Rainbow Bisque

Preventing me from uploading today's drawing. I'll edit it in as soon as I am able.  EDIT: Opening my computer and touching the various components inside sounds like a bad idea, but apparently that's how you fix it. I don't think I have taken these daily projects to their logical conclusion yet - but I'm feeling like I need to make some changes to the operation soon.

I wanted to challenge myself with a complex form today - this ball made of wrapped wooden string was the perfect thing. It was very difficult to stay focused on an area and build outward, but I am feeling more confident with my observation skills. The plant I drew this morning contains elements I really like - things that will probably make their way into future projects. I like the way the elements appear to be sweeping upward. There is an energy to the overall composition that I hope I can carry forward into other drawings.

Oil pastel on construction paper. I like the way opaque media can appear to glow. It was nice to mix things up a little and pick up something unfamiliar. Not much else to say here.

The Saturday market was full of people and tents. This is the second time I've ever tried sketching in public (at least with people aware of it). Today I learned that as long as you aren't in anyone's way, you can sit, sketch and be practically invisible to crowds of people. The whole experience wasn't nearly as intimidating as I feared.

This is as close as I could get to the birds today. I set out to draw birds, but I was caught off guard by how intricate and interesting the power lines were. It was a shame I didn't have more time.

I took some extra time on today's drawing. The initial outlines were basically done yesterday - all of the shadows and textures took way more time. I struggled quite a bit in the beginning trying figure out how to create the textures and make the glass look...glass-y. This was a challenge. It feels good to walk away from this with a little more experience. I haven't done this much drawing in a long time. Tomorrow could use a little color, though.

Trying something different today. I used my second break of the day to do a full ten minute sketch using only an HB and 4B pencil (no eraser or tortillon). Using some new techniques I read about (using the side of the pencil, rather than the tip), I began sketching a plum I was given earlier. It's not perfect, but it definitely feels like I'm getting more confident with the pencil.

I switched over to bristol paper for this drawing. I've found the smooth finish makes blending a little easier. Still getting used to creating different value ranges with the pencil. They look like strawberries - I guess that's a success. I had no idea how to create the texture of a strawberry, so I tried a bunch of different things. The dark values are a bit muddy - maybe I should leave a little more white space and incorporate some pure black marks. I still have a long way to go - but I am enjoying the journey more than I have in a long time.

There's a really cool plant sitting next to the sink in the kitchen. The base of the plant looks like twisted wood. Today seemed like a great day to finally attempt to sketch it out. More than a few times, I felt like I was in over my head. I couldn't get everything in frame. I couldn't decide where to focus my attention. The sunlight was shifting and disappearing. I got lost a couple dozen times attempting fit the tendrils together. This was going to be a disaster. I silenced my inner-critic enough to put the final marks on the paper - I'm glad I did. The final results don't look like much, but this drawing got me thinking about next time. I asked questions and I challenged myself. Now I can look into solutions and be ready for the next drawing.

Based on a toy horse I use for reference. I don't have a lot of experience with ink and brush - but I thought tonight would be a great time to just play around and try something new. Without the pressure of creating a masterpiece, I went to work immediately. I think I may have mixed too much water into my ink for this one. I really like some of the lines and relationships here. The proportions are pretty messed up, but this may be the closest I've come to getting a horse to look like a horse. I'll probably do more with ink and brush soon.

I think I'm starting to get the hang of this again. I'm still finding it really difficult to get my tones correct in relation to one another. There are some troubling spots here and there, but I'm glad I did the work. Moving forward, I think I should take some time to save my highlights rather than trying to carve them out with my eraser after the fact.

I was anticipating some "waiting around time" today, so I decided to pack some extra drawing supplies. I usually do all of the drawing in the field and color when I get home, but today I brought three watercolor pencils - red, yellow and blue. I stood leaning against my car in a hot parking lot while trying to capture my surroundings with a strict 10 minute time-limit. The colors were applied directly afterward, while they were fresh in my mind. I don't have much familiarity trying to draw buildings. It was difficult to focus with so much visual information right in front of me. I wanted to get up closer and draw some of the interesting windows and stains of the faraway buildings. That must be a good sign.

I have been trying to draw this berry bush for a while now. The lighting conditions at the time of my walk usually prevent me from being able to draw this particular scene (the light in the morning shines directly into my eyes). Lucky for me, it was an overcast day. That mood probably comes across in my other drawing of a tree in the parking lot. When I showed the drawing to my girlfriend, she thought I had visited a graveyard (that's a parking sign, not a headstone). I tried out something new here - a soft graphite stick and micron pen. I really like the variety of marks I was able to create with the graphite stick - but I had to be extra careful not to smear everything around.

The weather decided to calm down for a bit, so I took a trip to the park. I've always had a weird thing about sketching in public - but the more I do it, the easier it seems to become. There were so many things to draw, I had no idea where to start. This is definitely the start of something bigger.

I tied doing things in a different order this time. The drawing was done during my break in pencil, then colored at home, then covered in pen. I think that some of the energy and spontaneity is lost in this way. I also wasn't able to translate my pencil marks as well as I would have hoped. I'll try pencil again tomorrow, but I think I should try pen afterward before applying color (as I did yesterday).

I almost lost this drawing today. I traveled to the beach for a quick getaway. Along the way, I encountered so many beautiful plants and trees. When it came time to draw, I found this great driftwood fort built on the sand. I reached for the first thing I could draw, a 9B pencil. Everything was going great until I realized that the graphite was too delicate to retain any sort of image. All of the graphite rubbed off on the way home - it was very disappointing. I decided to try and save the few marks that remained - going over them with pen and ink. This was a great opportunity to practice building up values with cross-hatching and texture. I'm really glad I was able to end the day with a record of one of my favorite moments.

I brought a small sketchbook and my trusty flair tip pen to the pool today. There were a lot of possible subjects all around - but I was drawn instantly to this large succulent plant. I gave myself a little longer than usual to capture the scene - unfortunately, I ran out of space on the page to fit everything in. Maybe next time. I am finding that this particular pen is prone to bleeding when water is applied. It's a neat effect, but I'll have to make myself aware of that whenever I'm working with a lighter color.

I haven't done any portrait drawings in a long time. I haven't used charcoal in a long time. I guess this turned out pretty decent considering those two factors. You know what? It looks silly and out of proportion. At least it was fun.

Shade is a commodity in the Summer. Even at 8:30 in the morning, it's difficult to find a place where I don't have to constantly squint to get a look at the thing I'm drawing. Between that and the fact that I somehow left my sketchbook at home, today could have been a tragic "no drawing" day. Instead, I rescued a piece of paper from the recycling bin at my desk, taped it to a book and went on an adventure to find something to draw on it. I ended up at a shady corner of the building where trucks deliver crates and palettes of goods to a place near the highway underpass and the train tracks that run perpendicular to it. I decided to try and capture the scene - a small truck blocked by shipping debris, girders and a curb with various plants sprouting from it. I had trouble focusing, but I had a lot of fun trying to get it all down in my seven minute time limit.

Hydrant was sketched in the usual method - 7 minutes, flair tip pen. The second was done in 20 minutes with a dip pen. I have had very little experience with the classic pen (I switched over to to Micron pens as soon as humanly possible), but I really like the marks I was able to achieve in my short time out. With some more practice, I think I can make some really fun and dynamic drawings.

The daily drawings continue. The bottom drawing was inspired by a book I recently checked out. Without completely giving away the contents of the book, I will say that I plan on trying to complete each of the assignments for the next six weeks. Let's see how this goes.