Practice Needs a Purpose
Practicing drawing needs a purpose. Likewise, practicing football, baseball, and the violin requires a purpose. So before you start any practice, you need to be clear on your purpose.
Purpose lets you experience total satisfaction. When you know what you are practicing for, you have clarity when you are done that you either achieved the objective or understand what you need to do next time to complete your purpose. Either way, you get feedback.
Today's drawing focused on using colors on the same side of the color wheel to create a sketch.
Not using the "actual" colors of the object but just picking two colors to draw. I achieved that objective. This drill will allow me to think beyond the object's color and more toward a fun, exciting color pallet.
What is your purpose for doing something today?
Water Kettle with Proportions
There are techniques to help with drawing subjects in proportion. Using your pen/pencil at eye level is a method to help determine ratios. For example, I used my pen to line up the kettle's total height, the spout's height, and how far the handle extends from the body.
This drawing seems to be in proportion and resembles the real thing.
Manager Vinylmation
Today’s drawing was fun. Using two pen sizes, I created my interpretation of the Manager Vinylmation. It was fantastic to free-hand the Vinylmation’s contours and then use the fountain pen to add the details.
Mix it up as you work on your drawing and art skills.
Challenge yourself and take advantage of all the tools you have
Chair – Negative Space
When you have a complicated subject to sketch, an effective technique is to draw the negative space. You focus on the open spaces and draw those rather than the intricate details of the subject—an effective way to draw on the right side of your brain and to trick your left side.
Today’s chair drawing was completed using this technique. Not perfect, as I still got caught up in the left side of my brain “telling me” what I saw. The chair leans, but I am getting better at showing perspective.
1% improvement every day.
Double Writing
Hey, my handwriting is a mess, sometimes unreadable and boring. Today’s Sketchbook Skool Art Bootcamp exercise is Double Writing from Andrea Joseph. Double writing is easy to add fun and flair to your lettering. She walks you through a four-step process to practice double writing.
Contour of the Keys
A contour drawing focuses on the edges of the object. Today’s exercise was to draw the contour of your keys without lifting your pen. The focus is on developing confident lines.
Doing it in pen, in this case, a Pilot Prera fountain pen) allows me to focus on the lines; there is no erasing or “starting over.”
After I set the contours, I went back and added the details. Excellent enjoyable exercise to start a Saturday morning.
Blind Contour by Feel
Today’s exercise was a blind contour by feel selfie. You place your finger on your nose, move around your face, and have your hand follow along. I like how my eyes are aligned and feel confident with my lines.
Another interesting exercise to develop confidence in my lines.
Water bottle
Here is a sketch of my personalized water bottle. It has been a while since I drew and posted something. I was thinking about where the friction has come from. As I have gone from pure novice to amateur, I have built unnecessary expectations. When you are a novice, you have no expectations and don’t self-judge what you are doing; you do it. When you arbitrarily cross over to amateur, you somehow develop expectations that lead to friction. Now I’m feeling somewhat disappointed in my drawings when I haven’t been practicing for very long.
Watch out for this arbitrary shift and the related increased expectations. The friction is not worth it.
Cup
I’m happy with the perspective on the cup’s top. I used the pencil measuring technique to measure the ellipse. The length vs. depth of the ellipse is much greater than your brain says it should be. That was key to getting the correct perspective. Today feels like a breakthrough day for me.
The overall balance of the cup’s sides is good. I am making progress one day at a time.
Morning Coffee
Here is a sketch of my morning coffee. I am still working on the perspective of the top. Still too round and doesn’t give the depth of the angle. I now realize this is my left brain telling me what I am seeing and what I should draw. Next time I need to use the picture plane to get it into a two-dimensional view.
The Corner
Today’s sketch focused on sighting the angles in a room corner with just a pencil. First, I drew the central vertical line, which always remains vertical regardless of the viewing angle. And then, using my pencil, I visually saw the angle for the floor and ceiling with the vertical corner.
Getting good and working these angles and tricking my left brain, which is convinced the lines are straight.
Focused on constant improvement day by day,
Vanishing Point down the Hallway
The vanishing point is a crucial tenant of drawing with the proper perspective. Understanding how the vanishing point works and how the straight lines converge down from above to the vanishing point and up to the vanishing point from below.
This plays havoc with your left brain because it knows these are straight lines. So forcing your left brain to give up and letting your right side brain take over and draw to the vanishing point is vital.
I have some work to do.
Apples on the Counter
Although a simple setup, today’s sketch offers the ability to so depth with a three-dimensional object and volume by showing the shadows with the paper towel under the apples and shadows from the apples.
I need to continue to work on all three, and utilizing a simple countertop setup like this will always give me the opportunity.
Studies of Arms and Legs
This sketch combined negative spaces and an upside-down drawing. Reinforced practice is good. Using Rubens’ sketch “Studies of Arms and Legs,” I utilized both techniques. I think it went well. Not an exact reproduction, but looks good.
I am still working through the skills and drills from Betty Edwards’ Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.
Dining Room Chair
This sketch was focused on negative spaces and developing the skills to see negative spaces. I picked what Betty Edwards in Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain calls a basic unit. I used the square on the bottom of the chair as my basic unit.
Using my picture plane, I framed the chair and drew the basic unit square on the plane. Then, I could transfer the basic unit’s location to my page using the grid lines. Finally, correctly placing the basic unit on the paper, I completed the rest of the chair.
I’m happy with the drawing and, more importantly, pleased with the progress I am making. Again, small steps focused on incremental improvement.
Enjoy!
Three Potatoes
Today I wanted to try a live scene with directional lighting. So I set up three potatoes and my flashlight to provide specific directional lighting. I’ve included the original setup and my drawing. I am still working on getting the roundness of the potatoes, the surface texture, and the shadows, all with a fountain pen.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.
Backyard Flowers
This backyard flowers sketch was the first drawing I have done from a picture. I enjoyed the experience knowing it was from an image I captured in my backyard. A bit of farm to table. I enjoyed taking a bit of creative license with the vision and not focusing on recreating the image.
Also, my most crucial fan and critic could easily recognize the sketch as flowers. For some reason, that matters!
The Chair
Today’s sketch was a tough one. Trying to sketch the chair while getting the perspective and depth was hard. I tried to use the picture plane but couldn’t keep it still. I tried to focus on the negative space but couldn’t get that clear. Just an overall tough sketch today.
I’m not discouraged at all. This drawing shows where I need to put the work in. Nothing comes easy!
Picture Plane – another hand
Practice, practice, practice. I can focus on getting confident with my lines, angles, and details. Using the picture plane allows me to focus on seeing my three-dimension hand in two dimensions. I can disconnect from the hand and fingers and focus on the lines, space, and negative space.
Good practice sketch.