Late Night

Late nights are great, aren't they? I had one last night partly because I was too lazy to go to bed, and partly because I had to finish my one of my two drawings for my artistic anatomy class. Here's the result:

Cool, right? If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go sleep now. Have a great day!

I Came, I Drawed, I Conquered

Ok, so I've been crazy busy with classes getting ready for finals, and even though finishing this piece meant procrastinating on a huge research paper, the good news is I finished it! Pastel still isn't my favorite medium to work in, but it's starting to grow on me. It helps to think of it more as a painting medium than a drawing medium. Makes it easier to blend colors. When I showed my preliminary sketches to my little brother, he was so upset. He thought I had killed the butterfly, and it was really mean of me. Gotta love him. Anyway, here's my butterfly piece!

Finals Frenzy

I know I promised to have my new pastel picture done by this week, but I'm a little behind on that due to thanksgiving break, a killer essay, and my anatomy homework. So as my final post before finals stress really sets in, here's my first drawing for my artistic anatomy final project. I'm probably going to do three or four more of these in total, but not until next week. Anyway, enjoy!

Sock Monkeys

So, I'll admit it. With art this week, I was a lazy bum. I didn't do half the things I wanted or needed to do, but here I am! So last week I gave you a taste of this project with my thumbnail sketch. Today, I'll show you some of the process behind the piece, and the (mostly) finished drawing.

This drawing is a pretty similar process to my last one. So first we've got the beginning outline

And then the finished line drawing. Now we're ready for the first step.

On a side note, it was about 10 at night when I went in to work on this. The studio was completely deserted, and I found this laying up against the wall:

Nope. That's not creepy at all. Anyway, after the initial line drawing is done, I did the acrylic background. The light blue area is a single layer of acrylic, while the background was about 3 layers of acrylic on top of a layer of primer.

And to top it all off, several layers of chalk pastel. This was quite the challenge, because I have never worked with pastel before in my life, and it is very difficult to blend without making the colors too muddy. I'm calling it a good first attempt. Hopefully, the next one will be better. 

Join us next week when Hannah attempts to complete a 4-foot piece using pastel, her arch-nemesis!

Have a great day!

Gloves Again

So, even though I griped my way through my last post, the actual picture didn't turn out too bad. It's not my favorite I've done this semester, but it was more fun than I was expecting.

The bright colors definitely made it pop more, and I had fun creating the background texture with saran wrap. Still, I'm glad it's done. My teacher decided to move on, instead of having us draw the gloves again. Here's a preview of my next project, which I'm a lot more excited for.

Hope you have a great week!

Blowing off Steam

Quick rant before class starts, and sorry in advance to all readers. This post is just me whining. So our last assignment was so much fun, and I really enjoyed working on it. It was creative, I had to think through problems, and it actually turned out well. So I had a bit of a let-down when I found out what our next project was. Just kidding, I had a huge let-down. Guess what we're drawing for the next two weeks?

That's right. a purple latex glove. I am so excited. Also, we are not drawing it once, but twice. Identical layout, different color schemes. As if the first time wasn't enough. Anyway, sorry for making you read that. Just had to get it off my chest. Have a great week!

Drawing 2 Midterm

Crazy week again! Don't have a whole lot to say, so here's a few process pictures from my Drawing 2 'midterm'. Hope you like it!

Preliminary outline

Beginning with Sandpaper

More sanding, denatured alcohol, and shading.

Finished product! Sorry the color's a bit off, the power was out today so the lighting was a little funky.

Firestorm

One thing most people know about me is I love comics. It's like a melding of my two favorite things; art and reading. Anyway, there's this character called Firestorm from DC comics, and I don't know a whole lot about him. But, he's going to be featured in the new Flash TV show, and I had an idea for the new design of the character. It was a really fun piece to do. I painted this one on Photoshop using a wacom tablet (which, by the way, is a fantastic tool). I had fun and stayed up way too late finishing it, so I hope you enjoy it!

Just out of curiosity, who's you're favorite superhero? Leave answers in the comments!

