Here’s another one….

Leopard

Graphite on Bristol Smooth

      I like this one too and for some reason the picture is a little better that the last one.   I really like drawing the small crops.  It’s nose looks crooked to me… ah, well I’ll just say he’s leaning. 

The eye of the tiger…

Tiger

Graphite on Bristol Smooth

   Sorry the picture is a little dark and fuzzy, but that’s my camera for ya.  It takes great shots of everything but artwork.  But atleast this gives you an idea of what this piece looks like.   This is 6 x 6 which is small scale for me to draw in pencil.  It was really fast moving and didn’t take very long to complete.  Most of the animals that I draw fits comfortably in a 11 x 14 mat and I usually don’t like to draw smaller than that. But this was pretty cool.  I picked this picture because the tiger’s eye is watering and it has a tear going down its face.  Ahh, pitiful huh?

Somer…

Somer

Acrylic on Canvas

This is a picture of my niece. I did these pictures for the boys Christmas and Somer wanted one too.  The boys went CRAZY over their picture.   You realize how hard it is to get one type of gift that would please a 5, 14, and 16 year old?  Well, if you ever wondered paintings of themselves like this on is it!  David was bothered that her nose was so dark, and I tried to explain that this isn’t suppose to look like a portrait. You just let the camera and computer do its thing and paint it like you see it and if I tried to “pretty” it up, it would look horrible.  Needless to say, he still didn’t get it, but that’s okay I feel fortunate that he interested enough in what I am doing to give me honest feed back.  I was informed last night that Alana wants one, except in purple and pink.  So, you’ll see this again.   See, I’m tellin ya kids love it! 

 

 

 

 

Bug Eyed Baby…

Shasta

Graphite on Bristol Smooth

     This little beastie belongs to my mom and little sister.  She is a Brindle Boxer and usually their ears stand up, but they opted to get her fixed instead of getting her ears clipped.  She is a sweet but hyper dog who has a hard time dealing with the fact that she’s a dog instead of a little girl.  Her bark is massive, which makes up for the fact that she’s scared of just about everything including the dark.  She loves to chew gum like a person and she will chew and chew until you take it away from her.  She has also tried to blow bubbles, but she can’t get her tongue to cooperate.  She can open doors and turn on any faucet in the house when she’s thirsty. Sounds really good except she can’t turn the faucet off.  She’ll get mad at Gail when she goes out, and fills her bed with garbage from the trash can, now that’s pissed huh?  
     Drawing her was a challenge.  Her eyes are so bugged and more almond shaped than I usually draw for dogs.  She’s really dark but I opted to make her lighter and “muddy’ up her appearance so all her little squished features would show up better, which was a wise choice in the end.  Doesn’t she look like a Shasta to you?

What’s new kitty cat….

Orange Tabby

Graphite on Bristol Smooth

from a photo taken by stalksthedawn

       I like the sparkle in the eyes, the fur and the little nose.   I just think it’s really cute and a great likeness.  I am getting more comfortable with drawing cats.  I don’t know what it is about their features that is so difficult for me.  But if I had to take a guess it would be that their faces are more angular where dogs have more rounded facial features?  Not sure though, I ‘m not going to look too deep and just enjoy the fact that I pulled it off.

    Just wanted to let you know that I have succumbed to making lists.  I’m not too proud to admit that it does save alot of time and it makes me more accountable to the tasks at hand.  Usually, I aimlessly look through stuff always choosing things that are familiar.  Choosing the familiar makes for a fun time because it’s easy, but it can also box you in.  As I have said before, there are just too many subjects that I want to render or atleast dip my toe in to make this experience worth while.  The first item on my list was figurative drawing.  I started searching the web looking for a model (accidentally hitting a couple of porn sites along the way.)   After wishing I had a fork to poke my eyes out to relieve my burning retinas,  I found a beautiful picture of a naked cropped haired African American woman.  You could only see her back and a little of her rear end, so I thought that was enough skin for a first attempt.  I drew her and she turned out as beautiful as the photo, but I didn’t care for the experience at all.   I was just uncomfortable.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t  think that there is anything “dirty” about it, but it just isn’t for me, atleast not right now, maybe never.   I would have loved to have posted my nude lady but due to copyright infringements, I can’t.  It was just for practise anyway.   Had I not made the list though I would still be wanting to try it, but never go further than ”wanting”.   So I guess lists do have their place in this   my world after all…cough..cough..spit. 

