Just FYI, since I was here last I have gotten a year older and been married a year longer... a quarter of a century married and won't talk about home many years old!
A couple of weeks ago, I bought a new paint sketch pad. I've been spending all of my creative energy sewing and quilting. For me, it's getting too hot to sew. Secondly, I find sketching or painting much more challenging and artsie. Perhaps the new pad would inspire me to get painting.
I stepped away from the sewing machine and got out my travel watercolor set. I started doodling and painting designs. It was fun, but not a lot of creativity--kind of like a kid coloring in a coloring book.
I decided to see if I could sketch with a single color. I remembered that drawing or sketching monochromatic pictures helps develop shading skills and the ability to convey depth.
This is my first doodle. It took three tries to get the sketch of my Singer Featherweight to mostly look like itself. The one above is kind of distorted. I was surprised to be able to paint the water bottle with water in it and you could actually tell there was supposed to look like water.
The perspective is still not perfect, but it's close enough for me since I am using only paint (no pencil drawing laid out.) Maybe next time, I will paint the sewing machine from the front!
I've loved the look of watercolor paintings since I met a watercolor artist when I was in high school. He explained how the technique was different and that it was a minimalist approach. I have tried to paint with watercolors over the years, but am only successful sometimes. I can paint objects, but not people (whether I draw or paint them, they have always looked like the same person or at least like cousins, haha!)
At least you can tell this is a baby. I painted him twice. The first time, he looked like a cross between a baby Bruce Willis and Benjamin Button--not a very pretty child. This one is a little better. It still does not look a lot like the photo I drew from, but at least he looks mostly human.
I sketched a few more people when I decided to try to sketch someone I knew. Poor Meredith was my first guinea pig. The angle of the photo is kinda tricky with the glasses. I can see where I went wrong. The eyes are similar to Meredith, but the chin is all wrong (the bumpy paper is a little unforgiving so it's difficult to correct problems.) When I showed the sketch to Meredith she could at least recognize herself, LOL!
My last try was a picture of Alyssa when she was about 5 years old. I think this is the closest I have gotten to really capturing my subject in a sketch--the eyes are not quite right.
I keep being surprised when something goes kind of right. Perhaps I am finally old enough to actually sketch what I see instead of what I think I see. I'm enjoying the challenge of the process.
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| the sketchpad wasn't expensive, but the paper has deckled edges and looks handmade |
I stepped away from the sewing machine and got out my travel watercolor set. I started doodling and painting designs. It was fun, but not a lot of creativity--kind of like a kid coloring in a coloring book.
I decided to see if I could sketch with a single color. I remembered that drawing or sketching monochromatic pictures helps develop shading skills and the ability to convey depth.
This is my first doodle. It took three tries to get the sketch of my Singer Featherweight to mostly look like itself. The one above is kind of distorted. I was surprised to be able to paint the water bottle with water in it and you could actually tell there was supposed to look like water.
I've loved the look of watercolor paintings since I met a watercolor artist when I was in high school. He explained how the technique was different and that it was a minimalist approach. I have tried to paint with watercolors over the years, but am only successful sometimes. I can paint objects, but not people (whether I draw or paint them, they have always looked like the same person or at least like cousins, haha!)
I keep being surprised when something goes kind of right. Perhaps I am finally old enough to actually sketch what I see instead of what I think I see. I'm enjoying the challenge of the process.
I am amazed at your talents. You are truly an artist!!!
ReplyDeleteLove you, cuz!
Susan