Plant a Seed … and Watch It Grow

I decided I wanted to learn to draw.  I wanted to draw anything that would resemble (loosely) what I was intending to draw.  I sucked.

But that wanting was the seed being planted.  In just 21 short lessons from a book designed for children or slow adults (like me), I am actually progressing as evidenced here!  And I sure like it when something turns out “OK”.  I don’t aim too high.

This was Day 1. I know this isn’t a tree. It’s a bush, but come on….Someone asked me why there was barbed wire in front of my house.

This was about 2-3 weeks later. A little tree off to the left of a house I drew. It is definitely a tree. There’s no doubt about it. Right?

And tonight, I drew this.  Now the top looks a little lame, but I think the trunk looks pretty cool.  A seed is planted and the tree grows!

Cup of Joe to Start the Day!

Do you know how important foreshortened circles are to artists?  (I am not claiming to be an artist for the record.)  Do you care?  Nah, me neither, but I’m learning I need to know if I want to draw anything remotely 3-D or good for that matter.  Foreshortened circles are everywhere I look these days!

I am actually VERY happy with how my cup of coffee came out!  See the foreshortened circles at the top?  I also banged out a solid volcano.

Progress!

The Great Pyramid of Giza: A Wonder of the Ancient World

Remarkable in every way from it’s beauty, to it’s architecture & design, to the marvels & mystery of how it was even constructed.  Built some 2,500 years ago, it has stood the test of time and dazzled all who gazed upon her.

And then we have this pile of sh*t.  Pyramids don’t look very hard, but mine sure didn’t come out too well.  The Egyptians and pretty much anyone with the gift of sight should steer well clear of these travesties.  I’m pretty sure King Tut would have me executed.

I am not too happy with how they came out.  Bleech.

Hear Ye Hear Ye!

I proclaim that I can draw a scroll!  I didn’t say it was a good one.  Tonight’s lesson was on constructing scrolls and kind of built on the old rose lesson.  I am learning shading is tough!  But I am also learning it’s what separates great drawings from good ones.  I imagine it’s going to take a lot of practice and a lot of study of light and the way it falls on objects.  I’ve been noticing myself looking at things lately and the way the light hits them.  However, transferring that to paper from memory is proving difficult.  Practice and practice and more practice as well as drawing from life should improve my not-so-hot current abilities.

So the first scroll I constructed using the book as my guide came out ok.  Using cylinders for the ends and basically connecting them.  Then the hard part is getting it shaded right.  It came out ok.  I do not know why I felt the need to write on it.  It looks stupid.  The number 2 drawing, I did on my own from memory.  It’s ok too.  I like using the paper stump to blend the shading.  On number 3, I took a shortcut and decided to go freehand.  By not drawing the cylinders, you can easily see I made the ends of the scroll too wide and it shows.  Also tried to change the light source and it was tough to figure out what should be darkened for shading.  The last one, I went back to the original design using the cylinders.  It came out pretty good I think, but somehow I got my peeking lines wrong and cut off half the cylinder when building the ends of the scroll.  It still looks ok to me, but I’m not sure how I did this.  I left the sketch lines in so you can see my goof.

I’m looking forward to the day I can try to put all these skills together and make an original drawing I am proud of.  Seems a long way off, but I am determined.

You’re A Grand Ole Flag…

I got to draw flags tonight for lesson 17.  The came out ok, except I went out on my own on the bottom one and totally botched the shading.  Wrong directions.  Oh well, they still came out kind of cool.  Very easy to do with near instant results.  I like drawing flags.

Speaking of flags…I think it’s time to wave the Coors Light flag cause I’m heading to the pub.  Cheers!  xo

Let’s Go Surfin’ Now

Hey!  Chapter 16!  There’s only 30 and I “should” be able to draw soon according to the book title, You Can Draw in 30 Days.  I’m over 1/2 way!  Tonight’s lesson was “The Wave”.  Building on the lovely contour tubes I learned in the previous lesson.  The first one looks pretty lame to me.  I think the froth is a little too frothy, but the second one vaguely resembles a wave.  With a little imagination.  What do you think?

If only I could draw a cute little surfer girl on top hanging ten.  With a bikini.  With a little bikini I mean.  In France, where it’s cool to go topless.  With long dark hair.  And a sexy accent.  And a cooler of ice-cold beers.  And maybe a picnic basket with salami and cheese.

Nascar & Scuba…What a Combo!

Figured I’d skip the lesson today and just try to draw something.

I had DVR’d last nights Nascar race from Darlington and watched it this morning with some coffee and eggs.  It was not a casual fan’s race (no wrecks), but pretty damn good if you’re a Nascar fan (like me.)  The only one not having a good time was the commitment cone right before pit road.  I saw that sucker get taken out 3 separate times.  I don’t think Coney enjoyed being plastered to front end bumpers all day long….

Went scuba diving on Friday after work with a couple of buddies.  Here in the Puget Sound we’re not used to very good visibility.  If we can see 20 feet, we call that a very good day.   However, on Friday, we hit some pretty serious surf for these parts which stirred up the water and we were looking at visibility of about a foot.  It was pretty terrible and about 11 minutes in, we decided to bag it and head for the bar.  I miss my little fish buddies….

Contour Tubes – I Have a Lot to Learn

Ok.  These are contour tubes.  Contour lines are apparently very important for drawing things like trains, planes, and automobiles.  As well as trees, people, clouds….the list goes on and on.  Now I’m not seeing it because these are just tubes and don’t look anything like any of the aforementioned.  However, I’ll take Marks word for it and trust all will be explained in time.  My first one sucked.  I was following my tendency to rush, so I really slowed down on the second one and I think it came out better.

Lovely Lilies

Well it’s been a few days and even though I am busy, I forced myself to sit down and tackle Lesson 14 – The Lily.  The lesson was on contour lines, and “s” curves, and my tendency to rush was prevalent as I was trying to get out the door to a PTA meeting (yes, I’m the only male member).  I understood the points Mark tried to make with the free-flowing natural lines.  Just letting your pencil glide, similar to Chevy Chase telling me to “be the ball” in Caddyshack.  It just didn’t work too well as I was too distracted.  Tomorrow will be better for sure.  Not to mention, I don’t really like drawing girly flowers.  I’d rather draw a machine gun, or an exploding stick of dynamite, or some boobs or something.  All in good time…..Patience, young grasshopper.

I Love This House!

I’m a believer now.  To go from this house to the house below in 13 short lessons has been well worth it.  I know it’s far from a work of art, but it gives me confidence that I’m on the right track in my quest to learn to draw.  I look forward to more practice and original drawings in the future.

I just wish I had more time!

May 6, 2012