Potatoes, Etc

I am still focused on potatoes.  I’ve figured out that I need to slow down and think before I start hatching in an area.  Figuring out what direction to hatch does not come naturally, so slowing down helps a lot.  The instructor in the Sktchy class has been doing this far longer than me, so she can just go for it and go quickly, but I can’t.  I’ve also noticed if I go slower, it’s easier to make my cross hatches smaller (i.e. less long in length), which also works better.  I like how cross hatching adds another element to the shape and values in a drawing and I’m glad that I am getting over my fear of cross hatching.

I have been surprised just how long it takes to complete 1 sketch of 1 potato.

Here’s Friday’s potato sketch.

Here are some in process pictures of Saturday’s sketch, along with the mostly finished one.  I ran out of time to really finish it.

I am enjoying the process of slowing down, paying attention, and becoming one with the potato!

Slowly Getting Somewhere

When cross hatching, I think I'm been going too dark too quickly.  On the plus side in parts of this drawing while I was working on it, it felt as though I had a tiny bit of insight about the direction needed to build shape.

Vegetables Which Don't Quite Look Like What They Are

I am mostly working on hatching.  I find that I want to make my hatch marks too long.  Overall, I seem to rush, so perhaps I need to add a bit of patients.

Here is a potato, which doesn't look particularly like a potato to me or at least not the potato I was drawing.  The part which is concave is way too large and the top is too rounded.

Here is an onion.  I want to keep practicing to figure out how to build the types of shape and volume that I want.  I hope this will crossover into better paint strokes.

It's Done

I never got into a groove with this one.  This is the one I painted in layers on a white background. I'm glad that it's done.  I finished it on Tuesday night.

#291 - Bridge Over Minnehaha Creek - 8" x 8" - paper

Second Syndrome

I've notice a certain phenomenon. When the first try turns out pretty good, the second try does not.  As a juggler who likes doing passing patterns with other people, this happens all of the time.  It also seems to happen with me when I draw or paint.

I like how yesterday's potato turned out and I also really enjoyed the process.  Today's potato, not so much on either front.  My drawing makes the potato look way more concave than actuality.

All and all, that's okay.  I'm drawing again and I don't get how to build shape with cross hatching, so I guess it's practice, practice, practice, followed by patience, patience, patience.


 

You Say Potato, I Say Cross Hatch

I am taking France Van Stone's Cross Hatching online class.  The class become available on 12/31 and the live Q&A session for the end of class already took place.  Fortunately, it's a class where you have lifetime access. There are four lessons and I'm not even done with the first one.  Watching her draw the example potato with multiple layers of dark and cross hatching was fascinating and the end result was beautiful.

I don't get cross hatching, but I think I'll get it better if I work through this class s    l    o   w   l   y.  One thing she mentioned was that you have to be patient and put the time in if you want to build a drawing with cross hatching.  I'm not very patient, but I'm willing to give this a try.

Potato drawing, take 1.

It felt really good to draw and the cross hatching was kind of fun!

If You See My Focus and Discipline, Would You Send It My Way?

I usually negotiate my life in a mostly deliberate and organized manner.  This includes coming up with a daily “to do” list and trying to get at least a few things done off my list every day.  That’s not how it’s been going lately.  I get on the computer, start doing genealogy research, and seem to get nothing else done. In addition to researching my bio-roots, I’ve also been looking into the roots of my adopted family. 

All of this has meant that my art-making has been on hiatus.  I've been feeling bad about that, but yesterday, my feelings changed.  I did a pretty good job for almost three years.  Yes, it would have been better to keep my habit going, but I didn't.  Equally important is finding my way back.  While it sounds easy, it's not.  I think about drawing or painting almost every single day, but I just haven't been able to start back up yet.  I am confident that I will get it back again and I think that will be soon.  The desire to do so is starting to gain on the inertia of not doing so.

Anyway, I finished one painting a week ago and have that to show. Here is a shot from mid-way through.

Here is the completed painting. I like this one better in person.

#290 - Bridge at Minnehaha Park - 8" x 8"

Starting The New Year

Wednesday went very well. I worked from home and was focused and motivated, so I got a lot accomplished. My plan for the evening was to watch video related to a Sktchy class on cross-hatching and also to draw. It was the evening my partner plays cribbage with this family.

I decided to work on my family tree for just a little bit, first. I am trying to figure out the paternal side. That was a mistake!  I spent the whole evening doing research. I am having trouble finding balance between doing this and doing other things and I really do need to find this balance.

On the art-making side, I am planning to start drawing again and working on cross-hatching will be good. It is a skill that I need to develop.

On the painting side of things, I am thinking about working on two paintings at the same time. One would be painting on black gesso, in a manner I learned from Kat. The other would be working in layers like I tried with Carl. I never really “got it” in class. I think some interesting things might happen with working this way. It might not be accurate to attribute one of the painting styles to be from Carl. In class, he would premix colors using a palette knife. I think that might work better with "diluting" the paint color with thinned medium, but that's not what I'm doing. I am going to try and create a toned background with the colors for the different areas and see what happens.

Here is the start of the first one. Ugh. A white background is a hard place to begin.

Here is the start of the second one.

Can you tell which one I'm avoiding?