Variegated Rose -- Pencil

 

This is one that I drew a couple of month ago.The original picture was of a pink and red rose.  All the different shades of pink, red, and shadows resulted in a rose with much more pencil in it than the first rose I did (see red rose here). Drawing it required a lot of thinking regarding how to represent all the different shades of pink, rose, light and shadows. With this rose I was also able to practice how to do the petal textures, which were not in the photo of the red rose I drew previously. This was really interesting to do.

Antique Colored Glass Bottle -- Pencil

Several months ago I fell in love with a photo of an aqua blue antique glass bottle. When I first saw it I wanted to paint it, but never had the nerve to try it. After I started this sketching blog I decided to give it a try in pencil. This sketch was done a couple of months ago. The original photo came from the Monthly Sketch Project (November 2009). Click  here to go to this blog. Enjoyed sketching this.

Two Pears Still Life -- Pencil

This is my first shaded pencil pear sketch. I have wanted to do some pears for a while, but could not find anything to sketch.  When I finally found some pears to sketch, I found I could not duplicate all the details into my picture. In the original oil painting there were a lot more highlights, but for some reason I could not get that many to work in my sketch.  Either the difference is in the medium, or the artist. Other than that, I had a lot of fun doing this sketch.  I got to stretch a lot, as I learned more about sketching fruit.  The inspiration for this came from the oil painting 'Pears' by Ann Thompson Nemcosky. You can see the original here. Her painting was so beautiful that it made me want to sketch it. I also asked and received her permission to post my sketch.

Glass Piggy Bank -- Pencil

I found this one in a magazine ad. It was interesting to sketch, and more complicated than I though it would be.  The ears and the tail were the hardest. I redrew them several times trying to get the glass look. Still could be better, but finally gave up trying. However, I am content with this one, as the glass piggy bank made it such a cute and fun sketch to do.

Flower in a Glass Bottle -- Pencil

This one was inspired by a picture I saw in a calendar. Often I can sketch the picture exactly as it is with no changes or additions,  and it looks OK. Other times I have to play with the sketch for the pencil version to look right. Here I had to play with the flower and the shadows in the drawing for it to feel right. In the picture the flower was partially closed, and the shadows would not work out right. I redrew it open, adjusted the shadows, and things started to come together better.

Art Is Where You Find It -- Pencil

When you start sketching, you do not think about it taking you in directions you never imagined. I never expected to be drawing shoes. Even though the Everyday Matters group has a drawing prompt (#1) for a shoe, I had never had a desire to draw one. A couple of weeks ago after I finished a sketch, I happened to see a shoe on the floor. Immediately I was enraptured by the angles and sculptural qualities of the shoe, and I had to sketch it. Above is the result.

Later I saw another shoe that had even more angles and curves (and texture!) than the first shoe, and I had to draw it. This shoe is so silver and shiny  in places that it ought to be painted so it could appear in all its glory. I opted here just to leave the lighter parts white and all the rest in its various shades of darker gray. So, I hope you enjoyed my journey into shoe art. There may be more, because if I have learned anything from this is that art is where you find it (or it finds you).

Boat on the Lake Shore -- Pencil

While I was visiting with some friends I saw this boat on the shore of the lake. It kept calling to me to sketch it. Yeah! I was prepared for once, because I had brought my little sketch book "just in case". I have wanted to do something like this for a while, so I have been on the lookout for opportunities to sketch. There were a lot of angles, and not sure I got them all correct. However, the most important thing is I was able to practice sketching, and on site. It was very enjoyable.

Spring (First Try) -- Pencil

 

While on wasp patrol outside (this time of year they are trying to nest every where), I decided to draw my pear tree, which I have wanted to do since it started blooming. Lacking time and desire to put in every detail, I drew it loosely (while keeping eye out for wasps to spray). The big white blooms are really groups of  four or more blooms, and the tree is covered in small new  leaves. I am enjoying this  warm weather here in the southern U.S.,  but it will not last.  This is just the first try at Spring. We usually have one or two hard freezes here before May that either kills the blooms or fruit of my peach and pear tree. Thus, we only get fruit about every third year. This was an enjoyable project to do, because I have always wanted to sit on my front porch and sketch.

