Sometimes It's Bad, Sometimes It's Good

And sometimes you're not sure.  And sometimes it's a mix.  This morning... yup.  Pretty terrible.  Sometimes when you think too much, you think too much.

(02-28-2011.  On the way to work.  I thought way too much about what I was trying to do.  And forgot my mission.  To STOP thinking.  Luckily I realized this.  And did a Homer Simpson Moment.)

(02-28-2011.  On the way home.  Remembered to loosen up.  And remember that it's for fun.  And practice. )

All of Me....

I was going to go to the coffee shop to get some sketching in, but two things stopped me.  1. Some lady walking by down the street looking cold and miserable, and  2. My STILL intermittent internet service.  So I warmed up today with me again.

(02-27-2011.  Not trying for "photorealism" or, I guess, extreme realism, has it's bonuses.  One is that these are all me, but look nothing alike, but do.  In an odd way.  Certain parts of this, the lines make me cringe, but certain parts I really dig.  Most of this was done blind/ cheating, but lifting up the pen.  The bottom right I tried to lift the pen as little as possible.)

Zen

There is something so zen, if I can use an oft overused word, about not THINKING, and just doing.  We really, as a whole, need to do more of this.  Aha, you say, but people DON'T think sometimes.  My argument:  They DO think, but don't spend time relaxing out of the whirlwind that their life has become enough to relax and therefore when they "Don't think", they're letting all the outside influences get to them and making snap unwise choices.  I'm guilty of this.  We all are at one time or another.  My point being, it doesn't take a week long vacation and thousands of dollars spent at a spa or Disneyland to relax.  Honestly, when I see people go off on vacations, they often come home tense from the many "Fun" things they have scheduled themselves to do in a finite time period.  It's all about RELAXING.  Getting away from all the stuff that's constantly beating at your head.  And just being.  And it's harder than you'd think. 

(02-26-2011.  Today I work on winding down from too much thinking.  My way?  Drawing.  Painting.  No people.  Me and the cat in the inner sanctum and the world locked outside the door.  I loosened up with a couple of sketches of myself, since the cat went MIA for a bit.  Partially blind, partially peeking, I think this one was more successful than the other day with utilizing the brush pen and the harder tipped one.)

Sadly,...

It crashed once more.  My modem.  Right as I was uploading my photos to my laptop.  And so my perfect run was interrupted.  HOWEVER, it didn't stop me from creating!  AHA!!  So today, you get a twofer....

(02-24-2011.  On the train.  I used a hard tipped pen to do some blind drawing, then came back in with my brush tipped pen to do some emphasizing.  Yeah...not all that great.  But hey, it's an experiment.  I followed them TOO closely.  There's always NEXT time.)
(02-25-2011.  I liked the lines on these too much to hide them with the brush pen.)

Day 2 no modem...

Which wouldn't be so bad, but for the fact that the coffee shop (read: free wi-fi) closes down about the time I usually get home from work.  So once again, I'm on with no photofixing abilities...

(02-23-2011.  Does anyone else think the guy in the upper right hand corner looks like the Gordon's Fisherman?  Blind sketching with a harder tipped pen)

And it crashes...

Well, not ME... or the TRAIN... but my modem.  I am happily but quickly typing this away at work (with the Boss' blessing.  During my lunch hour.)

(02-22-2011.  From this morning's ride... more sleepy people... with a hard tipped pen, blind sketching.)

Forgive the darkness... alas, I have no photoediting on this computer.  As for the other... Wish me luck!!

A change of pens...

(02-21-2011.  Three times.  I switched pens three times today.  The first time I just accidentally grabbed the one that was running out.  The second I grabbed another brush pen as the rid seemed pretty smooth.  But then I ran out of room [sort of] and grabbed a finer tipped solid pen. And a fun time was had by all.  Well, by me.)
P.S.  The guy in the top left corner was quite cool looking...lost of character.  I'd have liked to studied him closer.

A Rainy Day...

and I'm working on a portrait of a friend.  What better way to spend the day than sleeping in, waking up to the rain, and create?  So I decided to warm up with a self-portrait. 

(02-20-2011.  Today I took it further than just the face.  This is the whole kit and caboodle.  Cat included.  Either it's an anomaly today or I'm getting better at sticking body parts  in there when I don't look...)

At home once again...

So of course, you're getting my face.  As I'm not on the train, I'm going for blind drawing with  the brush tip pen.  It works better when you're not bouncing all over the place...

(02-19-2011.  Yup, still having trouble getting the parts of the face in place when I don't look.  Ah well, that's part of the fun in the lines!  I've discovered that it's harder to feel your place when you have spring in the tip of your drawing equipment.  Something else to not think about when you're drawing.  I think too much.)

Another Day Another Drawing....

Or two...or three...or four.....

(02-18-2011.  It was a good day on the train.  Until it was suddenly inundated with passengers.  Then the sketching screeched to a halt, since for some reason everyone was facing away from me.  I did get a few blind drawings with the harder tipped pen in that [while they may look nothing like a human] were quite tickling my eyes linewise.  And that makes for a good day...)

19 days...

