217th post...yeah....no.

(08-31-2011. Well, I DID say I was going to post the bad with the good....)

216th lesson... know when to say when...

(08-30-2011. Yep.  I didn't. I liked the hair, the face, but I should have stopped without the shading. That was a bit much.)

215th post... sleepy baby....

(08-29-2011. Most of the time I start out sketching something with absolutely NO idea of what I'm going to sketch until approximately 3 seconds before I sketch it. And I have no idea HOW I'm going to sketch it. The formula for sketching something went out the window almost 200 sketches ago. There are times, though, when I start sketching, and a picture forms... not an actual picture of what I'm sketching, obviously, since it hasn't been done yet, but a picture in my head of the lines... and where I'd seen that type of line before. This sketch  started out with the left then the right eyebrow, and by the time I started in on the right eye... it reminded me of a book that I'd read when I was probably ten. I believe it was a Ripley's believe it or Not book...Or Rudyard Kipling. Either way it had a black cover... but the sketches of people looked like what was forming at the end of my pen. So I had to ask myself, was my subconscious making the pen work the way it did because of the pictures in the book? Or did my subconscious just have an "oh, cool!" moment, invite me along, then ignore the similarities? Hmmmm.)

214th post: Challenge Movement....

(08-28-2011. Today's challenge was movement... I went for the obvious... stick your head out a window and what do you see? Yep. Pretty much a blur of everything. And not much totally clear. So I broke it down to basic shapes.)

213th post... all about asymmetry

(08-27-2011. Nothing is symmetrical. Scratch that.  Nothing that's not man made is symmetrical. Witness the human face. Something on one side is always a tiny bit higher/lower/bigger/smaller than the other side. Try taking a photo of yourself and flip one side over and match it up.  Doesn't look like you, huh?)

212th post... imperfect and liking it....

(08-27-2011. Yup. Imperfect. But certainly less sterile than the previous [more perfect] drawing. The lines are a heckuvalot more fun!)

Playing with line thickness

(08-25-2011. Two pens, one line. Am I satisfied with this experiment?  Yes, and no. I think the thickness helped convince us of the weight of her face.  But on the other hand, focusing too hard on switching the pens I stopped letting it be loose, and it tightened up.) C'est la vie. We learn.

210th post...Ms. Laura's Snack....

(08-24-2011. Okay, originally I sketched this in a thinner pen. But it was so thin I thought I should go over it so that I could see it.  I'm still deciding if that was a good move or a bad move. I can see it better... but the graceful spontaneity just seems missing.  See?  Go with your first gut instinct and most of the time you'll be right.)

209th post...an awkward pose...

(08-23-2011. Who'd have thought just drawing someone bending over could be so difficult?  Well...yeah.  It was.)  :-P

208th post...reaching....

(08-22-2011. I used a thinner marker pen to draw it in, only lifting my pen when I absolutely had to. I thought I'd like to add in a thicker pen for a more startling addition, so I used a thicker one to add in some larger wrinkles.  On one hand I'm not sure if I like it because I look back at it without the thicker lines and I really do love the variations in the thinner line, even though they're harder to see. On the other hand I like what I did with the scribbles because they're more messy and not neat and not following directly on the line....and that's a big step for me... )  ;-)

207th post... My Uncle....

(08-21-2011. I went back to squigglies because it just seemed to fit him. It was a rather dramatically lighted photo [I haven't seen him in years]).

206th post Challenge: Brown Paper

(08-20-2011. So I had no brown paper.  Thanks, local food market for your brown paper bag. I sketched this one out with willow vine charcoal (which is long and thin and crumbly) and added in some tones and hilights and lowlights with my pastels. Altogether about an hour worth of sketching [possibly less, I was watching Charlie Chaplin movies on the TV] looking into the mirror. It's probably 20x16ish inches. And I love the way the vine created cool lines, especially against the wrinkles and folds of the bag.)

:-D

205th post. My Shoe.

(08-19-2011. Why my shoe?  Two reasons. One, I was in a room full of comedians roaming around schmoozing with each other, and having them sit or stand still for half a minute would be seriously difficult, as they all have this melodramatic body language that I was afeared was going to knock someone out... and two, my kooky twisting of inanimate objects.  I tend to bend them in space and have more than one dimension showing.  So it was there to practice on....) :-D

kitty

(08-18-2011. Yes, I sketched today. In between trying to fix my ipod.  At least THIS went right.) :-D

sunglasses...

(08-17-2011. And black lipstick.  Or close to it. Not my best, but certainly not my worst. Comparable to where I was about 200 days ago.... not too bad.)

202...3rd challenge...Calm...

(08-16-2011. And what could be more calm or calm inducing than Hachiman in the Guise of a Monk, carved into a piece of wood in the 10th century. I was pretty blown away by the fact that this statue, and others, was still there, in wood. WOOD. through over 1,000 years.  Pretty amazing and inspiring. Not to mention the vibes just coming from this of peace...)

