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human proportion

This sketch is the fifty-ninth in a 365-day challenge to draw a picture a day, every day, for a year…

Day fifty-nine: Today I undertook a fascinating exercise to draw a male figure using a technique that maps out anatomical proportion relative to the size of the head. Apparently a whole person is about 7 and a half heads tall. The book I have on how to draw people informed me that I should “memorize the corresponding points at each level.” I can see how mastery of this could really improve my figure drafting skills. Who knew at the start of 2011 that I’d be slowly (very, very slowly) teaching myself to draw? I’m amazed how much fun I had figuring this out today (no pun intended).

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2011 02 28 quick study Comments (0) Permalink

hand and wrist study

This sketch is the fifty-eighth in a 365-day challenge to draw a picture a day, every day, for a year…

Day fifty-eight: I promised myself a few sketches ago that I would periodically work on my draftsmanship of human figures. So I dug out an anatomical guide for artists and started with a hand because I’m generally dismal at them. They are pretty complex, which makes them tricky, but this study is much better than my usual cartoon version!

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2011 02 27 quick study Comments (0) Permalink

oatmeal peanut butter sandwich cookies

This sketch is the fifty-seventh in a 365-day challenge to draw a picture a day, every day, for a year…

Day fifty-seven: Today I made up a double batch of oatmeal peanut butter sandwich cookies. The recipe claims to be “so close” to the Girl Scout cookie equivalent that “you won’t know the difference.” These are better because they’re homemade. Yummy, light and crunchy cookies with a sweet peanut butter and cream filling. So rich and delicious I just had to draw a few on a little square plate.

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2011 02 26 composition Comments (2) Permalink

global protest

This sketch is the fifty-sixth in a 365-day challenge to draw a picture a day, every day, for a year…

Day fifty-six: While watching the news on the built-in TVs in aerobic exercise machines at the gym, I became amazed at how many people around the world have recently been inspired by one another to courageously stand up for their beliefs and make their voices heard for all kinds of reasons. This absurd cartoon wonders if the whole Earth is protesting! (I should have included the space station. Are they protesting there too?) In this age of global media, people all over are watching and listening and shouting out as never before!

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2011 02 25 composition Comments (1) Permalink

northern sky and field

This sketch is the fifty-fifth in a 365-day challenge to draw a picture a day, every day, for a year…

Day fifty-five: This landscape was drawn after part of a snapshot one of my parents took when I was about 7, and we lived on a farm outside of Bemidji, MN. Making this picture helped me remember long summer days, wide fields, deep woods, open skies, and the miracle of clouds, as seen by the eyes of a child. Pure nature.

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2011 02 24 composition Comments (2) Permalink

figure doodles

This sketch is the fifty-fourth in a 365-day challenge to draw a picture a day, every day, for a year…

Day fifty-four: I really admire artists who can draw figures doing just about anything. Whole scenes of men fighting or women bathing or both. I’m particularly fond of the ink and wash drawings of Ubaldo Gandolfi, an 18th-century draftsman from Bologna. He was known for his excellent rendering of human anatomy, yet his doodles were often drawn with fantastic calligraphic flair (see below). Mine could use some work (clearly I need to study anatomy), but I enjoyed experimenting with brown ink and wash and white chalk in anticipation of practicing more figures in the future.

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2011 02 23 artist tribute
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cupcake

This sketch is the fifty-third in a 365-day challenge to draw a picture a day, every day, for a year…

Day fifty-three: Sometimes simple is just as satisfying. Not a lot of time today, and I wasn’t sure what I was going to draw. Sat down to sketch and suddenly thought “white on black.” Then I spontaneously drew the scrumptious looking cupcake with thick swirls of frosting that I saw at lunch. I didn’t eat it, but I guess it stayed on my mind. The fun part of this sketch, aside from imagining delicious cake, was using only the simplest lines to form the shapes. I don’t usually focus so intensely on line, but somehow that’s what the white pencil on black paper needed. More than I needed that cupcake!

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2011 02 22 quick study Comments (0) Permalink

yellow truck and snow

This sketch is the fifty-second in a 365-day challenge to draw a picture a day, every day, for a year…

Day fifty-two: Since snow-related parking restrictions began earlier this winter, an old yellow truck has appeared frequently on my block. I suspect its owner must live on a neighboring street, but has been forced by necessity to find parking elsewhere. In heavy snow or slick conditions, the rusty pickup struggles up the hill, it’s rear wheel drive spinning like mad while the front end skids about. Today as I shoved the walks, I noticed it parked crookedly in deep ruts, piled with snow. Like its bright yellow color, it perseveres despite the conditions.

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2011 02 21 quick study Comments (0) Permalink

storm

This sketch is the fifty-first in a 365-day challenge to draw a picture a day, every day, for a year…

Day fifty-0ne: This sketch was inspired by my own study of water yesterday, but more importantly a print in my collection by late 19th-century artist Alphonse Legros. He used drypoint and the impression has quite a lot of burr, creating a rich, inky feel. The localized rain and the serpentine lines in the sky are taken from Logros’ print too, though my storm clouds are a bit more symbolist than his. Perhaps influenced by a watercolor in the Thrivent Financial collection by Pierre Roche, with similar clouds. I used pen and ink, and a little oil pastel here and there.

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2011 02 20 artist tribute
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stump and pond

This sketch is the fiftieth in a 365-day challenge to draw a picture a day, every day, for a year…

Day fifty: Wasn’t sure what to draw, but wanted to work on a study of still water. Started in oil, but wasn’t in the mood to mess with color. Pencil was just the thing to create an imaginary stump and weeds next to a glassy pond with water lilies.

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2011 02 19 quick study Comments (0) Permalink