 

The Art of Family…

 This weekend Alana and I tagged along with Karen home to drop Robbie off for a three week visit.    We spent Friday afternoon with my Daddy at the shop  and we took him out to eat Friday night.  Then we spent Saturday with mama swimming and had a cookout.  On Sunday morning we went with Daddy out for breakfast.  It was really good that we spent a fair amount of time with both of them.  And being able to come in for Father’s Day was a really good  surprise.   I am really glad that Alana and Somer got to spend alot of time together, because they are really close and Tammy and I are trying really hard to make sure that the distance doesn’t interfere with their relationship.  Usually what we do is meet at a half way point drop a kid off or pick a kid up, so atleast they will get to spend a couple of weeks together every summer.   I wish I had pictures of Robbie and Richie, but they were sleeping in.  I swear those two could sleep 22 out of the 24 hours  in a day. 

     If you look closely at the picture on the right, you’ll see a portfolio on the table along with my other shameful weakness (Mtn. Dew).  I still found time to draw a little while I was being “Lifeguard on Duty”   Well,  I alternated between drawing and reading.

Mama and Gail have a nice little set up.  I felt like I was on a mini resort.  (The pool lays just below the deck on the right).   I got to draw and read, and the kids got to swim so it was a win win.    

  It was just a great visit all around. 

 

 

 

Father’s Day

EDM 20 Draw something “Dad”

 Bristol Smooth on Graphite

     This is a card for my Dad.  He’s not an old timer, but he loves and collects knives.   I hope he likes it.  I’m not worried about spoiling the surprise because by the time he sees this post he will have already gotten the card.   What I like about this card is that if wants, he can tear off the back and frame the front.

    Other than that not much drawing goin’ on lately.    A lot of the end of the year stuff with Alana having assemblies, preparing for SOLs and exams.   The last day of school is tomorrow.  Thank Goodness!  I’m tired, so I can’t imagine how she feels.   She asked me to teach her to draw and paint this summer.  My heart leaped with joy that she had been bitten by the art bug.  I’m not sure what I have to offer, but I told her I would and she’s really excited.  Of course I be posting mini me’s work.  I really hope she grows to enjoy drawing as much as I do.  If she does she’ll never be bored again.  One can only hope!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have lost my…

 

 

Marbles

Prismacolor c.p. on Bristol smooth

       I saw this picture and I just had to take a crack at it.  It’s from a photo taken by mustcreate at wet canvas.  My camera just didn’t do this painting justice.  I tried to paint this with a vibrant and translucent feel and I accomplished that with some moderate success, but  this was the best photo that I could get from my camera.   Unfortunately, the camera didn’t hide the fact that I still need to work on my shadows, and I should have sharpened my pencil for the outside of the marbles.  This is a great color practice.  I just drew the marbles with a circle template and went to town. 

     I have another piece that I have ready to get started on and I’m really excited.  It’s going to be in graphite which is a little more in my comfort zone, because I have been drawing in graphite for quite a while.  I have this little theory that if I learn to draw and shade the rest is only color theory, support and technique.  We’ll see.  I am very lucky to have this opportunity to be able to draw to my hearts content, but I don’t believe I am taking the full advantage of my time.  As much as I detest lists and structure I feel like I need it.  I’m not saying that I will, I guess I’m saying I should.  I don’t think it would take away from the pleasure that I get out of drawing, but there is alot of things that I want to learn.  I would love to draw life studies (nudes) whenever I get over the fact that they are naked, portraits, pets of course, still life and landscapes . Basically If I see it, I want to be able draw or paint it.  If I want to be able to accomplish all of these things then I need some sort of game plan.  I think I could do it.  Parents homeschool their children, why can’t I  give myself a little (in)formal art instruction? 

Commission…

Tobey

Graphite on Smooth Bristol Board

      This drawing is from a cell phone picture, and I had to guess at all of the detail work.    The owners were very happy.  Thank Goodness!    I  had forgotten that I had this picture in my computer and was relieved when I found something that I could post.  I have some new art, but something is wrong with my camera, Alana’s memory card needs reformatting (again), my computer won’t recognize my scanner, and David is out of town with his camera and the knowledge to fix all these issues.  I even tried my web cam, but it didn’t work.  Maybe it will magically get fixed while I’m asleep tonight.  I doubt it, but I can hope can’t I?

   

Nectorines w/W.I.P.

Nectorines

Prismacolor on Bristol smooth

   This was so hard that I would put on a layer and walk off.  Then when I was ready to do another color, I would sneak up on it. I have included a little w.i.p.  slideshow if you’re interested.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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