Two Hours To Draw An Egg

It was the first day of drawing class, so I am exaggerating slightly. We went over some information, but class also went late, so we only took 1 hour and 45 minutes to do one drawing of one egg.

The emphasis today was on seeing, shading and smudging. While I learned about each of these topics (and that will be useful), it also was good reminder to be more confident in defining when I am done and ready to move on. It would have been a better learning experience (and more enjoyable) to do several less complete drawings, rather than focusing on one endless drawing.

It's weird to be writing this, since I am a fairly detailed person, Also, I wish that I could show you my 2 hour egg.  I thought that I packed it up when I packed up my supplies. Now that I am home, I can't find it.

Hammet Is At Diamond's Coffee Shop

There is an art show at Diamond's Coffee Shop (1618 Central Avenue NE) which shows artwork by some of Kat Corrigan's students. I provided her with four paintings and all four of them were hung up in a corner, together. It was fun to see them on the wall. Hammet looked especially dapper, since Kat added a frame.

Some of Kat's paintings are currently there along with six of her students, including me. If you are in the neighborhood, Diamond's makes a good hot chocolate.  You can stop by to see these paintings until February 16th.

Recap 1 - Kitchen Item Drawing Challenge

When I first decided to do a 30 day drawing challenge, I was going to wait and do one big post at the end of the 30 days. That would be a very, very long post. Instead, I decided to break it up into periodic recaps. instead.

For this challenge, the goal is to draw one kitchen item per day in approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Cats in the kitchen qualify as a kitchen-related item. Drawing with pen in five to ten minutes has aspects that are both enjoyable and a bit stressful.

Day 3 - broccoli

Day 1 - stand mixer

Day 2 - vanilla jar

On day 2, my initial start was an ellipse, for the top of the jar, that was too circular. The ellipse needed to be flatter. After measuring, I drew a second ellipse that was closer to the actual dimensions. Measuring before you draw is a better approach!

 For some reason, I am enthralled with broccoli. I expect to draw and consume a lot of broccoli over the next several weeks.

Day 4 - toast-burning toaster

This toaster's days may be limited. The one thing it does best is consistently burn toast, no matter the setting that you select. I enjoyed trying to use hatch marks to denote shape.

Each  morning, I am looking forward to picking up a pen and paper and drawing for 5 to 10 minutes. This is not great art or great drawings, but it gives me the opportunity to learn by doing. You make decisions about how to to capture an aspect of your subject. If it works, great!  If it doesn't, you can step back and evaluate what to do the next time.

I firmly believe that I can learn more by doing a little each day, rather than cramming in a bunch of time on the weekend. 

Revisited

Yesterday, I got home from work earlier enough to get a painting done before dinner. I revisited the picture of my friend's cat, Amelia. It's getting closer to looking like her. For someone who loves bright colors as much as I do, it's surprising how enjoyable mixing different shades of white can be.

Since I haven't found the time to paint much in the last several weeks, it felt really good to pick up the paint brush. Also, I adore cats and very much enjoy painting them.

30 Days (Or So) Kitchen Item Drawing Challenge

While I really enjoy trying to draw objects, I am also very good at finding reasons to put it off. One of the excuses in frequent rotation is that I don't have time. This morning I took 5 minutes to draw my stand mixer.  Yup, the proportions are way off and the drawing goes right to the very edge of the paper, but it was better to work on drawing and figuring out what details to include or exclude in a compressed period of time, rather than not to draw at all.

There really is quite a lot to a stand mixer. When I compare this to what I was trying a year ago when I started, I am pleased with my progress.

I've decided to try another 30 day (or so) drawing challenge. Most drawings will be quick like this one. I don't want to take the time to post and write about every drawing. Instead, I am planning to do one very long post at the end of the 30 (or so) days. Instead of mulling over what to draw each day, I am going to confine myself to kitchen-related objects. If any of my cats are in the kitchen, they qualify as a kitchen-related object.

The Editing Eye

It's the first day back to work in the New Year. I'm working from home and not motivated at all. I've been surfing art / creativity related blogs for the past 20 minutes or so. I'm not sure what I was looking for, but I think I found it. Also after this blog post, I am going to start my paid work.

Boo-boos in drawing impact my confidence in a deeper way than in painting. For painting, I've figured out a drawing process that mostly works for me when I am working from a picture, grid lines! I love them. However, I also want to paint and draw from life. That's the reason for the sketches and also for taking the drawing class that starts next week.

When I look at one of my drawings, the critical voice in my head is different and meaner than when it involves a painting. I stumbled across the blog of Roz Stendahl, a local artist and started looking at some of here posts. This one really spoke to me. The critic in my head is bad. I need an editor in my head, along with outside resources to help me learn.

It's easy for me to find multiple faults with my work.In yesterday's drawing, the length of the head of the broccoli versus the smaller stalks and bigger stalk was off. With my cat drawings, the heads are typically too small relative to the body. I try to measure, but it doesn't end up right on the page. I could go on and on and on. The critic has a lot to say. Instead, I hope to develop an editor that I can turn to, instead.

1st Post Of 2017

I have been drawing the last several days, mostly cats. I did try drawing a person, sitting in a chair, at a table, playing cards at a New Year's Day party. Since I'm not very good at this type of drawing and I didn't get the okay to do the drawing beforehand, I am not going to post it. Instead, here is a drawing of some broccoli. There's no having to figure out the ethics of drawing and posting a picture of broccoli!