Drawing 100 People in One Week

March 13, 2017

Week 10 - #OneWeek100People2017 - An Urban Sketching challenge to draw 100 people in one week, from Monday, March 6 through Friday, March 10. I successfully completed this challenge, mostly drawing from the Sktchy app, but I was able to make about twenty or so drawings of live people during the week. I started a new sketchbook for the challenge, an Art Alternatives 4 x 6 hardcover sketchbook, just the right size for making quick portrait sketches. My drawings looked cartoonish, maybe caricature-like, but I think they mostly resembled the people I was drawing. I have to accept that I am primarily a cartoon artist and just go with it. I mostly used a brush pen for the drawings, emptying two brush pens, and a cartridge of another by the time the week was over. I used a little watercolor on some of the sketches, which made them look even more like cartoons.

By Friday, after completing the One Week 100 People challenge, my sketchbook was almost full, so I decided to challenge myself to finish filling the sketchbook with people sketches over the weekend, completing another of my Create-A-Thon 2017 projects - to fill an entire sketchbook in one week. I may try that one again with another sketchbook later in the year, but with making one long doodle in a Japanese style Moleskine pocket sketchbook.

I completed another Create-A-Thon 2017 activity, to attend a live model drawing session, which I did yesterday afternoon at Towson Plaza Art. The session was very enjoyable and relaxing, completely different from my usual day-to-day graphic design job. This is why I am challenging myself to a year full of creative projects, to allow myself time away from working on a computer all day. I really enjoy analog art, if that's what you want to call it. It puts my mind in a different frame from my daily problem solving design work.

On Saturday, Brenda and I invited my stepfather over for an evening of painting and pizza. We ordered up some Domino's Pizza, turned on the relaxation station on Pandora and painted for a couple of hours. I had envisioned my painting of a skull floating over a field of flowers turning out differently than the creepy clownish skull painting that it turned out to be. It was fun to paint though, I would like to get out and paint landscapes using my french easel. I had intended to do that on my vacation this week, but the weather is going to be snowy and cold.

Next up in Create-A-Thon 2017 - Winsor and Newton Pigment Markers on Yupo Paper.

Digital Painting with Procreate on Ipad Pro

March 5, 2017

Week 9 - Digital painting on iPad Pro 12.9" with Apple Pencil using the Procreate app. I recently purchased a refurbished iPad Pro and Apple Pencil because I was having difficulty getting the level of pressure sensitivity and brush control using my iPad Mini with several different pressure sensitive stylus.

I had been creating cartoons using my iPad Mini and a Wacom Fineline stylus, which was working pretty well at first, but the Fineline stylus sometimes would get a little wonky and I could not get the type of linework I needed for the cartoons. I tried also a Pencil by 53, which worked nicely for sketches in the Paper by 53 app, but the stylus was a little too chunky for me to draw precisely in Procreate to make the cartoon linework. I finally decided to spring for the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil combo after seeing many YouTube demonstrations and reviews on how well the two worked together. I maybe should have waited for the newer iPads coming out sometime this year, but I needed the setup now, as I was getting pretty frustrated with my previous digital drawing tools.

I have a Wacom small drawing tablet that I have connected to my Macbook Pro, and it worked okay after I got used to drawing on a tablet and seeing it on the screen. That setup is not very portable though. I also received a pretty sweet drawing tablet that works with paper and your own pens for Christmas called The Slate, but it's not quite the right tool for what I needed. I really just liked being able to use my iPad, because it was usually with me, I could use it on my lunch hour and then continue what I was working on later at home on the couch after dinner. I know, not very motivated for me, relaxing on the couch instead of pouring over my drawing table in my studio every evening after working 8 hours and commuting for another 3.

I've had the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil for a few weeks now and the pressure sensitivity in the Apple Pencil is truly amazing and has made a huge improvement in the line quality in my digital cartoons. This week I decided to try digital painting, but I didn't want it to be super realistic, I wanted more of a painterly look to the final piece. I found a nice landscape photo reference from morguefile.com to use, the site is really a great resource for creative projects.

I started my painting by choosing a ground color for the background and used a pencil brush with a darker brown for the inital sketch. The Apple Pencil produced lines that looked very much like pencil sketching, creating broader strokes when tilting the pencil on the side, like you would a traditional pencil. I then chose a free brush that I had downloaded that simulated wet brushstrokes and used that for most of the painting. I worked on it over lunch breaks at work and several evenings this week, adding layers as I went along. I'm happy with how it turned out and now feel inspired to try more digital painting and maybe even go outside and try en plein air painting again.

Next in Create-A-Thon 2017, I will be attempting the worldwide Urban Sketching challenge starting tomorrow and lasting for five days - draw 100 people in one week.

Water Soluble Graphite

February 27, 2017

Week 8 - Water soluble graphite - General's Sketch & Wash #588 and a full set of 5 Faber Castell Graphite Aquarelle pencils, ranging from HB to 8B. I bought the General's Sketch & Wash pencils at Hobby Lobby along with other art supplies using a gift card last year. The set of Faber Castell Graphite Aquarelle pencils was purchased using a 50% off coupon at A.C. Moore. I usually try to buy with a coupon when purchasing art materials from either store, unless the items are already on sale.

