Drinking Glass with Salt and Pepper Shakers -- Pencil

Sketching from real objects is harder I have found than  from photos or artwork. The latter usually has the shadows and composition there. When I draw from real objects, there are so many decisions to make, and it really stretches me to bring the 3D to 2D. The above objects, sketched for practice, are from my kitchen. The shapes of the objects are what caused me to draw them. They were fun to do.

Vase Still Life -- Pencil

This vase was drawn from a picture at a friends house. It was one of three beautifully textured vases. I just concentrated on this one. It made an interesting study in shadows and texture. Enjoyed sketching it.

Victorian House -- Pencil

I love to sketch architecture. Would love to do more of it. Whenever I am some where there is interesting architecture I just ache to sketch it. However, I usually don't have time to do it. Thus, I usually have to settle for pictures in books. However, a big benefit of sketching from pictures in books is that you can take all the time you need, and you are not in the heat or cold. The above is from a plain sketch I did a couple of years ago. I had previous had taken it and developed it in pen and ink and then even later as a watercolor. Until today, I had never taken it and developed it as a full blown sketch in pencil. This is based on a sketch I found in a watercolor book. I rearranged where some of the doors and windows were on the main part of the house to make it more appealing. The original did not have the bottom of the porch in the picture, so I put one on.

Tea Pot and Pears -- Pencil

This sketch was done from a picture in a book about how to do colored pencil art. I loved the contrast of shadows and light, as well as the reflections on the tea pot. The tablecloth was actually a plaid pattern in the original colored pencil drawing. I liked the contrast better with a white one. I liked the challenge of the picture. The style of the picture made it easy to concentrate on one object or thing at a time to build the picture up. It was a very satisfying piece of art to do.