My House is ready for its First Inspection

My pen and ink drawing of the house is coming along nicely. It is fun to do but a little tricky. My first goal is to set up the overall structure of the house and then to do the shading. As you can see it is still fairly light as I do not want to over commit myself in any area as one can always make things darker but with ink there is no going back. For the most part I started at the top and worked my way down the picture and did bits of the foliage as I went along. Drawing all those leaves can be very tedious but I use them as kind of a warm up exercise before moving on to the house for each drawing session. I find that way I am able to keep my foliage fresh and alive looking. The house has lots of mouldings and I want to be sure to make them stand out. Well back to work.

Stop Harmony and Move to the Suburbs

Harmony will have to take a back seat for awhile as I must focus on another picture right now. I have this beautiful house portrait to draw in ink which is needed right away. It is a lovely place with lots of moldings and little details. It is really tricky to get all that detail right; another example of when 12 pictures of something is not enough I should have taken more. When I take my photos I try and take some from a distance, close up on some of the details and then several from at least 2 perspectives I think might be the most interesting to draw. The trouble is there are always plants and things around that get in your way making it hard to see everything. I know you want to put the plants in but often they need to be moved a bit so the subject can shine through. I have included a copy of my pencil sketch to give you an idea of where I am going, I will post the finished piece when it is done.

Harmony is my new Challenge

I have really taken on a battle with this picture. It is an ink pouring I did in the fall which I have been studying to decide what I will do with it. I loved the colors and the flow it had, at first I was going to make it into flowers but that just seemed to easy, I wanted to challenge myself. On New Year’s Day we were out for a drive and came across this pair of swans. They just seemed so beautiful and graceful on the water. I decided they should be in my picture; now my challenge is to get them into the picture and still preserve the movement and excitement of the background. I feel I have a good start but I am not there yet. This may take awhile as I will have to study it and move forward carefully. I will keep you posted.

The Eagles are Flying High

Well they are done! I think! Now is just fiddle time, I will mat them up and look at them for a while before I spray them. The official name will be “The Eagle Roost”. We see a lot of eagles here on the coast all year around however it is a special treat to see two together as I have drawn them. We will be coming into their nesting season soon (February) so nesting pairs will be a common sight soon.
I used Bristol vellum for this piece and I am not sure that I liked working with it. There seems to be quite a pattern to the paper at times which was very hard to control. I usually use museum board and for my next piece I will go back to that and see how I feel with it.

The eagles are starting to fly

I have been working on my eagles for a few days now and they are really starting to come alive. I try hard to work top to bottom and left to right but . . . As I work different areas just call my name and I have to address them and then of course I am constantly bringing other areas up to speed. I was not too happy with the overall look of my top eagle and I finally figured out that his head wasn’t sitting right. I shorten things up and set his head on his shoulders and I think he looks a lot better. I am really enjoying the driftwood but I know I must be careful as it could become more interesting than the eagles if I don’t look out. The whole project is going very well and I can see I will be finished up soon. I know you are probably wondering about the face of the second eagle, I have been kind of avoiding it for now, it will need a light touch and I need to be in the ‘mood’ to tackle it.
How is your first project of the year coming?

Welcome to my Blog – Let’s Get Started

The days are dark and cold but I don't mind as I am happy to putter away in my studio and not tempted to go outside (…well only for short spells to shovel the driveway). I have started on my first project for the year "The Eagles", I am planning on doing a group of bird pictures to make into a memo pad set for this year. I think that they will be a real hit. Right now they are not too exciting but I can see the promise there.

The eagles are in graphite and the image is 6.5 x 9.5 inches. I will keep you posted on their progress.

What is your first project for the year?