201...speaking Spanish in the Coffee Shop...

(08-15-2011. I wandered into the coffee shop to have a sammich after meandering through the museum downtown. While enjoying my Turkey Wrap I started sketching three guys sitting in the shop. Half in English and half in Spanish, it sounded like they were talking about setting up a new restaurant. They were so impassioned, I got excited FOR them. Guy #3 was about to be sketched, but they decided to leave.)

200th post... Challenge #2. Orange.

(08-14-2011. The second challenge from Big D and the AWBA art group was orange. I didn't cheat. The shirt WAS orange in the first place. *grins* On a semi-serious note, yesterday, one of my friends who follows along and checks out my fledgling attempt at blogging [thanks, Eric, and everyone ELSE who looks in...for the cheers] asked me if I had special plans for #200. I wasn't sure what I was going to draw, but now that I thought about it, I'm glad that I picked this guy. This is my brother, Ken. And I must tell you that there aren't a  nicer, rowdier, more intelligent bunch of guys out there that I admire than my brothers.) :-D

199th post. Where I get it from....

(08-13-2011. Yup. This is where I get it from. The incessant need to color things. My mom came to visit, and what does she do? Pulls out her coloring books and colored pencils. She really could have borrowed mine...)

:-D

198th post...me

(08-12-2011. Okay, a smaller me...and my brother.  I didn't sketch on the train today, since I thought that I'd be riding it home and would sketch then.  Instead I went with a friend to the Anti Cruelty Society and watched them get a new best friend. Which made me happy. So I don't mind today...)

First Challenge...Water

(08-11-2011. Remember those friends I mentioned Eons ago?  The ones that teach me, give me a cheer once in a while, and give me about a gazillion ideas? Yup.  They're back. Usually I look around for something that catches my eye to draw. Well, Big D [as I like to call him] aka Dave Marshalek, the leader of one of the groups that I belong to, has decided to give us a push...and give us a challenge to draw, take a photo of, sing about, whatever. Which should make things more interesting for me... and you... and so I love the idea.

This first challenge was water.  So I wandered over to the towers in Millenium Park [if you've never been there, go...] and sat and sketched one of the kids that was sitting in the water by the towers. Occasionally he'd lay down and do a snow angel type move.)

backs

(08-10-2011. Who says backs have to be boring?  This lady had great curly hair.)

195th post... Eat...or Argue?.....

(08-09-2011. Some people are such a pleasure to draw. Not because they're handsome or beautiful, but for the animated expressions they come up with. Much more fun than drawing someone with a blank look...)

194th post...man's best friend...

(08-08-2011. Okay, not my best, but it brings back fond memories. Wha? No, not the little boy and the dog. The pen. The lighter pen is the end of my old pen. "But how did it decease?" you ask me.  "WELL", I answer. It deceased itself after my brother and sister in law brought their three children to visit, and we went out and had pizza." "But that makes no sense.", you chime in. "Ah, but the cool part is what happened AFTERWARDS." I answer. After the pizza had all but been demolished, my three brilliant niece and nephews had an impromptu drawing party on their cups. And a beautiful time was had by all....)

I'd post Alec's dinosaur (which looked suspiciously like a beaver) but alas, the photo I have is of him diligently working on it....so you can't see the art in progress....

193...work that line...

(08-07-2011. Somewhat scribbly, to show the shadows. It just felt like it. And if it feels like it, draw it, right?) :)

Mebbe....

(08-06-2011...I should change the name to Sketches from the train and coffee shop.  They sit still a bit longer in the coffee shop.)  :)

191st...Daw! He moved!!!

(08-05-2011. I was going for a bit more raw with the pen.  And wasn't doing too bad. But then he moved. Boo!)

hats....

(08-04-2011. By now we all know my odd hatred for drawing hats. Or not so odd dislike for the way that they sit, or don't sit, for that matter, on my people's heads... Today I believe I have successfully managed to mix baseball hat and human head into a harmonious head-hat-hat-head way. Anyhoo, yay, me.)

:)

a busy guy...

(08-03-2011. This guy was overwhelmed with books and papers and backpacks galore. I'm surprised the table didn't fall down from the weight....)

188th...nothing....

(08-02-2011. I got nothing for you. I'd say something witty, but I'm currently watching a string of badly acted made-for-TV movies and they've sucked the life from me. Of course I could flip the channel, but then I'd miss out on the bad acting. And I can't do that. *grin* So yah, Liking the bottom half here, but the dude up top... always an odd pose to try to sketch.  Or paint for that matter. Just look at a lot of the older painters. Yeah. They had some trouble with it too. Rather, some of them did.) :-D

187, all about the line

(08-01-2011. Not detailed, not a total finished work, but yes, satisfied with fluidity in the lines. And the minimal amount. Yay.)  :-)