I wasn't sure what to draw using the pencils, and first did a graphite wash study of a Salvador Dali painting in my pocket sketchbook. Dali is one of my favorite artists, which I would like to at some point, read further about his life and paintings. I became aware of him first in high school, when my art teacher showed me her books of his paintings. She also was influential in my interest in another artist, M.C. Escher, when she had us work on an art project inspired by his drawings. My interest in these two artists' artwork have remained over the years, and our two cats are named after them.

For the other drawings I made this week, I turned to google images and NASA's photo gallery for inspiration. I made a drawing inspired by a photo of mud bubbles, though my drawing doesn't really resemble bubbles, more like jellyfish, as Brenda commented. My other drawing was inspired by a photo from NASA of Hyperion, a moon of Saturn, though the drawing really just looks like a bunch of holes, not really a likeness of the Hyperion at all. I don't intend to make my artwork look exactly like the reference material that I use, I'm not really into realism in my art, or trying to make something look like a photograph. That's what photography is for in my opinion. I'm striving to create art that is representative of the material that is used, and that will eventually produce some sort of unique style that I can call my own. All the while, enjoying the process as I go along, and maybe discover a passion for a subject or an art material.

I have used the Faber Castell Graphite Aquarelle pencils before on a drawing I made of a raccoon skull from Alan's childhood nature collection. I have included it here, though is was drawn last January, when I first started my nature journal sketchbook. I think that, for me, water soluble graphite is best used for nature drawings, and goes well with skeletal anatomy renderings.

Next week in Create-A-Thon 2017 - Digital Painting on Ipad Pro with Apple Pencil.

Same Subject - 5 Ways

February 19, 2017

Week 7 - draw the same subject using 5 different materials. I chose to draw a sketch of the little historic spring house that was my son's Eagle Scout project. Alan worked on restoring the spring house at the retirement community behind Walmart while he was a senior at Delone Catholic back in 2010. He completed the project just under the wire of turning eighteen, the deadline for completing Eagle Scout projects and requirements. He coordinated a group effort to clear debris and brush around the spring house and to replace the roof and repoint some of the brickwork. My brother Ronnie was a huge help with the construction aspect of the project, without which, this project could not have been successful.

Last spring, I went out to visit the little spring house to find that it has since been nicely landscaped and well taken care of and looks quite charming along the walking path that surrounds it. I shot a few photos of it hoping to capture that charm in some watercolor sketches and drawings. I made five drawings of the spring house this week using different pens and pencils, and also The Slate. I used Winsor and Newton watercolor markers, The Slate with a Le Pen, Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens, Uniball Signo white on black paper, and red pencil on kraft paper. The only drawing that I was remotely happy with was the one made on the Slate.

I admit that this creative exercise did not excite me as much as some of the previous weeks, I just couldn't get into making these drawings. I think that I have too much of an emotional connection to this subject, and a certain pressure to make it look good, that I sort of defeated myself before even starting. I really wanted one of these drawings to be a nice memento that I could give to my son. I may eventually render a version in pen and ink, a medium that is better suited to this subject.

Next up in Create-A-Thon 2017 - Water Soluble Graphite.

Gouache on Black Paper

February 12, 2017

Week 6 - Reeves brand gouache from A.C. Moore on black sketch paper. I was inspired to try this technique when I watched a video demonstrating it on YouTube. I packed up my small traveling ArtBin that I take to work with all my tubes of Reeves gouache, metal paint palette, a few small brushes, pencils, pens, eraser, and collapsible water cup from Faber Castell. I also carried with me my backpack filled with the usual things and for this week, a small black paper sketch pad to use for the gouache paintings.

I intended to work on the paintings on my lunch hour this week, but one of the days I spent fiddling around with the new set of magnetic adapters for my Slate, which is always in my work backpack. Another day we all went out for lunch. I finally spent about two lunch hours working on just one painting that I was not really happy with when it was finished. That painting did inspire me though to create a revised illustration based on it with my iPad using the Procreate app.

One evening in my studio I painted a self portrait with white gouache going straight in with a brush without sketching myself first. I was happier with that result though it's not a complete likeness. Today I created two paintings, one from the art mannequin that I have and another from a silver Halloween skull from my anatomy collection. I liked the way the mannequin painting turned out, with the skull painting being more distorted and abstract.

Kind of hit or miss with the gouache paintings this week, but not every sketch or painting is going to turn out to be a great work of art. I found the exercise challenging because I had to think about painting in the lights on the black paper, leaving the bare black paper as the shadows, opposite of the way I normally work. Although challenging, I enjoyed the exercise and may incorporate it into a future project.

Next up in Create-A-Thon 2017 - Paint or draw the same subject in 5 different mediums.

Liquitex Ink!

