Birds, Boats, and Bunnies...

A week or so ago I started a little doodle that didn't go anywhere...or so I thought. It was small and was something like a caterpillar if you look at it one way...or was it bunnies in capes (You decide). I was leaning toward the bunnies, but I had no interest (or time) to take it any further.

The other night, I found some time when all the kids were in bed and I still had a little energy to draw. I thought I'd elaborate on the caped bunny, and I was actually quite happy with the character that came out. So, what would a RABBIT pull out of a hat? A magician?

One illustration exercise I'd read about was taking one character and exploring different expressions, scenarios, etc. I haven't really done a lot of that, so I thought I'd do another bunny.

I don't know what it is about this character, but I really like it! There's something a little extra human about it. I really like the facial expression - believable (would any parent say "no" to this face?). I guess it's not exactly the same character as the one in the cape - they seem different in age - perhaps father and son.

While I worked, I also thought about how I really like my 4B pencil (used on the jammies). I don't know why - I just like the the value, and the lead just seems to "flow" smoothly. Maybe it's just this brand of pencil (Staedtler Mars Lumograph - my faves since college).

Anyway, I think I'll work on some more bunnies when I have the chance - a nice change from birds. I started a bunny today at Lake Cachuma while my older girls were on a bird-watching cruise. My son stayed with me on-shore since I had to stay with the baby. I didn't get much drawing done, but we had our own bird encounter. Some Scrub Jays came to visit us, coming VERY close (and they weren't scared off when I moved to get my camera). They're a beautiful blue and they're all over the place around these parts.

Ahhhhhh...Peace and Quiet (and Back to the Book)

It's almost 1:00 a.m. here and I got home from work about a 1/2 hour ago. I should go to sleep since tomorrow is our day to finish all projects for the History and Science Fair, and I would probably fall asleep pretty quickly. However, there's something about being the only one awake - quiet, uninterrupted time - I just have to enjoy it for a little bit.

So, what's the first thing I do when I get home? I head to the sketchbook to try to fix some of those things I was lamenting about in the last post. As tired as I was of working on it, I knew that some of the things that bothered me could be changed. Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

A flat head can easily be fixed (if you're a drawing anyway). And, I happen to really like the result of drawing with an eraser - the soft smudginess of it.

A mouth can be fixed as well. And, that reminds me...I had to rush my daughter off to soccer practice right after my last post when my aggravation was still fresh. As a drove, I kept looking in the rear view mirror to see what my mouth looked like open, in surprise. It was only after my daughter said, "Mom, what are you looking at?" that I remembered I wasn't alone in the car.

So, I took a photo of the changes I made so you can see the difference (before on the left, after on the right). It's still not perfect - not something I look at and say "slam dunk" or anything. But, at least the figure has taken a small step toward something a little more natural. I think it's better, but I don't know. Maybe some of you liked it better before (?).

Here it is so far...and so far YUCK!

Well, I was unable to sleep yesterday morning - woke up when my husband got up for work and couldn't go back to sleep. But, that turned out to be good since I was able to spend a good hour working on my drawing before the kids woke up. It's inventory day at work, so I don't have to go in until 7:00 (and stay until midnight), so I was able to work on it even more.

I'm not sure I'm done, but I'm a little weary of working on it. I'm not really thrilled with the result - there are several things about it that make me cringe. For one thing, I'm not a big fan of the character. He's nothing I spent time developing - just a quick figure and his head is kind of flat. I don't like the mouth for some reason - can't quite figure out why. Note to self: study expressions of the mouth more.

The bottle was the original part of the doodle and it goes off the edge (which I normally wouldn't have done).

Of course, the main purpose of this drawing was to explore darker values and facial expressions, so I guess there was some success. I did learn a lot about the eyes and details that make them express surprise, and to keep a thin area of white above to show they are focused downward. That may seem pretty basic to some, but I always seemed to make the eyes of my characters focusing ahead and I didn't quite pay attention to why. So, at least I got something out of this drawing. That's what it's all about.

Oh well, the list of things to practice grows even longer!

Facing Expression and Body Language (Naturally)

I've started a new doodle in my sketchbook that's presented a new challenge for me. Normally, I'll just let the doodle lead until it's done. But, because I want to study more a focused aspect of my drawing (in particular using only the darker end of the value scale and more dramatic light), I've attempted a takeover. I spent almost an hour trying to render a hand - in a rather complicated pose - only to decide that the idea really wasn't going to work in the drawing at all. Since I was quite happy with how the hand turned out, I couldn't bring myself to erase it until the next morning.

But, I kept the original elements of the doodle and started considering other images to include. I ended up placing a figure in it (more than just the hand, anyway) and stumbled upon yet another part of illustration I've been needing to explore - facial and body expressions.

There are so many variations that the face and body can put together! Some are easier to convey. However, to create certain feelings, moods, or reactions in a character that seem NATURAL and fluid is the issue at hand.

I've included a past sketchbook page from a few months ago where I scribbled out some basic facial expressions. But, for the drawing I'm working on now, I'm having to rework things to express the right reaction throughout the body without it coming across as 'wooden.'

I'll share when I get somewhere with it. However, the History & Science Fair is on Saturday and my kids each have different displays they're entering. It's going to be tough to carve out time this week.