A Quick Impression of “Magic”

Tags

boulders, Derwent Graphic sketch pencils, drawing, graphite sketch, Japanese lantern, Japanese Maple, Japanese Stone Lantern, Morilla Sketch paper, plants

Japanese Stone Lantern on Boulder with Japanese Maple

The Story Behind the Sketch:

My artists’ group has been painting at the home of friends, Pat & Mary Ellen, who are extraordinarily creative, talented, and “spiritual” in their own unique way. These qualities manifest themselves in the property that surrounds their house; large boulders have been strategically placed to create focus points that  harmonize with the landscape. Serene oriental figures and decorative plantings accent the scenes. At this time of the year, two ponds are graced with Canada geese and goslings, and lined with forget-me nots and other wildflowers. A bamboo “forest”  creates an in interestingly-textured wall along one side. There is an almost “magical” aura about the place—- and a variety of subjects that a person might render—-but on this particular day I chose to do a quick impression of one of the boulder, lantern, and planting, combinations. The sun was creating an interesting contrast on the rock itself, which is what really caught my eye. 

The Technical Stuff:

Paper: Morilla sketch tablet, a fairly smooth paper but with just enough tooth to hold the pencil well. Pencils: Derwent 2 and 3B graphite for most of the sketch, with 8 & 9B used for the darker areas.

My Experience in Doing this Sketch: 

With the soothing sound of a waterfall in my ears, in combination with the lovely sound of Pat’s flute-playing, doing this drawing was definitely a relaxing experience. I did not hassle myself with trying to add a background of the appropriate tone. Just a sketch of what I was focusing on was all that it was meant to be.

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Today’s Excerpt from ‘Pages from a Nature-Lover’s Diary”:

 

Downy Woodpecker feeding Juvenile

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_18?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=pages+from+a+nature-lover%27s+diary&sprefix=Pages+from+a+natur%2Cstripbooks%2C328

NOTE: 

All images and text in this post are Copyright K. A. Renninger 2014. I am more than happy to have you share them through your own blog, and hope you will do so—but you must give me credit. Anyone who uses them to make money will be prosecuted.

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Another Page from My Diary; Fox

Tags

animals, artwork, drawing, Emmitsburg Maryland, graphite, January, nature diary, red fox, sketches, sketching

RedFox in Graphite

The story behind the sketch: Spring is officially here, but I’d like to pay homage to Winter one last time, by sharing this page from my nature diary, entered back in January.

As my husband & I walked in the “natural” portion of a town park nearby, I was feeling rather gloomy since there was little color, compared to that of the bounty of wildflowers that had been growing there a few months ago at our last visit. But we found a treasure that was equal to or beyond the color of Autumn: a red fox, sitting out in a field, leisurely grooming himself in the sun. Luckily, he wasn’t aware of us, and I was able to snap several pictures before he finally realized he had observers.

my experience in doing this sketch:

At first,  I was only doing a “preliminary” sketch, very rough & all in one grade of pencil—just to kind of get the “idea” down on paper. ( Which I ran out of space on when it came to the fox’s long tail!) But later I went back & added more detail–just for the heck of it. It’ still kind of rough, but that’s okay; it doesn’t  have to be a super-detailed drawing; it  preserves a memory for me, & as I drew it, allowed me to familiarize myself with the way a fox is “made” , as simply taking a photo could never do.

The technical stuff:

A #3B Eberhard Faber Microtomic graphite sketch pencil was used to “rough-in” the image. Softer grades were used to add some detail–5-9B.

NOTE: All images and text in this post are Copyright K. A. Renninger 2013. I am more than happy to have you share them through your own blog, and hope you will do so—but you must give me credit. Anyone who uses them to make money will be prosecuted.

Procrastination & Priorities

Tags

art, artwork, children's story, drawing, illustration board, sketching

Rough sketch of character from my children’s story

This post is a lot less about the sketch & more about the reasons we don’t get around to sketching, or fulfilling our creative dreams. I have written a children’s story which I intend to illustrate & self-publish, but it took me “forever”  to actually start one (now completed) watercolor illustration. Why? My excuses ranged from the fact that it’s home-improvement season, to caring for an ill cat, not getting enough sleep, having too many social obligations, a cluttered work environment, and having to get down on the floor & cut a hunk of illustration board into workable pieces to start.

Some of these are more than just excuses; they are circumstances that have truly interfered with my ability to produce. However, the bigger problem is that I have not learned to make creative time my top priority—and for any of us to make our artistic dreams happen we have got to do that.

I have something to give to the world, & so do you! Make sure you find time to create it, whatever it is!

P.S.  Check out Filio Kondylis’ blog http://filiokondylis.wordpress.com/ for her insightful thoughts on our attitudes & behavior as artists. It’s been very worthwhile for me.