(02-17-2011.  I took out my harder tipped pen and did total blind drawing today home on the train.  I've developed quite the fondness for not looking until I'm done and then getting a surprise...)

I have wondered if I was up to sketching EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.  Would I stop, would I start skipping days... well, so far so good.  Now the only question is whether or not you are actually LOOKING at this, putting up with day after day of faces being sketched.  My apologies... I seem to like it.  I'm thinking about adding in and sketching more varied things.  But still going back to those faces....those wonderful faces....

And then she stopped...

(02-16-2011.  I had  a train full of people to sketch.  Okay, they were getting a BIT to crowded, but I could have probably pulled out a few more... but i felt right like this.  So I stopped.  It's about loving the lines, but it's also about letting your gut tell you what to do.  I liked the shape the faces took.)

Blobs

(02-15-2011.  A page full of victims.  Um.  subjects.)

When you ride on a speeding, rocking train the worst...or possibly the best... thing to do is to try blind drawing with a brush pen.  I'd guess that well over half the drawings you get will be big blobs.  :)

A new Pen...

I bought a new sketchbook today, as I only have a few pages left in my travel one.  And a few new brush pens.  I used one to sketch this page today and had fun holding it lightly, without much pressure.

(02-14-2011. A few faces on the way home.  This time I played with holding the pen lightly and just dragging the tip.  I can tell that I'm improving with actually sketching from life, as these seem much less stiff than the sketches that I was doing prior to starting a sketch a day.  Still not quite as fun as loosening up and looking for the negative spaces or blind drawing, but it's encouraging.)

A bit of practice...

before I get to work on a pastel painting.  These have helped me become more confident in my lines, therefore my drawing comes faster.  I'm digging it.  :)

(02-13-2011.  Some blind drawing and a bit of focusing on the negative shapes lifting my pen as little as possible.)

You're stuck with me again, as after my adventures last night I was a bit too lazy to go out to the coffee shop or take a train ride today.

The adventure...trekking to the top of the Sears (Willis) Tower via several different elevators and several hours of standing around.  But that view was worth it...

Ahhh....Saturday.....

But still not a day to stop.  I've found out that letting go doesn't just mean stopping one thing to do it another way.  I played around with these two pages.  Funny thing is, the less it looked like me... the more I liked it.  Or the more I liked the way the lines made shapes, I guess you could say.

 (02-12-2011.  My brush pen is dying.  I may need to bury it soon. *sniffle*  This DOES, however, give me a chance to get back to the art store for more pens and another sketch book.  Yay!  The top right I'm not sure what I was looking for, it shaped into a stylistic type mess.  Maybe if I knew and pushed it more... The other three were blind sketches.)

(02-12-2011.  I was aiming for less is more.  I think I achieved it.. maybe... and another blind sketch.)

This Morning

There were a LOT of great faces to look at and sketch.  No one cared... probably because a lot of them were asleep...

(02-11-2011.  Is it just me or does the guy on the bottom look like Chuck Norris?  I choked up about half way on the pen today and loosened my grip.  One thing suggested to me... think about negative space and its shape.  Which is a pretty cool idea.  And helps.)  (:

Plenty of People

To sketch today.  A later train home, a lot of faces, and one sitting right across from me, sleeping.  Total character in that face.  Unfortunately, lots of bodies got in the way, but I just moved on to the next...

(02-10-2011.  The sleeper was up in the right hand corner. Unfortunately I never got a chance to finish him...)

On the Train

Today was a good day on the train.  While I didn't necessarily draw anything that I could put my finger on as "hey, that was cool!"  At least I had the chance to sketch.  Lots of subjects available.  So that made for a good day.

 (02-09-2011.  I dug this guy's sunglasses.  Little bitty pieces of nothing, really.  And I liked the fact that he had a beard.  I think I'm on the trail of sketching longer hair, but the shortness of some lengths, and beard stubble...well, that's eluding me for the moment.  It's THERE.  You SEE it.  You want to PUT it IN there... but HOW?  Without making it look like a full beard or head of hair?  Hmmm...)

(02-09-2011.  I liked that guys' nose.  Very prominent.  Aristocratic.  Fun to try to sketch.)

Traaaiiiiiinnnnnn....

(02-08-2011.  Lot more faces out there to sketch.  Blind sketching is a bit on the hard side, but on the train it can be downright hysterical...)

A tough day

Today was a bit rough.  Three steps forward, get cocky that you think that you're sprinting forward....and then this:

(02-07-2011.  On the way there I was able to get out one, the top photo, top right.  Potential.  But the rest on the way home were stop and start.  Four or five times I'd start only to have someone stand in the way.  Irritation set in...on the other hand I may have been soaking in the atmosphere.  It seemed like the irritation was palpable.  Possibly as I was on there an hour later than I usually am.  The bottom one, while full... felt like I was going backwards.  Too stiff.  I SHALL find my mojo!! )

What do you do when you have no desire to watch a football game?

(02-06-2011.  A blind sketch will help get you to realize where you are on the paper.  Obviously not at first, it'll look like a hot mess.  But sometimes that hot mess turns out looking pretty cool and hey, it's practice.)

You draw, obviously.  This time I tried adding in basic shading.

