Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Challenge 179: Onion


Here is my response to EDM's challenge 179 (draw an onion). I tried to keep this sketch lose, but I think I got a little uptight in areas such as the shadows.  There are too many different line values that aren't consistent through the whole drawing. This inconsistency causes the drawing to look unfinished or perhaps even a bit unbalanced. Maybe I am being to critical... you tell me.

Hannah's Favorite Toys

And so I begin to share current works of art.

Here is a small sketch of my baby girl's favorite toys. Very simple... Curious George and some links. This little set up was fun and very relaxing to study. Nothing to complex, just fun.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Living Room Furniture

This is a 2006 sketch of my parent's living room furniture. I believe I did a fair amount of cross-hatching and single line marks. The long couch looks soft and comfortable. I enjoy how I drew the couch on the left side in a basic outline. Making that decision allows the eye to move around the sketch more easily; not getting caught in a jungle of lines. 

A negative for this sketch I would say is the middle of the coffee table. My eyes get lost in all the confusing marks I made when you get towards the middle of the table. It totaly messes with the balance of the page.
*Note: I left the wall blank (bad bad confidence).

Zoe Sleeping

I am proud of this drawing merely because I was able to draw my families hyper dog, Zoe. I found her snoozing in my messy bed, and managed to capture such a peaceful moment. Zoe is a Jack Russell Terrier, a bread known for it's energetic personality. 

Instead of cross-hatching I tried using different variations of vertical lines to depict shading. Again, I am not to sure about the wall. I need to do a study of walls. I am never confident when it comes to drawing a basic wall. I always seems to make random marks which do nothing but distract and or confuse the viewer.

Comic Us

This is my hand at illustration. I came up with this comic of my husband and I from an old photo of us. We are very young in the photo, and now looking at my comic we look even younger.

Old Boot

I drew this old boot in January of 2006. Instead of my preferred weapon (ink), I used some black conte crayon. And no, this is not a page in my sketchbook. I found a bit of butcher paper which worked great with the crayon. The texture of the paper was quit nice allowing easy texture to come through my marks. 

I approached this sketch differently by looking at the dark spaces first and following through with the outline of the boot. There were several different surfaces with different textures on the boot, and  different grades of darkness seemed easiest to record. I think my new approach was a success.

Apple Computer

I made this drawing during my lunch hour while in college. Not a strict drawing yet lose, I enjoy how not everything is perfect. 


I am very fond of the cell phone. I feel as though I got the proportions and the angles of the phones body close enough to be able to almost grab the thing.


I am not to sure about the decision I made about the marks I used for the wall behind the computer. I didn't want to leave it blank for that would have made it seem as though the sketch was unfinished and there could be more beyond the laptop. 


A twist to this sketch is found towards the bottom of the image. I drew my sketch book with the developing drawing into the drawing. And the sketch book is done with an even more slightly skewed distortion.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

First Post


In an effort to jump start my daily sketchbook challenges, I am re-visiting some old sketches in which I am proud of.  I am proud of these sketches mostly due to the amount of learning in which I received while drawing them. I learned to observe differently with each drawing and even developed new drawing techniques. Those who come upon any of my work, please feel free to comment and become a worthy critic. 

This first post includes a drawing I did in October of 2005. It is of the family room of my old home. This piece was a study of  different sorts of cross-hatching. Some marks failed as others I feel were just right. The areas that failed were areas that I got a little to carried away marking. Look and see for yourself.