Sneak Preview...What Will It Be?

It's spring break this week, and it was a goal of mine to try and open the sketchbook if I could. Of course, finding the time is difficult. Well, actually, if I could find a way to set-up the sketchbook in a workable position while nursing the baby, I'd have lots of time (she eats all the time).

But, I did start a doodle - something I haven't done in a while. I wrote in the past about how birds often come out of these doodles. As you can see by what I've shown here, some sort of bird seems to be coming through...or is it? I definitely was pursuing the beak and eyeball. However, the fun thing about doing these doodles is that - if I just take my time, playing with lines, shapes, and values - other surprises often materialize. I actually started to see other possibilities that I'd like to explore.

So, I will post the finished product as soon as I can string together some drawing time. You'll just have to check back later and see what became of it.

The hazards of drawing while sick...

I started work on a doodle that I was liking at first...now I can't stand it. I've come to the conclusion that I really don't like this style. So, it will forever remain unfinished - no hands on the clock, figures not complete, etc.

I've also been sick to my stomach this past week (literally). You know how when you eat something when you're sick, and then it sort of ruins that food for you? You associate that flavor with nausea for a long time after. I was wondering if the same thing can happen visually. Whenever I go back to this drawing, I notice my stomach feeling bad. Maybe that's part of my dislike for this picture.

Anyway, I need to pursue styles of working that aren't sooooooo tedious. This style of work is actually similar as several of my favorite drawings - the owl, the clown-like figures, the tiger I use for my avatar - but, I tend not to like things that are flat. Doing the figures in line obviously makes them very flat. At first I thought it would be interesting to combine line with shaded areas. But, I'm really not liking it here.

Oh well, back to the drawing board. Hope no one else gets sick looking at this (ha ha).

Free at Last...sort of...

I finally have time! And now it's hard to figure out what to do first. The house needs a good cleaning (boooo!), rooms need to be painted, the yard needs to be weeded...

And, of course, there's drawing and painting to do. I think I'll sneak out to the garage before work and really get going on the chicken drawing. I think I've got most all of the details ironed out and it's time to take it to the next level.

In the meantime, I'll share a older picture from the sketchbook. It started as a doodle, having fun with line, value, texture, and facial expression. I liked how it was going but there was a dark mark on the guy's forehead that I couldn't quite remove. I thought I'd hide it better with some White-Out (after all, this is just in my sketchbook, right?)...WRONG! That only made it worse! So, I cut out a "bandage" from an Avery label to cover it. Oh well...