Self Portrait and Drawing Video

   I'm painting full time at the moment. Working hard on the Toro Commission and trying to fit in painting all the things I want to. It seems the more I paint the more I want to paint. That goes for drawing also. A few days ago I did this sketch of myself. It was intense work, I spent a whole afternoon at it and completely lost myself in the paint. I learnt a lot from doing this. I began with a blank canvass in front of me, stared at myself in the mirror and had no idea what to call the colour of my skin. Why don't children get taught more about colour than the few basic ones? We don't even have names for half the colours there are! I want to practice more portrait painting and drawing from life, but it's not always easy to find a model. It's not easy sitting still for very long, as all my friends have found out while I've sketched them! 

   Last week I made a video of me drawing sketches of people. I was having a face drawing craze and was working on accuracy of proportions and likeness rather than a finished picture. So I made some of them into a video. My head got in the way a bit and is rather distracting in the video. My apologies. I'll try to find that little bit missing from the tripod then, using that, I'll be able to make some better videos. Thank you to my brother, Peter, for letting me use his camera! Here is the video as promised:

Link to YouTube

Blessed beyond expression

 I began drawing today, instead of working on my website as I had planned, and I realized again how much I love it!

  There are so many downs in an artist's life and so much to do that really has nothing to do with actually drawing, that one sometimes begins to get bogged down into it all. But then I pick up my pencil expecting nothing, touch it to paper and suddenly I'm away into a world where a single line can excite me, a shadow can make me smile, and where an empty space can fill my spirit with gladness. Those moments make me feel like this, and this is what I feel now:

   I'm blessed beyond what I deserve to be able to draw! I can't wait to begin the big adventure and spend my whole summer drawing. I'm sure there will be low places and many very literal bogs, but that will only make the happy moments all the more memorable.

  This isn't the serious blog post I had planned, just a spontaneous response to my sudden joy of finding myself drawing a muddy old truck!

365 Day Drawing Challenge

I celebrated my 20th birthday last Thursday, the 15th, and on that date I began a challenge similar to one I have attempted in the past, only much bigger! 

   To improve my drawing skills and techniques I have embarked of a challenge to draw every day until I'm 21! So the goal is to have 365 or more sheets of drawn upon paper collected in my red folders by this time next year. 

   I have wanted to begin this challenge for a while, but doubted my dedication to keep it up. But after the last few months of doing some sort of artwork every day I have got into the habit of it and thought I'd better keep it up now that I don't have so I don't get out of the habit of it. 

   I have a few rules for myself the main one, of course, being drawing every day! But if I do miss a day I will do two drawing the next day. So far I've only been using pens to draw but I may use pencil and charcoal or anything else I can think of to draw with-- pastel maybe. I'm just using sheets of standard A4 cartridge paper for this project, that is easiest and fit into my folders nicely, also I can scan them (I just discovered it's so much easier scanning that photographing my drawings!) I'm also going to try to concentrate on drawing people and drawing from real life, it is somehow more satisfying to draw from life than from a flat photo.

   I've started an album on my Facebook Equine Fine Art Page which I will keep updated with all my drawings, and I have also started a board on Pintrest for it. I'll be posting only the highlights here on my blog as I don't want to bore anyone!

   

Well now I'd better go and do my drawing for today!

My Hat!

My Hat. graphite on A3 drawing paper.

 About a week ago I drew this. It was a beautiful sunny mid winter day, so hot on the back deck where I was sitting that I had an umbrella for shade (if I had gone inside I would have been too cold, so an umbrella in the sun was best! ) I hung my hat on the back of a chair and sketched until I got so hot in my little sun trap that I had to desist!

The corner of Our House

  I sat on the doorstep of my studio one sunny afternoon last week and sketched what I could see of the house behind the banana palms. That's the window of Mums room and she is sitting there in her arm chair writing, writing, writing.

    I did this in my A3 sketchbook, I might catch another sunny afternoon and do some more on it, then again, maybe not...

Something Exciting is about to Happen!

     Here is a drawing I did of my beautiful pregnant sister. She's due in a week or so! Very exciting! =)

I did this in an afternoon when I thought I was too busy to do anything else. It is one of those drawings I suddenly get inspired to do and sit down and do it then and there. Those sort of pictures usually work out best don't you think.

I will learn to draw babies when Hosanna Hope is born!

RIP 'Puppy'

Our hunterway X staffie, passed away at the beginning of the year. She was a dear old thing and I still think she's out on the deck sleeping in a patch of sunshine. Here is a drawing I did of her in remembrance.

Charcoal Portrait

I think this is Rita Hayworth... 

 I drew her in charcoal on standard drawing paper.