I have blogged before about drawing here and I am trying to improve so that I will find painting without use of a preliminary sketch easier. I am firmly convinced that drawing is a skill and can therefore be learned and it is our ability to be able to draw what we "see" rather than what we "think" we see which makes all the difference and that's what this book concentrates on. Drawing upside down and concentrating on shapes are two major areas and I am finding that it is getting easier. I have always been able to draw reasonably well, but have recognised recently that my skills need sharpening up especially as I draw so quickly, that is my style, rather sketchy and bold but the marks need to be in the right place. Anyway here is my latest drawing, it's for an xmas present so just need to get it mounted and framed.
The horse is alive on the paper and full of energy. I love it.
ReplyDeleteI also have the book you are talking about ... (I have all three books of Betty Edwards).
I think , like me, you're interested in everything, then you take the best (for example, flip the image) and ...you do what you like!
Brava, Judith!
Thank you Rita,yes I am interested in everything and I tend to work through things with my art, having concentrated on colour, tone and now drawing.... my next big learning curve is composition which I have been avoiding though obviously we have to consider it with every piece we do. It is a big subject and I find I can only learn small bits at a time... do you think we will ever stop learning???
DeleteHello Judith:) Beautiful, you are def on the right way. If you can draw like this, you must be talented. And you are!
ReplyDeleteHave a nice sunday:)
Thanks you Renate..... yes I suppose I can draw but some days am better than others and feel I need to "brush" up on my skills. I already paint a lot without sketching but find certain subjects quite difficult, especially profiles of faces so just wanted to improve the skill a bit!!
Deletechallenging to do a commission for a subject you've have never done before ..beautiful drawing judith .
ReplyDeleteThanks Jane... I do most of my portraits on rough paper as I quite like the effect but think this might have been better on smoother paper then I could have blended a bit more.
DeleteI was asked to do a commission of a horse when I did the wildlife event the other week - so need to get practice in my self on drawing horses, something I'm not at all confident in, have never used charcoal either, too used to graphite!
ReplyDeleteMust admit I don't think I have the patience for pencil although when I was a lot younger it is what I used to do... nothing fancy, I used to do portraits using just one pencil so not much finesse but I used to get a likeness. One day in the class I went to we did some charcoal and I just loved how I could use it, seemed so much more expressive to me.... then a friend of mine said she would love a charcoal portrait of her son ad have bee doing them ever since.
DeleteI wouldn't know where to start doing a horse portrait...this one is excellent !
ReplyDeleteThanks Jane I really wasn't sure myself and had a little help from some friends who really know what they're doing and helped me put the finishing touches!! I'd made the eye a bit too big...... apparently that is a common mistake people make with horses and had also mistaken the throat strap for a crease in the flesh, but got there in the end!!
DeleteFunnily enough I've never done a horse but then I'm not a drawer either. I do think horses are probably more difficult than people for some reason and that's why I've never even tried painting one. Yours is great with lovely shading in the right places and the right tilt of the head too for a horse.
ReplyDeleteThanks Laura, as you will have seen it did present a few problems but in the end drawing is all about shapes, line and light and dark so if you strip everything else out and just concentrate on that it shouldn't be any more difficult.....I think the issue is when you are starting on a new subject you don't know it as well and not being as familiar with horses as with faces am not as sure where to add the shadows or the little subtleties like the eye... in the faces, if they are not too obvious, I exaggerate them or even make them up as I know where they should be..... all a learning
Deletecurve!!
I see your point Judith. Like we've said before if we know the subject we can paint or draw it and rely on instinct too. Lack of experience means lack of instinct whatever the medium. Hope you are OK these days btw.
DeleteIk vind het super getekend heel mooi lieve groetjes Danielle
ReplyDeleteThank you Danielle, appreciate your comments...
ReplyDeleteLovely horse portrait - more so as you're not familiar with them.
ReplyDeleteI get far too 'mucky' with charcoal ... so usually end up taking the slower option of graphite pencils.
Thanks.....I get so mucky too Sue (am a poet as well!!)but I don't have the patience for graphite.... I like instant gratification lol !!! I also like the freedom of charcoal.... even thought the portraits are quite tight I still feel here is a spontaneity about them which I don't think I would achieve in pencil... so, nicely talked out of graphite there and will stick to the charcoal!!!
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