'Til it Looks Like Clouds...

I'm not especially fond of this piece. I was trying a new technique for making clouds from a great book I've been reading, but I messed up on some critical steps. During my initial wash, there wasn't enough pigment on the paper. So once I applied the alcohol to the page to create the bright white highlights and cloud formations, there wasn't enough contrast to work with. I tried another wash with the same technique unsuccessfully; then I just used my cat's tongue brush to lift out the highlights myself. In essence, I took out a lot of the spontaneity and randomness out of the formations. And you know what? I could have blended that yellow more.

Despite all of that, these problems are precisely what I love about art. I know what happened. I know what I can fix. I am aware of what I can do next time. I would always prefer to mess things up the first time: it means I get to try again until I am happy with it.

Comments

Ferret

Trying out a challenge to myself - to create "finished" pieces with a limited color palette on a consistent schedule. I am still working out the final guidelines. I think I would like to challenge myself to use a new texture in each piece as well. I've had this unfinished sketch in my sketchbook forever. Even though I'm not entirely happy with it - it feels great to finally have it done!

Ice Skating Characters

A Competent Profile

As I start to become more familiar with proportions and measurements for the various faces I attempt to draw, I am starting to wonder how to make a more complete portrait with my limited time. Do I stick to lines? Do I bring a brush and some ink? Which lines should I include? Which shapes are important to represent? Maybe this is a good time to look at the work other artists have done and try to work out some of their methods.

Rainbow Bisque

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