Lost in Madagascar

I've always loved those pictures that you have to really examine and explore to take in everything in the picture. So, I decided to try making one myself!

How many animals can you spot in the picture? 

Dreaming of Autumn

WOOHOO!! Finally a portrait that I actually completed, and that I'm actually relatively happy with! I actually worked on this one consistently and plowed through all the frustrating little details with patience...even learning to enjoy them! 

What I tried differently: 

1. Used only mechanical pencils (no sharpening because they always have a sharp point! They also have a smoother look I think!) 

2. Just bought myself a white pen to add extra brightness to areas such as the highlights in the eyes! I feel like it's cheating a little bit, but having that bright white adds enough to the picture to be worth it! 

The Eyes Have It

I haven't done a picture with a touch of color in awhile so I decided to do his eyes in color! 

Charice

One of my new favorite singers, Charice! She has an absolutely incredible voice! 

I also like to challenge myself with new textures and this one posed a new texture challenge: leather! 

It's far from perfect, but I figure I better stop before I mess it up. 

Charice's cover of Celine Dion's "All by Myself"

Leap of Faith

I realized how long it had been since I had drawn a horse and decided it was absolutely unacceptable ツ! So, here's a new drawing of one of the most beautiful and awesome animals in the world! 

He knows when you're happy
He knows when you're comfortable
He knows when you're confident
And he always knows when you have carrots.
~Author Unknown

What I learned from this drawing:

✶ Veins are a blast to draw!

✶ Completing the drawing in sections works better than tackling the whole picture at one time!

It Wasn't Me!

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted something! Sorry it's been so long. Between traveling and staying in new surroundings for awhile I just haven't been able to find the concentration to actually finish a picture. I've got a record breaking number of pictures in progress, but I just haven't been able to finish any. This one could still use some improvement, but I'm pretty happy with the way it is and don't want to mess it up! So here's the closest thing I have to a finished picture! 

Amanda Seyfried

 

 

Final!

Drawing Backwards!

I've been hitting a rut with a bunch of drawings lately. I've actually got several in progress right now, but I haven't been able to finish any of them (that's why I haven't updated in a while). So I decided to take a shot at a very different approach. This technique is kind of like drawing backwards because, rather than the usual black pencil on white paper, I'm drawing with a white pencil on black paper. It forces you to look at the picture in a very different way! I've done several pictures this way before but I hadn't tried it in a long time so I thought it would be fun to try again!

Like Stars in the Night Sky - Finished

Like Stars in the Night Sky

Trying out another challenge: Freckles (lots of them)!

 

More coming soon!

Daughtry - Completed

All These Lives - Daughtry

I decided it was time to take a little break from hair. Another one of my favorite singers, Daughtry, seemed like the perfect option! I never would have guess the stubble on his chin would still prove to be the hardest part of the picture! 

Final (hopefully) Coming Soon

Layers of Color

Looking through my art books I've been noticing a very sad lack of color. I've always wanted to be able to do realistic drawings with colored pencil, but I've never been able to get the hang of coloring and getting a solid, realistic look. So, I'm trying out a new technique! For these pictures I used marker for the base colors to get a solid foundation. Now I'm going over the marker with colored pencil to add in the details and shading. Both the girl and the parrot have been sitting unfinished on my table awhile now so maybe if I put them up here it will remind me to actually finish them! 

Unfinished

Unfinished

“Do or do not... there is no try.” - Completed

Sometimes, when I feel like I've made a lot of improvements in my technique, I like to go back and redo a picture I did in the past. This is the version of this picture I did almost a year and a half ago:

And this is the version I just completed:

“Do or do not... there is no try.”

 

Not a Morning Person, Completed

Added some final touches plus a little shading to the background and it's done! Now I think I'm ready to take on the other picture again!

Not a Morning Person

I'm working on a more detailed, full-bodied picture that I was having some trouble with. After erasing, redrawing, erasing, and redrawing several times over on that one I decided to take a little break from it and do something fun and wacky before going back to tackle it again. This picture looked like a good choice to practice expressions and skin tones some more!

 

 

Final picture coming soon!

The Strands of Youth

My current work in progress. My main goal with this picture is to work more on drawing hair (which there certainly isn't a shortage of in this!). I'm also trying out a new technique on the skin tone of the girls face. Normally I use a tortillion, or a Q-tip, to blend the pencil strokes to create smooth skin. For this picture, however, I'm trying the technique of rubbing a simple tissue over the pencil to create an even more smooth appearance! So far it's working a lot better (I'm excited!) 

Final Picture!