Lisa, fantastic piece. Excellent job on the shadows, highlights and faces. They seem calm in their environment but intent on something ahead. Really nice.
Jim Z.
I have played guitar for over 50-years and had the pleasure of hearing Dayan Kai play at a private home party recently. I took a picture and thought I would try to use the graphite class learnings to do a pencil drawing of him playing. Dayan is blind and plays multiple instruments including guitar, piano, blues harp, and clarinet. He makes his living as a professional musician and does have a website if anyone would be interested in checking him out. I have been trying to take the TVI lessons and then endeavor to find scenes to capture and try create original art using the skills of the lessons. Anyway. He writes his own music and is an amazing musician. So far I find that I just don’t get the shadows quite right - mostly the courage to make them darker and create more contrast.
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Thank you so much ! I really appreciate that !
I definitely was having trouble with the paper being cold press. What kind of hot press would you recommend for me to try?
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Hi Lucas @MTBartist
The one that I use all the time is Arches - 300 lb hot press watercolor sheets. It generally only comes in big sheets that are 22" x 30" that I cut to size as needed. I buy it from Blick and right now it is $20.44 a sheet (or $18.39 a sheet if you buy 5 or more which is what I do). So definitely not cheap. They also have the big sheets of 140 lb hot press that is $9.74 a sheet. Just a reminder for anyone reading this, anytime I use watercolor paper that will have something wet put on it, I make it a practice to tape down every side of the paper from corner to corner. The lighter weight the paper, the greater the likelihood that it will bubble up with moisture, but if taped down it will also flatten back out as it dries.
Terri Robichon
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Hi James @Zman -
Thanks for posting the reference photo. It makes it easier to assist you. One thing I will start with is that I trace ALL OF MY DRAWINGS. It lets you focus your time on the finished piece, but more importantly, when you trace you are really looking closely at the reference and notice things you might otherwise miss.
My first comment is about the fireplace. The drawing could really benefit from a thicker dark mantel, some indication of the stones on the vertical surface, and more definition on the hearth, showing the thickness of the slab of stone and the darker recessed area under the stone that supports it.
Regarding the body, I constantly look at the reference and ask myself for every area, is this lighter or darker than what is next to it. Keeping that in mind look at the hair on the forehead and the ponytail. Your values are what I would call “flat” and don’t reflect the rounded shape of the head that is visible in the reference. Look at the man’s left arm. It gets darker where it is closer to the body. Then very dark where the arm intersects with the body, and then the body is dark and blending to light as it moves away from the arm. And the folds in the fabric are not just lines, but broader shaded areas. Look closely for these details because that’s what will improve your drawing.
Also look at the man’s right leg. You have it all one shade (you’re right - not dark enough) but the lower part of the thigh is definitely darker that the top of the thigh.
This is how I talk to myself the entire time I’m drawing, and I hope you find it helpful. Please keep posting your work.
One other important suggestion - you should make it a habit to watch Matt’s - Members Minute every week (and watch some of the older one’s too). They are less than a half hour long and Matt constantly talks about “value” and how to use it to indicate the source of the light and the form of the subject. Personally, I continue to learn by watching these. Actually, you might consider sending this to Matt for the Members Minute. There’s a good chance he will critique it for all of us to learn from.
Terri Robichon
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Thank you, Terri, for your review of my work and guidance on improvement. It is very helpful to get this kind of feedback and gives one hope that the next piece will be better for it! Pushing values where appropriate and making decisions on what to leave out in the reference has been a real part of the struggle for me taking up art. Thanks again, Jim Z.
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My dog Charly (who past away one year ago) and just a freestyle created panda… Small watercolor pictures.
White night and just Asian shop watercolor on 14,8x21cm simple watercolorpaper.
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A small oil painting. 20x20 cm. Finished it today. I hope Ashley will do some tutorials on grass in oil paints.
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I have been working on this one on and off for the past two weeks. I have finally reached the half way point.
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Hi @siffermus
I like both of these, especially the vibrancy of the one you’re still working on.
Terri Robichon
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Wow Dave that is just plain terrific…you really got the most out of the graphite’s for sure! Way to go!
Therese
Charlie looks like a real sweetie! You’ve captured his playful spirit I feel really well! Know how it is to miss a little pooch too! Like the panda too the colors are very catchy and makes you look right into his eyes!
Therese
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Yeah it looks like you could add more details and darken some areas and put more on the shelf too of the fireplace! And some more wrinkles in the jeans too would look more real. But if you’re just meaning it to be a sketch like Getting Sketchy than that is what is appearing to be and that’s okay for a practice. But I think you want it to be a completed graphite picture so more depth and value would help, I’m sure.
But I think you have a great start to this and just keep adding to it!
Therese
@theresebriggs thank you so much
it is really special to sit with a picture of a gone animal, quite a chance to feel all the feeling of joy we had together and jump into gratefulness … and let all heaviness in this process go
… and Charly was a joyful, lively dog till his last minute.
And the Panda was just ease and joy … I am thinking about the idea to make a beach blanket out of this (I did it with the colorful sheep and it brought so much happiness to a friend of mine)
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Elina, I think both of these would make great blankets!
It might be nice to make a snuggly one of Charlie for you!
The colors are just superb!
Therese
It looks great so far. Also, it is easier to give advice, if we can see the reference you are using. Is it from one of the classes?