Bandana

*Updated color adjustments*-looked good on my home screen but terrible at work, this should be better.
My baby all dressed up, current progress. Done using the drawing in the earlier post. I was planning on leaving it alone for now, then I was smart enough to put it out where it got paint flicked on it from another painting I've got on the easel.
Oil on board 9"x12"

figure #40

Couple weeks old.

Man on fire

Exercise

I've talked about this drawing exercise before, but I am so convinced it is great practice I will share it again. It comes from the great William Whitaker so it can be trusted. Note, this is not how I learned to draw but it would have saved me a lot of time on the journey. I've included some examples below.

step #1 - Get a pad of tracing paper. Set it up on an easel or whatever, close to a photo/model that you want to draw.
step #2 - Draw the subject. Try to do as much measuring as you can. Measure the distance between features with a straight object. Stand at least arms length, close an eye, hold your arm straight and use the end of the pencil and your finger (this is a useful technique for life drawing too). You'll get something fairly rough.

step #3 - Now step back and squint you should be able to see some structural problems. Tear off the drawing and put it underneath the next page and trace only the correct lines. Next, pull away the drawing #1.
step #4 - Now you've cleaned out a bunch of messy measurement lines. With the new simplified lines as a base, re-draw the subject. You should get closer this time around. Continue to step back and squint to find all the problems.

step #5 - Repeat 4-5 times.

Now this is never intended to be a nice finished drawing and it's not beautiful, but it should help get you closer and closer to accuracy with each iteration, you can transfer it to good paper and do a nice drawing or use it for a painting.
You are learning to see. Most people can handle a pencil just fine but seeing where a line should be is much more difficult and takes a lot of practice. Another very important trick for drawing is putting a line down. It doesn't have to be right just put something there and you can then use that line as a fixed point to decide it you are too low/high/long/short/left/right.

This is the basic measuring process I use for every drawing but all together at once on one page and without the tracing paper. This method is just a good way to break it down and take a more analytical approach which helps with learning and makes problems more apparent.

shadows

Flower sculpture

*Update- the sculpture is "Nymph of the Fields", 1915, by Pittaluga, thank you very much Jane*

A new digital painting mainly as practice. Another sculpture I photographed somewhere at sometime but have lost track of the name or location. If you know where it is let me know. Maybe I'll do some more searching to narrow it down because it is a beautiful statue.
This type of painting is mainly value a value study since the color range is so limited. But it is still good practice.

Here's a little tour of previous statue paintings in case your interested:
-Prague cathedral
-National Gallery
-National Gallery 2

The Old Man and the Sea *alternate ending*

From the below drawing which may or may not have been produced in a long meeting. Finally a little color around here.

It's been a while since I read the book so it may not be entirely accurate.

color?

I need to get some color back into this blog. Here is a study that I really hope I can get some time to paint because I like how it turned out. Cross your fingers.

profile

lawyers

After Fechin #3

One of the great draftsman of all time.

Precocious

Please stop me if I sound like I'm bragging but this girl is the best. This is the "can I eat this chocolate that I found" look.

sketchbook #30

Still no colors

Day late, dollar short

Fresh off my European tour, I have this mediocre offering.


Saw some beautiful places, missed out on a lot of great art but I am happy to declare Bernini is the greatest.

more

the Note

A recent illustration for The Friend magazine. I was really happy with the colors when I got the printed version. The poses still feel awkward but I think that is pretty common when trying to stitch together different reference but generally I like it.
Also, the chairs were incredibly difficult so I gave up and just did one. I really prefer to do organic things, well people at least.

meetings

If a person is semi-still you can draw them but still get an option of picking and choosing the best elements when they move.

sketchblog

It's starting to feel like a sketchblog around here.

sketchbook #25

Take a look at April 15th's drawing below and you may be able to see the very subtle preview to this post, which was on the following page.

Sculptor

An illustration done for The Weekly Standard. The more cartoon style helps make a really quick turn around a little more manageable. This is Mr. Obama working away with his hammer (no sickle is visible).

drawing

Pay no attention to the smudge up top where I stepped on it. This was not an artistic choice.

Exterminator

There you go. Very moody, I am thinking of naming it "Death of a Bug Exterminator". Usually I insist on some amount of reference to work from. This has none. I am satisfied with the atmosphere which has been something I have been working to improve for a while now.
Done for a Avalanche blog topic on Bug Wars.

prep work

All ready to paint(digitally)

collaboration

Here we have the first collaboration between myself and my 1 year old daughter. She was great to work with.
We're actually pleasantly surprised she seems interested in drawing already, her specialty seems to be bird nests and stars. I anticipate more of these in the future.

sketchbook #22

This was done before the previous 2 and for that its not quite right with all the proportions. I hadn't found the time to draw for a long while so I guess this is the break-in sketch. I find it takes a drawing or two to get back into my grove, thank goodness it sticks with me.

sketchbook #21

I will always believe the mouth is the most difficult part to draw. People always say its the eyes, no it is the mouth.

vultures

I wanted more for the background and finish work, but I am over it now. The likeness is fine but I kept losing it and giving up then it would drift back in, so it may or may look like the subject. I'll just let you guess.

reunion

Sometimes I go for too long without finding the time to draw. I'm being distracted by a busy body 1-year old and a recent trip among other things.
Anyway I am back spending time with my old friend, the sketchbook. Its always easiest to find an old magazine or catalog, search out an interesting face or pose and draw it. This is this weekends result. I thought this was an interesting choice for a model but she looks like a Bouguereau painting IMO. Hair is always fun, my drawings get pretty abstract very quickly when I get to the hair.

simple hands

Sometimes I really feel good about some quick sketch. I really like these hands, especially the one on the right. Just the right combination of stylization and realism and appropriately simple.


Of course these are always done on the very margins of the page. More drawings to come soon.

done

I never really knew were I was going with this, but whatever. Here it is. I hope I don't loath it in a couple hours.