This is a compact flourescent lightbulb. It is supposed to save us all from global warming. And it is supposed to last nine years. Well guess what? I installed this light bulb less than a year ago and it is already burnt out. Let’s hope the global warming thing fares better.
Funny thing about this drawing… I wasn’t planning to draw a light bulb. I was actually planning to draw a pair of pliers; had them in my hand and was on my way to my sketching station (a.k.a. the dining room table) when this little beauty caught my eye. It was sitting on the kitchen counter, because I have no idea how to properly dispose of the darned thing. To be quite honest, I was planning to leave that problem to the next owner of our condo. So much for that plan.
As I was saying… I sat down, pulled out my charcoal and sketched a rough outline, then proceeded to shade (being careful not to avoid inadvertant smudges along the way). Unfortunately, I was so caught up in the process of shading, that I forgot to take a good look at the overall form of the drawing. Result: a lightbulb that looks like a failed refugee from a Salvador Dali – wilted, but not quite enough to hang out with those amazingly relaxed clocks.
So that led to sketch #2:
This one was done with a Micron 03 pen. I was more cautious about getting the shape right on this one. I stood over my sketchbook rather than sitting; and I think it helped a lot. Some of my lines are too sketchy, though. This was a problem that I had in my early highschool art career, and I can still hear my art teacher in my ear: “Make a line, dammit.” Something to work on.
It was interesting to tackle the same subject with a couple of different mediums. I actually think the pen was more appropriate for the subject matter, but I probably should have been a little more bold with my line and used dark, fluid shapes for the shading instead of trying to draw it as if I were using a pencil.
On the plus side, I kept this lightbulb out of the landfill for another hour. That’s got to count for something, right?
I like both sketches very much!!
Yeah these bulbs also lasts forever by the way!
They save you trips to the store to get new ones, and the time and energy to keep changing them.
I like the charcoal version!
Hi, it’s me again! After seeing your sketches, I decided to tackle this challenge. That is one difficult lightbulb to draw!! So, I came back to give you extra kudos!!
I began reading Blade’s Friday critique post at EDM and ended up at your blog. I like both of your light bulbs. The top one looks organic which is totally unexpected. Isn’t it interesting how different media changes the final outcome?