Branches and Banners

Sketches from today. The last one is my entry for the banner contest on Open Sketch Book Society. Today was the deadline so I threw this together. I wasn't really sure about it since it was so last minute, but for a last minute effort, it has grown on me... a little bit. We'll see how that goes. So far I'm still the only one who posted anything. If no one posts anything else, I might win by default. I was really hoping to see what ideas people could come up with though. So I will be kind of bummed if mine does end up being the only one.

I'm happy with how the branches came out. I rarely do tree drawings, usually because I don't like the way they come out. I never know how to approach them because... well, those branches are all over the place. Yet there's some kind of rhythm that I just can't figure out. So I have new hope after this sketch. When the weather gets warmer, I want to go outside and draw more trees.

A Week of Whatever: Moving On

No, that was not my plan for this final week of January. I did not get any actual feet done last week. Just a couple skeletal studies. So rather than assign another topic of study, I'm just going to leave it open to continue work on feet. When I have time, that is. This month has gotten progressively busier, and I just haven't had as much time for these studies.

In some ways, this is a good thing. Not good that I haven't been drawing what I want to be drawing, but good that I've had other things to work on. For example, I'm currently being commissioned by my sister to design a few tattoos for her. I want to have the first two mostly fleshed out by February 1st. In addition to the tattoos, I took on the task of making favors for the women's retreat at my church. The woman in charge asked for help, and so I've been folding pretty paper into pretty boxes. I've also got another commission on my list. My other sister wants me to do one of birds for her. So at some point I'll be working on that.

While the January challenge has not been completely successful, I am still feeling inspired to keep moving forward. I recently put a couple ads on our church's market page. It's for general news and job posts and the like. So I have one offering commission work, and another offering private drawing lessons. I'm really hoping someone will be interested in lessons. I think I'd have fun teaching kids the elements and principles of art, and help them improve their technique. I always wonder what my skills would be like now if I'd learned more at an early age. For example, a core shadow is such an important thing to know about when you are rendering forms, but I didn't learn about it until high school, and even then I didn't understand it until college. I want to share my knowledge with kids who love to draw and who love to learn more about art. I guess we'll see what happens with that.

Drawing from Friday



Favor Boxes (I have about 70 done I think)

The Weeks of Hands, Ears, and Feet.

So the January challenge is not going at all how I envisioned it would. I've been taking on some other projects this month ( for family and friends) and so my time spent drawing has been cut back tremendously. Still, I am determined to keep up with the various studies each week, even if it means I can't do it everyday, as I did with the week of hands.

Last week I focused on ears, and while I wish I could have spent more time studying them, I am glad I was able to revisit them for a short while. This week is A Week of Feet. In college, we studied anatomy. One of my illustration assignments was even focused on hands. But I feel like I never had much time to get familiar with the feet. They were always sort of an after thought in my figure drawing classes, as were the hands. The main purpose of this challenge is to become a better artist, which means revisiting the things I never had the time to practice.

I doubt I will have as much time this week to draw, but I am going to do my best. And in the future, I think I will do these monthly challenges a little differently, so that I can have more time to learn about each thing I'm studying.

Here's my sketches from the past couple weeks...


Feet

Ears





Hands

Hold Ups

Well, for the most part, the first week of the January challenge went well. I do feel like I could have done more, but the experience was good all the same. I have not drawn anything for the past several days now due to a family weekend in Virginia, plus Adam and I have been running around getting other things done since yesterday. So, my drawing time has been cut to nothing for the start of this week.

I do plan to use the rest of the week for a new study, but I'm moving things around a bit to compensate for lost time. This week was supposed to be A Week of Feet. I will, instead, do A Week of Ears and save feet for another week. I am not sure doing the week-by-week studies are practical, but I will at least continue it that way for the rest of January.

A Week of Hands (continued)

I've been lazy about posting this week, but I have been keeping up with the hand studies. Still drawing everyday so far, since January 1st. I hope I can keep it up. The weekend may prove difficult though, since I will be away visiting family. I plan on bringing stuff to work on though, so maybe I can draw in the car on the way there.

Also, I should mention the book I've been using for anatomical reference (i.e. bone structure, etc.). All the drawings so far, except for the latest one from today (fleshed out hands), I have referenced from Stephen Peck's Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist. I highly recommend this book to all artists. It is a great resource, and I use it all the time.

Here are my sketches from the last few days. This time I'll post the new stuff first and go backwards.

Today, Wednesday, January 6th


I am very excited about how these came out, especially the hand that's hanging down. The yellowed one is from photographing under yellow lamps, before editing. I usually edit to black and white (as seen below) but I liked the look of this, too. I thought it gave a nice, old traditional look.





January 5th - Tuesday



January 4th - Monday



January 3rd - Sunday

A Month of Anatomy Studies: A Week of Hands

January 1st - Friday

Radius and Ulna from Front

Radius and Ulna from Behind

Radius and Ulna Movement

These are bones of the forearm. I started with the forearm structure because it plays an important role in the movement of the hand at the wrist. So in a sense, I am also studying the forearm in addition to the hand, to better understand the hand.

January 2nd - Saturday

Right Hand from Dorsal View


I was going to officially start this project on Sunday since it's the first day of a full week. But I wanted to get a head start on this because I've been excited to begin this undertaking. And so I'm using the "extra" days beforehand to get a handle on some bone structure. I'm starting to wonder if a week will be enough time to pick apart the hand and practice it. Or any of the other parts of anatomy I want to study for that matter. So much to learn!

Also, I think I may start new subjects on Mondays, since it's the beginning of a work week. It would allow me to focus on something fresh, on an un-distracting day. Then I could continue into the weekend, and simultaneously prepare for the next subject during that weekend.