. I don’t think it came out especially well, but it was so fun for some reason. I don’t feel very confident with watercolor, and one of the only things that I can paint comfortably is flowers. I am hoping to challenge this limitation in the next few months.
I actually took the past two days off from art so I could socialize with people. It was surprisingly nice. The wheels in my head have been turning though and I am thinking and planning about some new projects I have in the works. I need to do some more work before I can post them, but I really can’t wait.
Clavicle Self Portrait, graphite in 8.5 x 11 sketchbook, 1/31/09
I drew a different sort of self portrait yesterday, this time drawing just my neck and shoulders. I never had much by way of cleavage, but I always thought I had a nice set of collarbones on me.
I drew this with some woodless graphite pencils that I got as a “free gift” attached to a sketchbook I once bought (I only have HB and 9B). They have a different feel than regular wooden pencils as you really can’t get as sharp as a point. I feel a lot more “sketchy” when drawing with these and they are a lot of fun.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Drinks, sepia Pitt pen in 5 x 7 sketchbook, 1/30/09
Chicken Wing Remnants, sepia Pitt pen in 5 x 7 sketchbook, 1/31/09
Yesterday I went out for happy hour with some coworkers. I took along my sketchbook which was a breakthrough for me because I would normally be embarrassed to do such a thing. It turned out pretty well, considering that I was drinking (not a lot). I was also talking to people and I had to draw at the same speed that people were drinking (fast). I actually had to tell the waitress not to take away the chicken wings because I was drawing them. Everyone was shocked that I would think to draw such a thing!