Portrait

I make no promises on how many pictures I'll be posting with this prepared ground technique, since I am completely in love with it. That being said, this week's project was a little different from the last few. For one, it was bigger (15 x 30 in). I also relied much more heavily on the white pastel as a dynamic element. Also, it was a portrait. If you've read my alien post then you know that I struggle with drawing real, normal people. That being said, I spent the better part of two hours just on outlining this project. Still, overall it turned out to be a pretty successful piece. Enjoy!

Aliens

As I was sitting down to sketch last night, I realized something. NO matter how hard I try to sketch normal, everyday people or animals, it never works out. I always end up drawing aliens. I really don't know why, they just turn out that way. Whether I want them to or not. It's kind of irritating, actually. On the other hand, sometimes the aliens turn out kind of cool. So I thought I might share a few on here. I say a few because pretty much every page in every sketchbook I have either has dragons or aliens on it. It would be a very long post if I tried to share them all. Anyway, here we go.

And as a bonus 'cause I just realized I haven't posted this yet, and you probably don't come here to see random aliens, here's my newest drawing class assignment (it's the same process as the gourds). Enjoy!

Country and Me

No art today (sorry), but I thought I'd rant a little instead. Heads up to those looking for colleges, if you share my aversion to all things stereotypically country and western, Snow may not be the perfect place for you. (That being said, don't let your aversion drive you away from the awesome art program). Now one thing you've got to know about me is I hate country music with a passion. My roommates on the other hand, love it. As does most of the population of the college. So today in our drawing class, we were listening to soundtracks from classic westerns, (We were drawing skulls, so I guess Adam thought the music would be appropriate), and I was in a horrible mood. I guess at least one classmate shared my opinion though, and she changed the station. As soon as the soothing strains of Lord of the Rings started playing, I had an almost instantaneous mood swing, and was on top of the world. Everyone knows that music affects your mood, so I guess the moral is I love epic soundtracks, not country.

Sorry if you were expecting something deep, this post didn't really have a point to it. Also, don't judge my writing skills. I'm an Art Major, not an English major :)

Have a great week!

More Gourds

Thought it might be fun to do another step-by-step post, this time with the prepared ground technique. You saw last time what the prepared grounds look like, so I'll just start off with the actual drawing.
First, a quick sketch to get down the basic shape:

Then a full outline with details of shadows, complex shape, and the ground. This surface is really nice for charcoal. Since acrylic is so rubbery, it's very easy to erase mistakes.

Next, I started in with the sandpaper and alcohol (with a q-tip). The sandpaper rubs down the layer of paint fairly quickly, leaving it much lighter with a rough texture. The alcohol dissolves the paint, leaving a smoother texture and darker areas around the treated spot.

After this, I start in with the charcoal to define the shadows. I keep working with the sandpaper and alcohol to blend the 3 textures together.

Now this looks pretty good, but I want to really make the drawing pop dimensionally, so I go in with pastel pencils. These can come in a variety of colors, but for this piece I used a light blue-green and white. The pastel helps to define the highlights and reflected light, while subduing and smoothing some of the texture.

And there you have it! I think I am officially in love with this process.

Gourds for Autumn

Sorry I haven't updated in a few days, I usually only post when we finish a piece in my classes. This last one was an interesting experience, because the preparation for the piece took longer than the actual drawing did. An acrylic prepared ground is paper that has a coat of primer applied first, then anywhere from 5 to 20 coats of acrylic paint on top, in various colors, textures, and thicknesses. Basically, you paint until it looks good. Here are the two grounds that I prepared last week:

This is a fairly haphazard process. After the primer's dry, you grab a paintbrush, you paint. Pretty much any color you want, adding texture with sponges, paintbrushes, dripping water on it, scrubbing it, etc. You just have to keep the paint layers fairly thin, otherwise the paper gets really rubbery.

Once those were dried and flattened out, we started drawing. On this type of ground, it's best to use both additive and subtractive drawing. Additive in this case being charcoal and pastel used to create line and shading, and subtractive being sandpaper and denatured alcohol to create texture and more shading. It's a really fun process, since the texture that you've already prepared does most of the work when it comes to detail and shading. The rest is just icing on top. And here's the finished product:

(I'll try and post the other one next week.)

