Friday, December 25, 2009

Drawings 1

There will be many of these posts... I'll keep them numbered as "Drawings 1, 2, 3, etc." so they're easy to find. As I gain more experience, you'll also see paintings and the like.

I found a paper I particularly like. It's Strathmore 400 drawing paper: not specifically archival, but good paper and I figure it'll last a long time anyway. It's so cheap, I can't really find anything else that really compares for the price. I use a better paper for more in depth works, but this one works great for general purpose drawing.



You'll either recognize this woman or you won't. This graphite drawing took about 3 hours and is one that a lot of my friends really like for some reason. I've done better ones, but they still like this one. The lady herself is very aesthetically pleasing, in my opinion.

One of the things I'm liking about blogger is that I can post higher resolution images. Art is best viewed large, preferably from life but this will work fine.







Here's one I did of a friend. He's a good guy and easy to draw because he his head is so ellipsoidal... heh.
This is an ink and brush drawing. This is actually probably my favorite technique I've ever tried. It allows me to work very fast and still maintain a high level of detail. I use a #4 white nylon brush and india ink thinned with water for this technique. My personal preference is Higgins Black Magic. It goes a long way: this is actually probably cheaper than drawing with a pencil because so little ink is needed.

Many of my methods are based on cutting costs and spending less while maintaining a consistent quality of workmanship and materials. I feel you shouldn't have to break the bank to create art.

2 comments:

  1. Nice drawings! I like your blog -- very simple, straightforward and elegant.

    I think you'll get a lot of readers, especially if you do post art often, frequently update and always keyword your entries. "Portrait" is a good keyword for these too.

    Doing short how-to entries are good too. Anytime you pick up a new technique, writing about it does two things -- bring in blog readers and help refresh it in your own mind so that it starts to become reflexive.

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  2. Very nice blog start you got here! I certainly will be visiting often, have subscribed to your updates.

    I have seen the girl's portrait before, but not the guy's. Your brush drawing is really cool. Mine sucks, and I am envious.

    Merry Christmas to you!

    Alex

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