August '13 sketchbook sketches

Wow, August is pretty much over already! Is that crazy or what? I didn't have a ton of really good sketchbook sketches this month, mostly because my drawing quota was used elsewhere, but I'll post a few of the better ones so I can stay current. I've been a lot more experimental stuff in my sketchbook lately; trying out some different drawing materials and doing a few simple collages here and there.

roobis (red tea) stains and pencil doodles

charcoal and pen

charcoal, pen, and some kind of colored pencil like stick

collage of found objects

pencil and sharpie (I did this drawing at the park.)

more red tea stains, pencil, and pen

Also, yesterday was my birthday! I had a most excellent day full of books, art supplies, and hanging out with Jon. It was pretty awesome. ^_^

sincerely,

Beth

Light in the Darkness

This piece was one of those "Hey, this seems like a cool idea" projects that only take a few hours to render. (I should do more of those.) This is also my first, "just for fun" digital piece and I very please with how it turned out. I titled it, Light in the Darkness, which is not particularly creative, but suits the subject matter.

sincerely,

Beth

Skill building: Animals and Faces

I've started a new habit of drawing rough sketches for an hour every day before I get to my other artwork. I pick a new topic every week, put on a podcast or an audio book and draw for awhile. So far, I've seen quite a bit of improvement so far and it's been a stretching experience for me to draw things I'm not stellar at. Here are a few from when I was drawing animals and faces. 

Having this new routine has also helped my work feel more consistent. I know that, regardless of how I'm feeling, I can get in a hour of drawing and the day will still be productive. This habit, plus better planning has helped doing my art feel more like actual work, which sounds weird, but is something I've wanted for awhile. 

sincerely,

Beth

Sketches May-July '13

It has been ages since I did a sketchbook related post. I'm going to start doing one at the end of every month, but for now, I want to get caught up on May through July. 

I decided to start adding more color to my sketches, mostly using marker.

I really like how simple and graphic this one is. The color really added to it, too. 

This sketch part observation, part reconstructed memory. I based it off of a baby at church. He reminds me of a small, angry bird. ^_^

This one is watercolor, actually. It's kind of different, but fun.

I did loads of cloud sketches over the past few months. Unfortunately, I need to learn how to sketch a little darker, because light, wispy pencil lines don't scan well. Sorry about that. 

On these two, I added china marker after the fact for a bit of emphasis. 

I really wish I'd gotten a better look at this guy, because his mustache was AWESOME and I would have loved to draw it in more detail.

Geese in a lake, drawn over red tea stains; china marker added later. 

I've been trying to get more experimental with my sketchbooks; trying new media, adding actual objects to the pages, stuff like that. Most of the time, it doesn't look as cool as I envision it looking. But I'll get the hang of it and then my sketchbooks will be a truly mix media, which is something I've wanted to do.

sincerely,

beth

Overdue painting study

This painting has been sitting in my studio for ages it seems. I started it back in late June and never quite finished it. Life happened and for weeks, it's been staring at me, asking "So, when am I going to be done?"

This week I finally sat down and added the last few strokes. There, painting, your done! Are you happy now?


sincerely,
me

Ps. I'm going to *try* and start a more consistent blogging schedule; something more than once every never so often. At this point, I'm aiming to post every Thursday. We'll see how it goes.