MerMay pt. 1

MerMay (an art challenge to draw a mermaid every day this month) has come again. While I haven't been as consistent this year as I have in the past, I've been sneaking in a mermaid here and there. Hopefully I'll be able to get a few more done before the month is over!

onward and upward,

Bethany

Sketches from Hiatus: Random stuff

Last batch of hiatus sketches, most of which are pretty random. I think it's funny that I ended with cats, since that's where my hiatus sketches started. =^._.^=

onward and upward,

Bethany

Sketches from Hiatus: Human and Animal reference

Next batch of hiatus sketches are up! I did some reference sketching while on break of human and animal poses. I'm particularly pleased with how the animals turned out. 

onward and upward,

Bethany

Sketches from Hiatus: Creatures

Since I sketched a lot of different things over hiatus, I figured I'd split them up over a few weeks. Part of my goal for this break was to actually enjoy drawing again, which involved doodling lots of cute creatures! ^_^ I still haven't got the unicorgi or cat dragon designs quite where I want them, but they're headed in a good direction.

onward and upward,

Bethany

Back from Hiatus (plus a guitar!)

Hello everyone! I'm back from hiatus and (hopefully) ready to start up a regular posting schedule! Taking the time off was really nice and I think I need to do it more often, (although probably not for a full five weeks.)

One of the things I worked on while on break was "fancifying" a guitar! My friend Brandon had this old guitar he wanted to use as decoration, so he asked if I'd be interested in sprucing it up a bit. I agreed and after some experimentation, found that I could sketch in some really cool, abstract shapes that fit together in an organic way. (It actually took a lot of trial and error (and erasing) to come up with the right shapes and composition.) 

Here's the finished designs done in pencil. (Sorry I don't have a picture of the guitar before I started drawing on it; I never seem to remember to take "before" pictures...=_=)

Once the design was finished, I traced over my pencil lines with a gold paint pen, which took to the wood really nicely. Here are a few detail shots.

Here's the finished gold outlining. I knew I wanted to work in some white as well, so I outlined all the shapes again in white paint pen.

Here's what the guitar looks like with the gold and white outlines.

At this point, I faced a dilemma; should I leave the design as it was, or fill in the shapes with white paint pen? I asked a few different people for their opinions, then decided to try a combination of both ideas; fill in some of the shapes, and leave others as outlines.

Here, the guitar is partway through the fill in process. I really had to take my time and think about which shapes to fill and which to leave as they were.

And here's the finished product! ^_^ I'm really happy with how it turned out and Brandon really liked it, too! Having a project that focused on abstract shape fit in well with taking a break from my usual way of making art.

I also did a lot of sketching in my sketchbook on break and I'll be showing some of that next week. Till then!

onward and upward,

Bethany

Hiatus

Hey everyone! After some thinking and praying, I've decided to take a hiatus from these weekly blog posts. I've been working on some bigger projects lately and that's cause my weekly blog content to suffer. Hopefully taking a break from blogging will give me a bit of extra time to focus my energies on a few things, rather than trying to pursue too many opportunities at once. At this point, I don't know how long of a hiatus this will be; it could be a few weeks or it could be longer. Either way, I'll be sure to post here when circumstance change again! Till then, see you later!

onward and upward,

Bethany

Portrait of Japser

Got something fun to share today!! ^_^ A few months ago, my sister-in-law Amy asked if I would be able to do a portrait of her corgi Jasper. I agreed and over the past few weeks, was able to make some time to get it done. Here's how the final turned out.

Since this portrait didn't just spring fully formed from my hand (which I wish would happen ever...T_T), here are some of the less glamorous steps in the process. 

As usual, I start with exploration sketches that always look terrible to me because I haven't learned the shapes and proportions yet.

By this point, I felt I had a reasonable grasp on how to draw a corgi (and have it actually look like a corgi!). A seated pose seemed like the best option and I drew it a few times to make sure I had the details worked out.

I also did a few studies of Jasper's coloration and coat markings. Getting the eyebrows to not look evil/angry was tough. 

After that, I started the final drawing. Fortunately, this one came together in one try; sometimes I have to redo the final drawing several times before it's right. Then, with much fear, trepidation, and praying, I moved to the inking stage. The inking stage kicks up the pressure, because if you mess up the drawing, you have to start over. But I love the quality ink brings to a drawing, so I put up with the pressure. :-P (Also, I forgot to take a picture of the inked drawing. Sorry about that.)

And thankfully, the inking turned out well, so I moved to the watercolor stage. Watercolor adds yet another level of pressure/trepidation/praying, but again, I really love the end results.

The hardest part of coloring this particular portrait was getting the eyebrows right and getting the right level of shading. Shading adds so much dimension to a piece, but can also ruin it, which is very intimidating. (Hmm, I'm seeing a trend in all my artistic choices...) For this portrait, I kept things simple and I think it paid off. 

I'm really pleased with how Jasper's portrait turned out and Amy was very happy with it, too! ^_^

onward and upward,

Bethany