Inward Dive….begins

I was ready to take-on colored pencil figure sketching!!  So….had to get a wider selection of skin-tone colors.  When I spotted these I thought they just may help. 

Personally….I think the best sketch I’ve done is this one.  My graphite diver that I did back in April ‘11.  I think this was a break-through sketch for me and that’s why I like it so much.

Since I knew I could sketch a diver, it was time to find a new diver to try my hand with.

My Art teacher was the one that told me that there was just a tiny touch of blue in the legs….otherwise….I probably wouldn’t have noticed.   Really need to work on my “observation skills”.  Haha

Someone had commented that I should try to keep my pencils super sharp to help my drawings, so I bought this metal sharpener….it is THE BEST!

I like this diver picture for a lot of reasons:

• Good lighting
• Interesting composition
• No Face

Optical Illusion Hand

I came across this picture on pinterest awhile ago.  I thought it looked pretty cool. So, I outlined my left arm/forearm.

This idea was from a 5th grade art class.  Since I always liked fifth grade art, I gave her a whirl.

I hadn’t worked with markers since my Left vs. Right post and I was missing them!

I would probably give myself a “C” for this drawing.  I did not capture the optical illusion like all the other 10 year olds.  I kept having to go back and erase my lines.  I don’t know why I had so much trouble with this.

Markers for the body….watercolor pencils for the background.  I’d like to do more with this…but I’m drawing a blank!  Haha

Capturing Crabs….4

Well, the crabs were already captured…it was time to capture faces!

What an evolution!  I think I finally started to mold the face correctly by #6.  I nailed number six.  Looks just like my son…but he was 14 when he looked like this.  I had to continue erasing and applying.  Funny..after I fixed one problem, I’d step back and realize that I erased a “good” part of the sketch….you know the part that resembled him.  I guess I could blame my eraser girth.

Number 9-10:  After I was shown in class that erasers do work on colored pencils….I felt much more secure!  Haha!  I’m glad I was able to lower the eyes and shorten the nose.

My blonde son looks like a red-head here.  Oh well!

For my first colored pencil face, I’m ok with this.  Yes…didn’t replicate it exactly, but he looks like himself (more or less).  When the paper starts pilling up on me, that is a sure sign to be done with this already.  That’s how I know to stop!

Happy Mothers Day everyone!

Contouring Crabs….3

I hesitated to start any color-sketching on the head until I had guidance.

I was given the overview of face proportions…..then I started practicing on a separate sheet of paper.

It was interesting to work the face.  I had to fatten it on all sides.  Then pull in the shading where the face curves.

I was liking the way this was shaping up…..too bad it was just a practice head.  I thought it looked familiar enough and would’ve enjoyed working it from here.

But the problem was…my color sketch was still faceless.  So…I had to redo my head on the original.  I kind of forgot what I had done exactly so this obviously ….NEEDS….LOTS….OF.…WORK !

I think I’m going to like my art instructor.  I’ve heard bad stories about art teachers who tell their adult students that what they are doing is “wrong”, or it’s “not the way it’s suppose to be done”.  My art teacher saw my little headless-crab-boy all outlined-with-microns and complimented me on what I had done so far….she liked it!  She said, “not the way I would’ve done it….but I’m always intrigued with how other people approach their drawings when it’s different than the way I do it.”  I told her I’m here to learn and that I could change….she said “if you need to straighten out your edges then you shouldn’t try to change… that’s your way”.

Anyway….I thought that was pretty cool of her.

Catching Crabs….2

This crab wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be.  Sometimes, it’s best not to anticipate too much!

I think my son was 12 years old in this picture.  Talk about a kid that loves the water and the thrill of the catch!  Yep, he was all-boy.  It’s fun looking back at these old pictures, I can still hear him tell me all about the crabs and how easy they were to catch.  Better him than me!

Well…this picture required drawing fingers and toes!  Ugh!! I seem to be catching on to the fingers but not so much to the toes.

Next…of course…is the head! Yikes!