Midterm Madness

So, after running myself ragged for the past week or so, I finally dropped a superfluous history class. More time for art! Now I've got two tests behind me and one to go, and feeling a lot better. We had our final assignment in 'expressive line' in drawing. Like the rope picture in my last post, it's charcoal on an acrylic prepared ground, but I"m a lot happier with how this one turned out. And now I'm off to study for anatomy. Enjoy!

Quick Update

Don't have time for a big article today (hooray for generals) but here's the last two assignments from my drawing class. Enjoy!

Black and white charcoal on Acrylic prepared ground

Wet graphite wash on cotton paper

Thoughts of an Art Major

Some people might be under the impression that being an art major is easy. That it's all fun and games and that 'all you do' is draw. And I will admit, it's one of the funnest majors out there, I'm not denying that. But I don't think people realize what an intense mental process art is. Just looking at homework, art majors are usually asked to turn out/turn in two complete, finished pieces each week. Average time for those, (for me at least) 10 hours. If it's a small project. That is ten hours of intense concentration and focus on detail. Not to mention preparation time. Sometimes it takes longer to set up the subject and prepare the materials than it actually does to draw. It always bugs me when someone asks 'could you draw this for me?' Maybe, if I have a couple days or weeks to think about it and learn about it. Don't get me wrong, half the fun of art is trying new things, but artists aren't machines. You can't put in an order and get exactly what you expect exactly when you expect it. For one thing, we have to take time to sleep (most of the time).

Moral of the story: Be nice to artists.

And just so this won't be a horribly cynical post, here's a fun sketch I did:

Wet Graphite Wash

Today I thought I'd go over the steps to doing a wet graphite wash. In my last post, you saw some pieces done in a dry graphite wash, but wet is a little more involved.

First step- Cotton paper is great for these, because it has a really nice texture and thickness, and it's more resilient, so it's harder to dent with your pencil marks. In order to get an interesting texture, take some cheap paint primer and mix it with drywall compound. Then, paint it lightly over the surface of the paper. Don't try and get the coat even; it's more fun to have it thin in some areas and very thick in others. Once this is done, you can blow-dry the paper. To flatten out the paper, we use a special heat press for the classroom, but you can do it at home with an iron and a towel over the top of the paper. Once this is done, tape the paper down securely to a board. (Blue Painter's tape works best since it won't tear the paper)

Here, I have my drawing done and all ready to go. This one was really fun since we're learning about the scapula and spine in my anatomy class right now :)

Step Two- You'll need the following materials: Water (in a bucket and a small cup), paintbrush(es), powdered graphite, a flat surface

Here's all my stuff ready to go. I like to have at least 2 brushes, since some areas can be hard to reach. In the cup you'll need to mix about 1/4 in water with a small spoonful of the powdered graphite. Just to warn you, they will not want to mix. It's easiest to stir up from the bottom, like you would with a cake mix. Here's what it looks like when it's mixed pretty well: 

Pretty cool, right? Like liquid metal.

Step Three- Next you'll need to wet (with the clean water) the areas of the drawing that you want the wash to cover. Work in small areas, don't try to do too much at once. And don't be afraid of getting it too wet. Let it pool up pretty well. After that's done, dip your paintbrush into the wet graphite, and drop it into the wet area. Gently move it around so that it covers the whole area, but don't worry about getting it completely, as this will leave a better texture.

Once these areas are dry, you can go back and do another coat, erase, or smear them. Make sure they are completely dry before you do so though.

Last step- Once your drawing is completely dry, you can go back in with a regular pencil and refine the edges once more. Next, carefully untape your drawing from the board. You may want to carefully flatten your piece again. This time, sandwich it between two pieces of butcher paper before ironing/pressing it flat.

Now the only step that's left is to spray it with a fixative. This'll prevent the graphite from being smeared. And there you have it, a beautiful wet graphite wash!

Ink and Graphite

Just thought I'd do a quick update, post some pics I did in my drawing class. We've moved on to drawing the skeleton, and I'm super excited to see what a wet graphite wash looks like (these are dry washes). Enjoy!

