Self_Portrait Sketch Card

I like the way my face looks when I look angry!  LOL  I get asked why I always look angry on my self-portraits, honestly, it is because I think I look more interesting and I enjoy drawing that more.  This is ink brush on a sketch card.

Karloff's Frankenstein

I drew this is a blank Hallmark card for my High School Art teacher.  I am putting it in the mail today.  I hope she likes it.  I have tried to express to her what an influence she had on me in HS, even though I haven't become a professional artist yet, I still draw upon the experiences I had in her class to this day.

Thanks Mrs. Phila McDaniel, Art teacher @ Gardena HS, Los Angeles

Hulkin' out Self Portrait

 

Another 20-minute sketch.  Me all angry and stuff.  I don't think the left eye is right...and the face seems a bit thin.  I will have to work on that.

Things clicked last night!

Another great model last night. She was very easygoing and had some really great poses.
The top sketch is from the beginning of class, I just felt the proportions on this on were really better than my average.
The middle is the 2nd hour sketch and there are a few things that don't work about this, I felt this was a good example of my "stretching" I got out of my comfort zone and used some chalk and tried to create and entire feeling instead of just drawing the model.
The bottom one was the last sketch of the night and it just felt right. It turned out to be a real good portrait, it looks just like the model. So I was real happy with that.

Comments and crit are always welcome.

Very Satisfying Session Tuesday!

Another great model Tuesday. She was very creative and he had nice curves to draw. The focus this week was to incorporate items into the drawing, to create a narrative in the piece. I thought it turned out very good, I was very pleased with my sketches this week.

The bottom on was the model and a mannequin, in an embrace.

The top one was the last pose of the evening, I took some liberties with her figure and tried to exaggerate the "warrior woman" theme of the pose.

Great Model on Thursday!

This was the last pose on Thursday. This guy was great, he is a dancer and during the exercises he was making some great poses, very interesting and dramatic. Most of the class was done on newsprint, doing movement exercises. But this last one was great lighting contrast and I really felt I got a lot out of this pose. Let me know what you think.

Nine in 9

Great class last night! We did an exercise of 9 sketches / 9 minutes. We did 9 sketches and took 9 minutes on each sketch. The instructor challenged us to use a varitiy of media and/or techniques and use some of the things we talked about in class, like composition. I found it very challenging, and by the ninth sketch, I was drained. The top sketch was a 40 minute sketch at the end of class. The head is WAY too big and that really messed my appreciation of the body I drew. I was really happy with the proportion of the body and I pushed and tried to spend some quality time on the face and messed it all up. argh.

From Thursday's Class

We had a great model for class Thursday. The first sketch was a 10-minute pose where she was moving slightly during the pose and so it threw weveryone for a loop. I thought is was a great exercise.

The one above that is charcoal on newsprint and I thought it was a really nice pose. I should have spent a little more time on the eye, I just threw it on there and it is obviously not right for the face. But I thought I got some nice subtle shadows of the back.

The top one was my favorate of the night, harsh contrast and a great pose. I needed to use some white charcoal to really beef up the lighting, cause just erasing wasn't getting the point across.

Catching up on posts

On Spring Break...These are from a couple of weeks ago. The top one is focusing on light and dark, no greys, just light or dark.

The bottom on is just a freestyle, last one of the night, just using charcoal.

LOL! I was a model last night!

Okay, so we didn't have a pro model last night so the instructor asked if anyone would volunteer. A calssmate and I stepped up. These two are by my instructor and one of my classmates. "Drawing you without actually drawing any of 'you'..."

This one is the one I did of my classmate. I was really happy with how it turned out. The edges aren't as sharp as I would like, but it feels real and I think looks a lot like her. Again, drawing someone without actually drawing any of 'them'. Interesting format.

Catching up...Class last week

Sorry about the long delay, I missed a class and I came in late to this class a bit late and I am sorry I did, cause this model was AWESOME! He struck some incredible poses and his body was very chiseled and defined, so it was fun to draw. We were concentrating on foreshortening. I found it challenging and satisfying. I had been running late and I forgot all my materials except for my pencils. So all these sketches are in pencil.

I am really enjoying my class the teacher is not only an artist, but an Art History teacher, so we going over slides of the masters and I really love that. Rediscovering Carvaggio has been a joy.

Tuesday Class

Last night was great! We had an incredible model, he did some really amazing poses during the warm-up, I just wish he would have used those in our longer poses, but the guy isn't Superman...so. We we told to use shapes to find our poses, trying to fit the entire figure on the page, which I have to say, is a weakness. I start somewhere and misjudge the proportion and bam, the model is cut off at the kneecaps. LOL The first drawing was a 10 minute sketch, and I found lots of triangles with which to work. The bottom two was our 40 minute pose and the first was at 20 minutes and the last was at the end of the session.

Please, all critiques are welcome.

Tuesday's Class - Ink wash

Well last night class felt really good. We did more of the ink and brush study of light and darks. First we loosened up with 6-7 90 sec sketches with sharpie and newsprint, contour line, blind contour line, opposite hand, upside down and look and recall. The last two were a lot more difficult than I would expect, seeing something right side up and having to draw it upside is a real mind fu*k. Anyway these were 45 minute drawings, we drew the figure with a pencil, no sketching, just definitive lines, then used an ink wash and brush to block out the shadows. One problem I have is I generally draw too small, so I have been purposefully going big and I have a hard time keeping on the page. But I felt very good about my progress last night and I look forward to Thursday.

And please if you have any critique or criticism, I would love to hear it.

Darks, Lights and Comfort Zones...

So last nights class was so much more satisfying that Tuesday's class. But I was totally out of my comfort zone, and I loved it. The class focused on lights and darks, and we use water with charcoal and ink. The first skull was charcoal and then used a wet brush to use the charcoal like an paint. It was very uncomfortable but I think for my first use, it turned out alright, I mean it looks like a skull.

The second was much more straightforward, ink and a brush. We did some pencils to give the shape and then added inks for values. I have to say, working on paper this size (18x24) really made me feel free, like a had room to breathe. I think the brush and ink really needs this kind of space to open up and helped be feel ambitious.

Valentine's Day Cards

Instead of giving my hard earned cash to Hallmark, I did my own cards this year. One for my Mom and one for my Wife.

Class - Wire Masks

So Our first class was a lecture and just going over the expectations of the class. Last night was the first night of drawing...but we were told that budget cuts to the art dept will allow only one night a week with a model. And so this day was not our day with a model. But we did these exercises with greyscales and geometrics and it was pretty difficult to find a face in this, but I was pretty happy with the exercise.

Back to School!

Well, I am going to attempt to go back to school. The class I want has a waitlist, but it is short and I am sure I can get in...(I am trying to be confident...LOL) Anyway, I am going to be taking a life drawing class at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita. I am really excited about this. I am going to be getting some real studio time with real models and everything. I will be posting my work as the semester goes on, so keep checking in and following my progress.

Pencil Sketch of Mike

A pencil sketch of my friend Mike. About an hour spent on it. We went to school at NAU and there was a reunion of RA's and I wasn't able to make it. They took plenty of pictures and this one just cried to be drawn. I hope he doesn't kill me. LOL

Aspens in Winter

I can finally post this one. This was a gift to my niece who wanted me to draw somethign for her. It is ink on charcoal paper and white colored pencil for the white areas.

Birthday Card

Well if you know someone with a birthday near or on Christmas, you know the drill...No mixing of the Christmas and Birthday gifts...No birthday gifts in Christmas paper...etc.

So this is a card I made for my wife. A Narcissus flower, a December flower. White Coloered pencil and markers.