My first attempt at a portrait. Made my nose too long, and didn’t capture the look of the bandanna correctly. It’s been about 3 weeks since my last serious attempt at drawing anything, so I’ll cut myself a little slack for not remembering to check my measurements against more than one reference point.
Self Portrait
May 22nd, 2010Reclining Figure
April 12th, 2010
More nudity ahead. Standard warnings, disclaimers, and yada yada yada… Actual image appears after the break.
More Figure Drawing
April 6th, 2010
Notice how I cleverly positioned myself so I didn’t have to draw any facial detail.
Figure Drawing Class
March 21st, 2010
I haven’t posted here in a long while. But that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped drawing (although I have not been drawing as much as I would like). I’ve been taking a figure drawing class at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
I’ve been hesitant to post these drawings. I have a number of nieces and nephews whose parents might object to them seeing drawings containing nudity. I also have several colleagues who have been known to check out my drawings while at work; where viewing pictures of nekkid people is usually frowned-upon.
So rather than my normal posting policy of one post per drawing, I am including several drawings in this one post.
Before you click the link to read the entire post, be warned: The following images contain artistic nudity. If you are offended by depictions the unclothed human body, do not click the link. If you are under the age of 18, get your parents’ permission before clicking the link. If you are at work and there is even the remotest chance that someone in your office will accuse you being a pervert, wait until you get home to click the link.
You have been warned.
Donovan McNabb
January 2nd, 2010
Another athlete courtesy of Sports Illustrated. In this case, Donovan McNabb doing what he does best: scramble out of trouble.
This sketch started out as just a study of his arm and hand, but I thought I needed to give the disembodied arm a little bit of context; so I sketched out the rest of his body. Maybe if I do enough drawings of individual parts, I’ll be able to put them together into a cohesive whole someday. This method was good enough for students during The Renaissance; it should work for me. Right?
Roger Federer
January 1st, 2010
In keeping with my goal to draw more people, I decided to draw this pic of Roger Federer from a recent Sports Illustrated. This was my 2nd sketch, and the one I am happiest with.
This is what the rest of the page looks like:
Pouring Water Into A Glass
January 1st, 2010
Sketched from a photo on Stock.xchange. The drawing is out of proportion and crooked, which I attribute to the couple of glasses of wine I drank before pulling out my sketchbook; but if you squint and look away quickly, it might fool your eye just a little.
Oh well, learn from your mistakes and move on, right?
Goodbye, 2009
December 31st, 2009
Just a quickie sketch of the train under our Christmas tree. In another couple of days it’ll be gone until next year.
My preliminary goals for 2010 are:
- Draw more. In 2009, I only managed to draw a couple times per week — maybe not even that if you average it out. I firmly believe that getting better at drawing and painting is largely a matter of practice; so if I want to get better, there is no way around this.
- Draw more people. I have steadfastly avoided drawing people as much as I could. At some point, though, you realize that drawing people well is something you need to learn to do. 2010 is the year I start down that road.
- Rely less on line, and more on areas of tone/color. I have a tendency to outline everything, then fill in the areas like a coloring book. Sometimes, this is a nice effect; but I rely on it too often. Time to change my approach.
- Do some finished pieces. So far, my portfolio is almost entirely comprised of drawings and paintings in my sketchbooks. Time to do something worthy of hanging on the wall (or at least, on the fridge).
Well, goodbye 2009. You were a good year (artistically speaking). I feel like I did get a little bit better, and I had a heck of a good time. I can’t wait to see what your baby brother brings.
Nap Time
December 31st, 2009
After my experience drawing someone in constant motion, I moved on to a more stationary subject. Again, the likeness is not quite there, but at least I am starting to gain a little confidence.
And for those of you wondering, those glowing orbs above my subject are Christmas ornaments hanging on the tree behind his chair.
Mario Time
December 31st, 2009
This is my nephew. He’s doing what most kids his age do on Christmas morning – playing video games.
It’s not a very good likeness, but I was more interested in capturing the shape of his body. Even that was more difficult than I expected; turns out, he’s a very active gamer. Don’t let anyone tell you playing video games isn’t exercise. He didn’t stop moving the for more than a few seconds at a time. Maybe next time, I should just snap a photo and draw from that.