 

 

A Hairy Situation

Tags

3B, 9B, animals, artwork, colored pencils, cream-colored paper, drawing, graphite, Hair Sheep, Prismacolor pencils, sheep, sketches, sketching, wax-based pencils

Hair Sheep in Graphite & Colored Pencil

 

The story behind the sketch:

The painting-out season is nearing an end, so I was looking through photos from the various locations where my artist’s group has met this year. I found a really good photo that my friend Karin had taken at one of the farms, the subject’s being what is known as a Hair Sheep, according to the owner. Basically, this is a “self-shaving sheep”.

my experience in doing this sketch:

Well, it was a bit of a struggle! The wool and skin were the same color, so it was hard to visually separate the the two. I ended up making the wool darker than it really was to remedy this.

The second problem came from working on cream-colored paper; it’s okay for some subjects, but it does make it harder to get a strong contrast between lights and darks. To get the sunny look I was after, I needed intense darks, & no matter what grade of graphite pencil I used I just couldn’t get them. I finally resorted to using a black Prismacolor pencil,—– & called the drawing “done”.

The technical stuff:

3-B pencil was used to sketch-in the rough outlines, with just about every grade of pencil between & including 9B , with the addition of a black Prismacolor pencil. ( For those of you unfamiliar with Prismacolors, they are wax-based pencils that are relatively soft, and very nice to work with, the colors being more intense than the colored pencils you probably used as a kid.)

NOTE: All images and text in this post are Copyright K. A. Renninger 2011. I am more than happy to have you share them through your own blog, and hope you will do so—but you must give me credit. Anyone who uses them to make money will be prosecuted.

A Page from My Diary

Tags

artwork, botanical drawing, colored pencil, crayola colorerd pencils, drawing, money plant, prismacolor, Prismacolor pencils, sketches, sketching, Tombow watercolor markers, ULtra-Color pencils

Page From Nature Diary

The story behind the sketch:I kept a nature diary faithfully for eleven years. Of course, at the time, I had few friends , little social interaction, no email, no computer, and wasn’t concerned with having an income. ( Things do change.)

In recent years, my entries have been sporadic, but at least there may be  some continuity to the one above. This  drawing of a Jack-in-the-Pulpit was done  last summer. Now this summer I have been taking photos of another plant in its various stages. At present the berries are turning  form pale green to bright red; would make a luscious watercolor.

my experience in doing this sketch:

Running off the page didn’t bother me, as my main focus was on the glossy green seedhead. I found I just couldn’t get the highlight I wanted on those “berries” , (partly because the paper is cream or ivory-colored, ) so resorted to using white-out. But hey—anything goes.

The technical stuff:

Prismacolor, UltraColor, & Crayola pencils, as well as Tombow dual-ended watercolor markers,  were used to add color to the outlines made by  a  standard #2 pencil. And then , of course, there was the white-out.  Paper: Masters Touch spiral-bound sketchbook. Sold at Hobby Lobby. A pretty versatile paper, although the ivory color does make high contrast difficult.

NOTE: All images and text in this post are Copyright K. A. Renninger 2012. I am more than happy to have you share them through your own blog, and hope you will do so—but you must give me credit. Anyone who uses them to make money will be prosecuted.

The Appeal of the Unfinished

Tags

art, artwork, Creatacolor Monolith, Derwent, drawing, Eberhard-Faber, graphite, H pencil, illustration board, sketching, strathmore, tree, wagon wheel, water-soluble graphite, wood fencepost, woodless pencils

tree and wagon wheel in graphite

What is it that is appealing about an unfinished work? It could be that it’s  like a flower; something beautiful unfolding. It could be the mystery in it; the potential, the chance for our imagination to fill in the blanks.

I  also think that it’s due to the delicious contrast present in an unfinished work; the bright white against  the darkness of the places already “filled-in”. It’s like the brilliance of a sunny day.

The lesson I learn from this is to let some white areas in the finished drawing, and try not to add so much detail to the darker areas that I lose the brilliance. In other words, fight my tendency to get carried away!

The technical stuff

Strathmore Illustration board, vellum finish, is the substrate. 2B sketch pencil used to outline basic shapes. Cretacolor Monolith woodless pencils, 2B & 9B,  used to achieve good darks.  Derwent Graphitone  water-solubles for areas of solid tone, Everhard -Faber Microtomic H to do some very light shading  and to clean up the edges on areas where the graphitone or creatacolor pencils are used, as they leave a slightly ragged edge, at least on this paper.  ( I always knew there had to be some use for the ‘hard” range of pencils; just didn’t know what it was till now. )

Summer Treasures

Tags

art, artwork, botanical drawing, Creatacolor Monolith, Derwent, drawing, Eberhard-Faber, graphite, illustration board, plants, Queen anne's Lace, sketching, strathmore, water-soluble graphite, Wild Carrot, wood fencepost, woodless pencils

Queen Anne’s Lace

The story behind the sketch:

Ugh–Summer heat. 90 humid degrees and then some. I just want to stay inside & hug the air conditioner. But the fact is that if you dont go out into the heat, you miss so much beauty .Summer is filled with treasures, among them the wildflowers. Queen Anne’s Lace has always been one of my favorites.