At the Coffee Shop

Welcome to Saturday!!!  Today I wandered down to the coffee shop and had a nice session watching the people go by.  The sketching... possibilities, but not so much.....

(02-05-2011.  The gent up in the top corner was my first try, and a very good possibility, since he was sitting there all nice and comfortable reading a book.  And then.... he finished.  Sigh.  I either need to sketch faster or improve my mind powers of persuasion.  The second was the lady with the bubbly hat...same story.  The third, the lady at the bottom wandered in with her laptop and I was quite happy to try sketching her, she seemed very "photogenic".  There's something just very stiff about this one though...)

(02-05-2011.  The second round went better, but worse.  This is what it looks like when you REALLY don't look.)

When you don't look, it does have some cool consequences (as long as you really don't care if it looks like a person)...the lines are fun.  The problem with this one is that while I was concentrating on trying to "feel" where the lines were on the paper, I lost my connection with pressure sensitivity.  Once I can link those two things together, I'm thinking there might be some interesting things to go on.

And afterwards?  I made a snowman.

To the Train Once Again.....

Back onto the train this morning, I was despairing of finding any victims.  Um.  People to sketch.  I skipped the first train because it was full and I wanted to be able to plop stuff down to get my sketchbook out.  The SECOND train was TOTALLY empty.  I strategically plotted my seating, so as to sit facing as many seats as possible to be able to see faces instead of backs of heads (which while they MIGHT be a bit fun to draw, can get pret-ty darned boring after a few dozen times.)  So as I sat in my strategically-picked-seat.... everyone.  EVERYONE.  Sat on the same side as me.  Facing away from me.  I had to laugh.

 (02-04-2011.  Not the greatest of tries.  Pretty stiff and not at all cohesive as a group.  But hey, I told you I'd put in the ugly ones too.  These were the few people that I could catch with my superb mind powers to persuade to sit in a seat that I could see them well...)


(02-04-2011.  On the train home.  While it was way more crowded and so I had to keep my notebook a LOT closer to me to be able to sketch, there were a LOT of very cool looking people to sketch.  The personalities abounded.  I LOVED that hat.  Unfortunately, people noticed the sketchbook so there were a few turns... which is why there are some body parts that are missing.)

While I don't necessarily look for the whole to be "cohesive", as I'd stated about the top photo... since I'm working on the lines, I DO get a tickle when the whole thing looks like it could be one piece.

One more before I hit the road...

(02-03-2011. Another Me.  This time only lifting the pen four times.  I'll sit back and wait while you count.  Go ahead.  I know you want to.)

Today was another snow day for me, the last one, hopefully, for a while.  I won't call it what it really was, which was sleeping in late and sitting around because I had a cold, which sounds way too whiny.  Snow Day it is.  Anyhoo, it was suggested to me by one of the better sketchers/artists in my group who has taken me under his wing a bit to STOP PICKING UP THE DAMN PEN.  Okay, my words, but same sentiments.  So I did.  One more thing I've been doing is switching up where I actually start the sketching.  Before I would ALWAYS ALWAYS.  Did I say ALWAYS? start the sketching by doing eyes, nose, then mouth within a lighter circle, then go back and draw the head fuller.  and I'd always wind up with horsey-looking people.  This way I get all sorts of different results.  Plus it's just fun. 

A Perfect Day to Stay Inside....

and sketch.


(02-02-2011, a self portrait in front of the mirror, my blanket tucked around me.  I did most of this particular sketch not looking...hence the split skull and tilted face.)
I seemed to have a particular penchant for sketching uphill today.  I drew right to left.  Hmmm.  The cool part about having a snow day is that I'll have plenty more time to sketch.  I'm already filling up the last pages of two sketch books and just finished this one.  I don't know if I've ever filled up a sketchbook before.  I like the feeling.

 (02-02-2011.  Another one for you since I'm not going outside.  It amuses me the number of different ways I can look.)

Into the Blizzard....

Today was a tad snowy.  If you hadn't heard.  Um.  Yeah.  Pretty much the entire middle of the United States.  Witness:

And as such, I didn't get a chance to sketch on the train.  If you've ever been on an EL in rush hour you understand.  You make close friends.  FAST.  I'm certain that in some countries if you stood that close together it would be grounds for marriage.  Needless to say, getting a pen and a pad of paper out is nigh on impossible.  And since everyone (intelligently) decided to leave the automobiles at home if they could, the trains were EXTRA packed.  I think I may be a polygamist. 

But what I DID do, after getting blown down the stairs from the train platform, was skedaddle to the coffee shop to  get a bit of sketching in.  Along with waiting for the winds to lull for a minute.



(02-01-2011.  This is the "blindest" drawing I've done so far.  Yes, I did peek to make sure the eye didn't have an out-of-body experiment.  I'm still trying to let loose.   I have a feeling that this is going to take a bit for me to remember to not look.  What is it?  The need to have things places correctly?  The ego that doesn't want you to see a total blob of oddity?  Honestly... probably both.  I apologize for the ego. I have a very large one.  It may take a while to be beaten into submission.)

These two were doing the same thing I was... hiding out from the snow.