Tuesday, February 24, 2015

The Every Other Day Sketch 2015 - Days 17-26


Hi there. How are you?

As I mentioned on Instagram this week, I like to spend a few minutes during my lunch break to work in my sketchbook.  It feels good to get in a little creative time, even if it's just 10 minutes. After I've delved into a drawing, it can be tough to pull myself away go back to work. Switching off that creative "right brain" is difficult!

Here's what I've been sketching over the last few weeks.



My latest sketchbook drawings have very much inspired some of my newest finished works. Stay tuned for more about that or follow me on Instagram to see what I'm working on in real time.

Ta-Ta for now friends. 

Sunday, February 15, 2015

The Evolution of a New Illustration

 
Hi There. How are you?

I had a very successful weekend in the studio and created this lovely little Red-Breasted Nuthatch illustration. I thought it would be fun to share some of the pics I snapped as I worked on this piece,  and walk you through my process.


First off I made a simple drawing of the bird on aqua paper. I worked from a photograph.....I am not one of those artists who can work out of their head! I applied a sheet of sticker paper to the back of the drawing, and then cut the whole thing out and adhered it to the graph paper.


The first bit of ink I add to my bird illustrations is always the eyes. That very quickly brings a drawing to life. I used a black Bic ballpoint pen, a white Prismacolor pencil and a dash of white Sakura Gelly Roll ink in the highlight of the eye. 


I continued to add detail with the ballpoint pen and Prismacolors. I added a little bit of a golden brown to give this cutie his "red belly."




After a spell, (I have no idea how long this took.....I don't really pay attention to the clock when I'm in the art zone) the bird was fully formed. I drew in a branch to have him perch on. 


Once all of the inking is complete, I started playing around with my signature collage elements. As I've mentioned before, this is sometimes the most difficult part of the process for me. I tense up and worry about overworking things. Even now, I second guess...This was kind of cute like this....Why did I change it? 


And voila! All that is left to do now is give the whole thing a few coats of a satin varnish to seal and protect it. This original 8"x8" is available for sale in my etsy shop.

Have a great week friends. Until next time. Ta-ta!

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

The Every Other Day Sketch - Day 9-16


Hi there. How are you? 

I'm happy to be back here and giving you a glimpse of my sketches for the last few weeks. As my loyal readers know, I have challenged myself to complete a drawing in my sketchbook every other day of 2015. See the whole lot of them here or follow me on Instagram to see them as soon as they are completed.

There are some good drawings in this group, some not so good. I'm just glad I'm keeping up the practice even though things have been busy and my focus has been drawn elsewhere. Yahoo for sticking with my 2105 goals/resolutions!


 

Have you stuck with your 2015 goals/resolutions? What motivates you to keep going? Do share!

Until next time. Ta-ta!