Red Rose -- Pencil

This is my first attempt at doing a shaded pencil drawing of a rose. I have wanted to draw one for a while, and have been looking for weeks for a rose to draw.  I finally found the inspiration for this one in a flower magazine last week. It was  fun to do, and I learned a lot drawing it.

Upside Down Water Glass and Shadow -- Pencil

I am still working on sketching glass. I put one of my clear water glasses upside down on my kitchen counter to draw this. The extra benefit for doing it there, I found was the lovely shadow it cast there from the kitchen lights. The shadow was as interesting as the glass to do. This sketch came about from a prompt from the Draw- This art group. This is something I might not have done without the prompt to encourage me. Also, I was experimenting last night to improve my sketching blog's banner, and I used this sketch in my new blog banner above.

Glass Individual Fruit Bowl -- Pencil

I did this to practice drawing glass. The inspiration for this came from an art prompt from Monthly Sketch Project  for the month of January. I did not try to copy it exactly. I was playing around with it trying to produce the look of glass more so than the look of fruit. This one was a good learning experience. I erased it and redrew more than once. It still could be better, but decided enough was enough.

Drawing Prompts March 15- -- Pencil

These are drawing prompts from the yahoo art group Draw-This. The purpose of the drawing prompts were to help us to work on the three dimensionality and volume of objects. These were interesting to do and a challenge as well. We were allowed to use any medium to do them, but I wanted to stick to pencil. I want to get better at using the pencil, and producing better graphite drawings.

Hope (in Spring) -- Pencil

 

I have always admired people who sketch out their window, in the yard, or out in nature. How cool is it to be able to walk around sketching things. Today I decided to do something about that. I did a quick sketch out my front glass storm door of part of my flower garden. The yellow daffodils are blooming at the foot of my peach tree, and it is just starting to try to bloom pink blossoms.  Nothing else is green or blooming, but the daffodils and the peach tree blooms give hope in Spring.

St. John Cathedral, Savannah, GA. - Pen & Ink

I was in a pen & ink sketchy mood for this building. This one caught my eye and I had to sketch it. This is an actual building from the city I grew up in. They have a lot of beautiful architecture there. Can be one of the most beautiful cities in the spring when all the flowers bloom. Lots to see there any time of the year.  The city has turned into a popular tourist spot now.

Still Life -- Pencil

This is a drawing prompt #257 for Everyday Matters art group- draw a houseplant. I am finding that drawing something is an adventure. You don't know the full direction it will take until the end. It's also about choices- what do you put in, how much detail, when is it finished? Usually I start at the top of what I am going to draw and work down. This time I started with the pot and worked up-drawing the book last.   Also, without this prompt I would not have thought to draw this particular houseplant that sits beside my couch. Now I have another memory  captured in art.

Michelangelo's "Ideal Head of a Woman" -- Pencil

 

Michelangelo is the artist being highlighted this month by the Draw-This yahoo art group. This is the picture posted at the group's site for this month. I thought it was a very interesting picture and decided to do her to get some practice drawing portraits.  I don't say I captured every detail right, but I had fun doing her.

Wimbledon Door -- Pencil

 

This was done from a photo given as a prompt for the Draw-This Yahoo art group. I changed the perspective from slightly off center to more the front being the center of the picture. I also simplified the picture a little bit. Architecture entriques me so this one was fun to do.

Modern Bookcase and Chair -- Pencil

This sketch came about from a drawing prompt from the Draw-ThisYahoo art group. Though I have never drawn anything like this before, the shapes and lines of the two entriqued me, and I just had to draw them. They certainly were a challenge, but were fun also.