February 5, 2017

Week 5 - Liquitex Ink! in Vivid Lime Green, Red and the new muted colors of Pink, Turquoise, and Violet. I also have Transparent Raw Umber and Dioxazine Purple, which I didn't get a chance to make drawings with this week. I made all of the drawings with a Speedball nib holder and drawing pen nib on Canson XL recycled Bristol Paper. I really like the muted colors and will probably get the other two colors in the set. I think that I need to get a little more practice getting a consistent line with the drawing nib, but I kinda like the uneven quality of the lines in these drawings.

Next up in Create-A-Thon 2017, Reeves Gouache Paintings on Kraft and Black Papers.

Old Bad Art - High School and College Art Projects

February 1, 2017

Over the past summer, Brenda and I climbed the stairs to the attic to look through my old art portfolios for a book that I remembered having in college. After seeing some of my old high school and art projects as I was going through the portfolios, I thought maybe the attic wasn't the best place to store them. I wanted to look at them again after 35 years of being stored away so we brought everything downstairs. I purchased under bed storage containers and started to sort through the projects, remembering my time in art school and the artist I was in high school.

My college commercial art education stressed highly the importance of good craftsmanship in producing all of our art projects. I spent many late nights and a few all nighters painstakingly drawing and painting typographic designs, making alcohol marker renderings, and creating gouache illustrations. Each of our finished projects then had to be wrapped cleanly and neatly with acetate to protect them.

My college art experience did not include computer graphic training (this was before the introduction of the Macintosh computer), I learned all of what I know now on the job and with a couple of training classes. I have continued to increase my knowledge of computer graphic design programs with online training using services like Lynda.com and YouTube.

I have in the past three or so years, been re-acquainting myself with my analog art roots by experimenting with various art materials and daily sketching. I had not created much artwork up until then, being busy raising my children with their extracurricular activities, and a full-time job with a long commute. Now that they're grown and out of the house, I am on a quest to fill sketchbooks with ideas, and find ways to express my artistic vision, whenever I figure out what that might be.

Value Studies with Koi Waterbrush Pens

January 29, 2017

Week 4 - Value studies with Sakura Koi Waterbrush Pens. I picked up a set of these at Hobby Lobby with a gift card I received for Christmas. I made a swatch sample of the colors using a waterbrush, but I really just used them as markers when creating the value studies. I gathered some photo samples from the Morgue file website for reference material and spent about 5-10 minutes on each sketch using the three warm grays in the set. I made the sketches in a pocket-sized Stillman and Birn beta sketchbook.

Next up in Create-A-Thon 2017 - Liquitex Ink!

Nicole Premieré Dual Tip Markers

January 23, 2017

Week 3 - Premieré Dual Tip Markers by Nicole, A.C. Moore's house brand of alcohol markers similar to Copic markers. Brenda bought me a starter set of these markers for my birthday a year ago and I liked them well enough to purchase quite a few more throughout the past year when they would go on sale. I have an assortment of 50 colors, which have names like, Mango, Cabbage, and Grass.

I had only used them once or twice up until this week simply because I was very much occupied with my film photography project in 2016 and had too many other art supplies to experiment with. I thought I would draw some dragons this week with the markers and spent the beginning of the week sketching out several ideas at lunch. I finally sat down with the markers on Saturday and started with Bienfang marker paper, but I found that the markers over saturated the paper. I made do with that drawing and started a new one today on Bristol paper. The color of the markers was very vibrant on this paper, but they didn't blend at all, forcing me to render the dragon in solid blocks of color. I like the way the drawing turned out though I will look for another paper to try, perhaps Copic marker paper. I've also tried drawing on Strathmore Visual Journal Watercolor paper which turned out pretty nice.

Next up in Create-A-Thon 2017 - value studies using Sakura Koi Gray Watercolor Brush Pens.

Derwent Graphitint Tinted Graphite Pencils

January 15, 2017

Week 2 - Derwent Graphitint Tinted Graphite Pencils. I heard about these first on one of my YouTube watercolor channels and then more recently on The Art Supply Posse podcast. I found a good price for a new complete 24 pencil set on ebay.

The graphite pencils in this set are in assorted muted colors, that are perfect for nature drawings, landscapes, and portraits. I made a few wildlife drawings in my nature journal and a Gettysburg landscape, but I haven't experimented with drawing portraits (drawing portraits will be one of my projects this year)

I liked the way the finished drawings looked, with the texture of the graphite pencil strokes showing through the washes created after activating the graphite with water. I got the idea for drawing the Maryland Rockfish and the crappie from a YouTube video demonstration on how to use the pencils. My father fished for Rockfish on many Chesapeake Bay boat trips with his buddies while we were growing up. He also took us fishing for Crappies from the Beckleysville Bridge on many summer nights.

One of the things I want to create is a journal of bird drawings and paintings, so that prompted the drawing of the Bluebird. For the landscape drawing, I used one of my film photos from a day at Gettysburg last winter as reference material.

Next up in Create-A-Thon 2017 - Nicole Premieré Dual Tip Markers from A.C.Moore.

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