My experience in doing this sketch:

I decided to go “big” on this, due to the detail involved.  The image size is about 8.5 x 14″  ( For me, that’s large.) I didn’t know exactly how to proceed with drawing the flowers; they are so complex. But I slowly began & kept adjusting, till I found the right approach. Too much detail made them too dark, & too little didn’t give them the texture they actually possess. Putting lots of darker shapes in between the parts of the blossoms helped. It was an interesting “puzzle”, working out how to make the shapes of everything stand out; darkening an area in the background to bring out a light object in the foreground, & vice-verse. The wood was a pure joy to do. Water Soluble graphite pencils made it much easier to achieve variety and texture, as well as a subtle background.

The technical stuff

Strathmore Illustration board, vellum finish, was the substrate. 2B Everhard -Faber Microtomic sketch pencil was used to sketch in somes basics & add detail, Craetacolor Monolith woodless pencils, 2B & 9B, were  used to achieve lots of texture & good darks. (I like these pencils because you can vary line width by angling the pencil.) Derwent Graphitone  water-solubles were used to get a soft background & fade it out at the edges, as well as on several places on the wood post.

Caricature

Tags

art, artwork, caricature, drawing, farm buildings, graphite, outbuildings, sketches, sketching

Outbuilding in graphite

The story behind the sketch:

I was in the mood to paint, & thought I would be brave  and sketch this building right on the watercolor paper & start painting. But after a few sketches & subsequent erasures, I decided to save the paper & do a separate sketch as usual.

My experience in doing this sketch:

I was running  out of time ; it was hot, & miserable, so I did this quickly . Surprisingly enough, the quick ones often seem to be the most appealing. I think this is because in sketching quickly, an artist almost does a caricature of the subject, be it person, building or other. The basic lines, shapes, & tones are rendered, & exaggerated a bit, in order to fix them in the mind for later, more accurate, detailed, paintings.

Will I ever actually do a painting of this subject? I hope so. But if not, I’ve gotten a pleasing sketch out of it. Maybe that’s enough.

Early Bloomer

Tags

artwork, botanical drawing, drawing, flowers, graphite, iris, nature, plants, sketches, sketching

The story behind the sketch:

This year, all the blooming plants are out about a month early, so we’re already enjoying my favorite flower, the iris.

Although this flower is a colorful dark purple and white, I wanted to see if I could still capture its essence in black & white.

my experience in doing this sketch:

Sketching flowers in all their detail, is , for me, a sort of meditation. In the best moments, the flower is all that exists in the world. I suppose that is Zen.

The technical stuff:

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you the paper I used, as it was very old stock; it has a texture that sort of looks like parchment; just slightly toothy; good for getting a velvety look on the petals . I believe the graphite stick is a 6B, although I apparently, at one time, started to use the wrong end of it, where the grade was marked. ( Whoops!) A 6B pencil was used to get the delicate markings on the upper part of the fall.

It took a light touch and a sharp pencil to do the veining on the white upper petals. On this sketch I didn’t do any blending. It’s all “straight from the pencil”, using line to create gradations in tone.

NOTE: All images and text in this post are Copyright K. A. Renninger 2011. I am more than happy to have you share them through your own blog, and hope you will do so—but you must give me credit. Anyone who uses them to make money will be prosecuted.

A Little Color

Tags

artwork, botanical drawing, colored pencil, drawing, money plant, prismacolor, sketches, sketching

The story behind the sketch:

A money plant appeared, seeded from goodness-knows where, among the catnip patch. Never having really studied one in its early stages before, I was intrigued by the very smooth, sturdy green pods which I am used to seeing in their fall form; a light grey-brown casing in which lies the pearlescent “coin”.

Due to bad weather on the usual panting-out days, I hadn’t done anything from life for a while. Armed with my trusty hard-bound sketchbook ( which I would recommend every artist have) I sat down and got some real-life practice in.

my experience in doing this sketch:

I had always thought of the coins as being ovals, but realized how many angles actually comprise those ovals. It was hard to get all the details in this tiny ( no more than 3 x 5 “) sketch, but I did my best to capture the wonderful thin burgundy-colored outlines around the green pods, as well as some of the veining on the petals .

I really like colored pencil ; it’s neat, clean & easy to use, and with the addition of a colorless blending pencil, it’s easy to get a smooth look in areas where you don’t want the paper to show through. I chose to use both blended & un-blended areas in this drawing to capture the variety of textures.

The technical stuff:

Prismacolor, UltraColor, & Crayola pencils were used. A soft white eraser helped in a couple of spots. An old fashioned typing eraser ( made like a pencil with a brush on the other end) is great because it’s a little more abrasive, but these are getting very hard to find anymore. Paper: Masters Touch spiral-bound sketchbook. Sold at Hobby Lobby. A pretty versatile paper.

NOTE: All images and text in this post are Copyright K. A. Renninger 2011. I am more than happy to have you share them through your own blog, and hope you will do so—but you must give me credit. Anyone who uses them to make money will be prosecuted.