Art Club

Hi
Went back to my art class again today and had to draw a tiger. I find faces very difficult because I can never seem to balance the eyes. Had two attempts.

With this one I was practising drawing eyes so didn't bother with too much else.  As you can see they are not the same shape. I used coloured pencils and then blended them with a blending pencil. I think this works well. I tried to make the eyes stand out a bit with a burnishing pencil but I don't think the effect is very noticeable.

I also tried a full head.

I'm not convinced I like this one. It's not quite right. I do use a bit of coloured graphite for the shadows and deeper shades. I like the effect. The graphite ones really need fixing though so I have a spray can of Winsor & Newton Artists' Fixative for charcoal, pastels and pencil drawings. This works really well. It doesn't crinkle the paper or produce blobs.

Next week we are going to draw a whole tiger. Today it took me two hours to draw the face!

Art Club

Hi
Changed my computer so have not been on for a while. On Friday I went back to the drawing lessons and had to draw a butterfly on a leaf.

I drew it using a 6B pencil and then used water colour pencils to colour it. I have found it easier to use a brush to remove the colour from the pencil and then colour as if painting. If you want a graduated colour effect then using the pencil directly onto the paper and then spreading it out with the brush works fine but for anything else I prefer to simply use the pencil as a source of paint. The pencils are very easy to carry around and clean to use. A brilliant idea.

Art Club

Hi
I had a go at drawing a jacket today to try out my new skills. I drew the jacket from a picture for Jan 7, 8 & 9th on Water Colour calendar by Max Ruppeck.

I think it does look more like actual material and I think you can tell the man is fat which is good.
I drew it with a 4B pencil and then used my onyx medium pencil to shade it.

Art Club

Hi
Today I had to draw some folded material hanging on a post at the art club. I hope it will improve my ability to draw clothes which up to now seem to come out very flat and two dimensional. Here is my effort anyway.

I used my onyx pencils which I enjoy drawing with because they are soft and produce good shadows.

Art Club

Hi
I had to buy some Unipin waterproof fine liners to take along to my art lessons. I ordered a pack of five, 0.1, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5 and 0.8 from Amazon. They arrived today. I had already tried out my Derwent Sketching pencils. These are water soluble and give a wash effect in greys. I drew this baby penguin from a model I have.

I really like the effect. I find I can use them with the water colour pencils to add shading as well.
I decided to draw a boat from my Water Colour calendar, January 5th & 6th, from a painting by Molly Squibb. I drew the boat, outlined it with my 0.8 pen, and then used the water sketching pencils to colour it rather than the colours the artist had chosen. The boat is sitting on the beach with water lapping round the end. 

Latch Hook Rugs

Hi
I completed my sixth rug today. This means that I now have enough squares to put them together to make one rug for my bedroom. I laid them all in a line under the window while I was waiting to complete this one and have become so use to seeing them there that I might just leave them like that for a while.

Art Club

Hi
For Christmas I had a set of Derwent Water Colour pencils. I tried them out today and I loved them. For the very thick outlines I dipped the pencil in water and used it straight on the paper but for the rest I wet the brush and rubbed it over the pencil to pick up the colour. I did try colouring with the pencil and then spreading it but I prefer to brush the colour onto the brush first and then apply it to the paper. I find this doesn't wet the paper too much.

I bought a Watercolour Calendar and drew this rose from the picture for Jan 3rd & 4th which is called 'Red Rose' by Dennis Pendleton. The pencils work well and are easy and clean to use.