Turns out I CAN draw

So it turns out that I can draw after all- i have just finished a sketch of a lion that I am extremely happy with. I can see that the proportions are wrong though and that some of the shading is incorrect but the only way to improve is to make mistakes. The fact that it looks a lot like the photo (taken behind the scenes at Auckland Zoo last year) has made me very happy. I will post the photo below with the others.

I made a trip to Gordon Harris this morning and decided to have a look at some of the different charcoals that were available. I have only ever used the willow charcoal sticks (very messy) and the compressed charcoal stick (a bit messy). I didn't like either very much; the willow charcoal is too soft for me and I don't feel that I can control it the way I want to. The compressed charcoal is a bit better but its very thick and I don't like that much either (again it's to do with control). I do however like the way you can manipulate charcoal so I figured that there would be some form of it out there that I would enjoy using. I was right- Faber-Castell Pitt Charcoal (Hard). It comes in the form of a pencil (eliminating some of the mess) making it more comfortable for me to use and is much harder than the willow charcoal. I also bought a White (and black) Staedtler Chinagraph pencil which is very waxy and really nice to draw with.

I have promised to upload some drawings and sketches since my first post so here you go =)

2 June 2010 - This was one of my first drawings and I wasn't allowed to look at the paper; just at my hand (which was scary). It ended up being a pretty fun exercise though.

2 June 2010 - My second attempt at drawing my hand without looking at the paper.

2 June 2010 - This is a self portrait using white crayon on A3 paper. For this one you were alowed to look a bit but sometimes it didn't do much good since it was white on white. After you put a inky wash over it and there you have it.

6 June 2010 - A page from my visual diary. "Meow"

6 June 2010 - Another page from my visual diary. This drawing is from life (but the spider was in a box, usually hanging from the wall!)

7 June 2010 - Drawing my right hand with my left while looking. One of the tasks was to draw it WITHOUT looking. I tried but I had to keep looking so I will try that one again next week.

7 June 2010 - My first analogue which was anger, peaceful, depressed, energy. I used pastels for this one.  

8 June 2010 - Upside down drawing; it makes your focus on shape and detail rather than the image of the face. Proportion's are off (face is too wide) and I played it very safe when it came to shading it but I am still really happy with this.

8 June 2010 - My second analogue which was laughter, love, your favourite hoby, your job/work. I used acrylic paid for this one.

11 & 12 June 2010 - I was told about Alex Pardee by a friend after commenting on her awesome shirt with his artwork on. I have recently found a facination with him. Morbid, creepy and unusual illustrations combined with bright and vibrant colours. I love that a majority of his personal art work uses a combination of pen, ink, watercolours and dyes. I am very interested in experimenting with inks and dyes especially.

12 June 2010 - I used my new Pitt Charcoal and White Chinagraph pencil for this. Like I said above though, I can see it's flaws but I'm still very happy with it.

So thats all for now - hope everyone has a great weekend!