Anatomy and Me

So, this semester I wanted to learn how to draw people. Realistically, I mean. I had two options; here at Snow we have both a figure drawing class and an anatomy for artists class. I opted for the latter. Now, artistic anatomy is basically the same as any anatomy class, except we focus on the skeletal and muscular systems. I.E., the things that are visible on the surface. Last week in the lab, we got to look at the cadavers. That was a first for me, but it was pretty great. This class is the perfect melding of art and science, with a lot of memorization thrown in. This week, we started on the skull. Did you know there are actually more than 20 different bones in the skull? 'Cause I did not. Also, it's amazing what one lesson on the skull will do for your portrait drawing skills. If anyone's interested in drawing people, but doesn't want to take a class, may I suggest Eliot Goldfinger's Human Anatomy for Artists: The Elements of Form. It's what we're using as our reference book/textbook in the class, and it is amazing.

My Drawing Class

Let's take a minute and talk about drawing! Yay!

So this semester at Snow, my only real 'art' class (meaning we actually make art) is Drawing 2. As opposed to Drawing 1, where we learned to copy directly from life, shaded like madmen, and annihilated line, in Drawing 2 we are focusing completely on Line as an art form. And I've found that leaving line in my work is both easier and a lot more fun. So really quick, I'm going to go through some of my favorite techniques that we've learned so far in my drawing class.

Number 1: Ink Wash

An ink wash is basically where you use ink as a watercolor medium. It creates a beautiful contrast to the wonderful hatching technique found in most ink drawings. Plus, it's really simple to do. All you need is a Pilot G-2 gel pen. Most of the colors will work for this effect, but I prefer the black since it creates a nice blue-grey color wash. Although the gel pen is somewhat temperamental and doesn't always lay down ink smoothly, it's great for quick sketches and gesture drawings. Once you have the drawing/sketch down, you simply wet a soft watercolor brush, and gently brush over the painting. The ink should bleed beautifully, and it gives a nice sense of depth and shadow to even basic sketches. Depending on the type of paper, the ink will be easier or harder to manipulate. What's really nice about this technique is that once it's dry, you can come back in and draw over the wash area no problem. I love it!

Number 2: Calligraphy pen

This one isn't necessarily a technique, but I really enjoy working with calligraphy pens. They're basically chinese or japanese-style calligraphy brushes, but with an ink cartridge so you don't have to dip them. The one I have is fine-tipped, and you get beautiful, thick, dark strokes from them. While not great for detailing, they are absolutely unrivaled for getting a feeling of fluidity. Also, it dries really quickly. No mess!

Number 3: Powdered Graphite

While I have worked with powdered graphite before in my drawing 1 class to tone paper, but in drawing 2 we got to integrate it into our drawings. So, the assignment was to do a contour line drawing in sharpie. (we drew driftwood) And those turn out great, but they're just black and white. Powdered graphite, by the way, is just pencil graphite, but ground up into a fine powder. It's usually used for lubricating machinery, and is messy as all get out, but it's ever so fun. When using powdered graphite, you either need a shammy (cured lambskin) or a piece of felt to rub it onto the paper with. We used the latter to add tone and depth to our sharpie drawings, resulting in a much more dimensional drawing in very little time. (I'll try and get a picture up sometime)

Number 4: Ballpoint Pen

Now, I usually hate ballpoint pens. I think they are the most unpleasant things to write with, and I wasn't sure what to think when our Adam gave us a sketchbook assignment using a ballpoint pen. Oh, how wrong I was. The pen we use for class is a Zebra F-3 fine-tipped Ballpoint. And it is marvelous. I've never seen a better pen for fine detail. It doesn't go nearly as dark as the gel pen or calligraphy pen, but you can get wonderfully delicate lines from it. (like the picture below)

That's all for now!

College Update

Whew! It's been a while since I've posted. And by while, I of course mean almost two years. Well, I finished High School at Sky View, decided to enroll at Snow College, and am currently enrolled there as a sophmore. I've been able to take 2D and 3D design classes, Oil painting and Drawing 1 (pencil & charcoal). I'm currently taking Drawing 2, which explores ink and pastel more than traditional drawing tools, and Anatomy for the Artist, which explores surface anatomy and how to draw people. And on top of all this, I've still got to keep up with generals!

One of the best things I did over the summer was purchase a Wacom drawing tablet, which allowed me to start exploring the world of digital art as never before.

I'll try and keep you updated better than I have been, thanks for being so patient! (And for your time, here are a few, more recent, works of art from my hiatus.)