I think I'm coming to a point where I really need to stop sketching, and find a way to find room in my schedule to paint. On the one hand, I feel like I can't seem to find the time. On the other hand, I feel like I'm stalling.
I am getting happier with my little doodles, but they're all getting about as far as I really want to go with colored pencil.
Aneel has been kind enough to model for me, several times in the past. I've never really gotten anything close to a likeness, and I don't know that I've done that here, either. But the difference is that, this time, I'm not even trying, I'm just kind of doodling. These are essentially just under drawings.
Still have no idea why I am drawing a million angles of Robert Pattinson. I'm sort of just going with it now, figuring eventually it will lead me somewhere. Today, it led me here. Playing twister with faces again.
Hmmm...
Started doing all these sketches of Robert Pattinson's face. I have no idea why I am doing that. I don't even know the guy.
Except that... it's kind of fun. I have these moments where I feel like a creepy stalker, but then I play super deformo with my colored pencils, and I get over it. Suprisingly easy to give myself the old pass on being creepy. That alone should probably concern me.
Ah well.
This just rounds up my week. Eva sat for me this morning, while we were waiting for brunch on a rainy sunday morning. Drawings are still so slip slidey, but I am liking this tiny little moleskin sketchbook. It tucks so neatly into the smallest spaces and the paper seems sturdy.
Barak also offered to model for me this week. I haven't drawn him before, though he was a very willing model. As always, I don't know that this looks like him, as much as it was intersting to look deeply into the features of someone for the first time, while holding a pen in my hand.
"What does Barak mean?" I asked him.
"In Hebrew, it means something like lighting," he told me. And I like this. It suits him.
OK, I am torn between deciding whether or not figure drawing ought to count... because it seems a little lazy... and yet, here we are...
So, ok, this week I brought slightly bigger paper, and my box full of colored pencils, which went untouched, and my box of pastels, which made me happy.... although it's been awhile since I played around in that box.
There are colors I now know that I need.
This was a 10 min sketch. The pink was too cool and too grey. I used black as the under drawing, which I love against the craft paper, but was working against me when I added color. You would think I would figure that out right away... but no.
This was another 10 min sketch. Again, the black under drawing was really working against me. I spent the last 5 minutes, wishing I had used sepia to do the basic drawing.
This is a 20 min pose... and FINALLY, I took a stab at working with sepia for the base drawing. Much easier to build against it. I loved playing with the colors. There were more ranges of purple tha I wanted, to play with the lights in the shadow areas.... also, in my head, I was thinking I would go back in and scribble all over the top with black later. 'Cause I'm funny like that. Just ran out of time, and now I'm glad because that would have been a bad idea. Also, the drawing was all loopy and stretched out of shape with itself, which happens. Happens more now because I am so rusty, but.... well, still.
Learned something interesting. Sometimes, I am so used to using the things I am using, that I am not even paying attention. case in point here. My little pot of gesso was in fact white acrylic. Which is great for quick cover... but not so great for drawing on top of. My brown colored pencil here was slip sliding all over the place.
And THAT was the suck.
And then, my matt medium turned out to be gloss medium. More slip slidey, more suck.
Thank god for art supply stores.
"I need matt medium," I tell the guy behind the counter. "All I have is gloss medium, and GLOSS medium... is SO not matt medium!"
he nods soberly, as indeed it is not.
anyway. next sketch will most likely have a little more attachment to it's surface.
day 3. I don't even know WHAT I put on this one. tinted gesso base, colored pencil, ink, acrylic, sharpie, waterproof opaque ink... you name it. There might even be some lint stuck in there, I don't know.
day 2. Brown colored pencil on gesso and mixed paper.
I kind of like this one. Might go back and scribble on it some more.
Wanted to play in my sketchbook a little. So... here it is. One page, every day. No more than an hour, no less than 5 minutes. Simple portrait. 7 days.
day one: Brown ink, gesso, acrylic, and ball point pen.
Yoriko told me to check out the Alumni Association at the Academy... turns out, my old Alma Matter hosts drawing sessions for us Alumni... took a couple of emails to dig up my old student ID (can you believe that stuff is still on record?) and then... tadaa!
The model was beautiful. I had only grabbed my little sketchbook and a box of pencils. Next time I will bring proper paper and maybe even my pastels.
It's funny how sometimes 1 minute seems like all the time in the world. This time, 20 minute poses seemed like 5 minutes had passed. Most of what I did was scribbles in search of a larger space to go, but this one turned out kind of ok... though I still don't know how 2o minutes drifted away...
20 minute pose, colored pencil and white charcoal on craft paper
I don't know why I feel so shy about going new places on my own. Especially considering how often I end up doing exactly that.... anyway, I managed to talk David into coming with me, to check out the open drawing session at the Art Institute. I love the space there. It makes me wish I could go back to school and get my masters.
"What would getting your Masters do for you?" Eric asks me.
and, yeah, I dunno. nothing really. I'd just be using schooling as a feeble, yet expensive way of circumventing my issues with self discipline. Also, it would just be way way fun.
anyway, here are some of my sketches from last night's session. Not sure what I think of them, just glad to have gone.
1 minute sketch, marker, gesso, and charcoal on craft paper.
5 minute sketch, marker, gesso, colored pencil, and charcoal on craft paper.
20 minute sketch, colored pencil on craft paper.
1 min doodle. Playing around with upper lip shapes.
I think I'm coming to a point where I really need to stop sketching, and find a way to find room in my schedule to paint. On the one hand, I feel like I can't seem to find the time. On the other hand, I feel like I'm stalling.
"What does Barak mean?" I asked him.
This was a 10 min sketch. The pink was too cool and too grey. I used black as the under drawing, which I love against the craft paper, but was working against me when I added color. You would think I would figure that out right away... but no.
This was another 10 min sketch. Again, the black under drawing was really working against me. I spent the last 5 minutes, wishing I had used sepia to do the basic drawing.
This is a 20 min pose... and FINALLY, I took a stab at working with sepia for the base drawing. Much easier to build against it. I loved playing with the colors. There were more ranges of purple tha I wanted, to play with the lights in the shadow areas.... also, in my head, I was thinking I would go back in and scribble all over the top with black later. 'Cause I'm funny like that. Just ran out of time, and now I'm glad because that would have been a bad idea. Also, the drawing was all loopy and stretched out of shape with itself, which happens. Happens more now because I am so rusty, but.... well, still.
Learned something interesting. Sometimes, I am so used to using the things I am using, that I am not even paying attention. case in point here. My little pot of gesso was in fact white acrylic. Which is great for quick cover... but not so great for drawing on top of. My brown colored pencil here was slip sliding all over the place.
day 3. I don't even know WHAT I put on this one. tinted gesso base, colored pencil, ink, acrylic, sharpie, waterproof opaque ink... you name it. There might even be some lint stuck in there, I don't know.
day 2. Brown colored pencil on gesso and mixed paper.
day one: Brown ink, gesso, acrylic, and ball point pen.
20 minute pose, colored pencil and white charcoal on craft paper
1 minute sketch, marker, gesso, and charcoal on craft paper.
5 minute sketch, marker, gesso, colored pencil, and charcoal on craft paper.
20 minute sketch, colored pencil on craft paper.
