My First Ball Gown

Today I started practicing for my future lessons starting in January. The aim is to design and make beautiful sketches of dresses using different techniques. I noticed that I've never actually drawn any dresses or made any clothing design sketches since drawing princesses as a young girl. I decided to use some inspirational sketches to get started so I found myself in Pinterest going trough different kinds of fashion sketches. At first I felt a bit rusty, but when I kept drawing it got easier as usual.

My favorite is the one I did last. I took the pose from a sketch by Michel Canetti and designed my own ball gown. Then I added some glitter, because after all, its New Year's Eve!

Ball Gown (pencil, watercolor, glitter glue, diamond stickers)

I love the fashion poses, because they are so interesting to draw. Also, the human proportions are usually way of, and you get to exaggerate. What could be more fun? I wanted to use different designers' sketches so I could try out different styles. I used sketches from designers and artists like Pamella Rowland, Katie Rodger, Marchesa and Holly Sharpe.When I relaxed and let myself draw without thinking too much, I also started to like what I was doing more.

Now, because my blog is all about showing you that it's OK to draw, even though all your works are not masterpieces, I will also show you the first five sketches. There you go!

The First Five (pencil, watercolor, glitter glue)

Happy Holidays!

Santa (pencil, watercolor)

Christmas came again, and I didn't send any cards. Every year the holidays come even faster. Maybe next year I'll have to start the preparations earlier... Well, I still managed to draw something christmassy for my friends. So here it is, Father Christmas himself, feeling jolly as always. With this drawing I'd like to wish merry Christmas to everyone!

Can You Here the Music?

The Uke Player (watercolor, ballpoint pen)

Here's the other page  of my ukulele themed spread. I drew the uke being played and it was difficult because the player's fingers were moving all the time. It was fun though. The watercolored background is my favorite part of this sketch although it was quite boring without the drawing. The background took me for about one minute to do and the sketch for about 15 minutes, so this was a nice quick project. I hope that together the two different techniques give the watcher a feeling of music being played.

Uke 'Em!

The Ukulele (ballpoint pen)

Here's the reason I haven't been drawing much lately. It's our new ukulele. I have never played an instrument before, but now I got enchanted by this cute little thing. After one week my fingers feel numb, but it didn't stop me from drawing a quick sketch of the uke. I used a ballpoint pen for this one and because I was a bit lazy, the proportions are not quite right. The technique also prevented me from doing a lot of changes afterwards. The background was made earlier with watercolors and it brings something extra to the sketch, I think. Still, this one is definitely not the best of my sketches.

Salvador and Raimo on My Mind

An Idea (pencil)

Here's another sketch of my project. Now the face is beginning to look right. I also tried out a Dali-ish idea of long-legged little Raimos taking photos, but it doesn't really work as well as I hoped.

I showed my sketches to Raimo and he was quite happy with them. He also thought that this one looks like him but preferred the background of the other sketch I made earlier. So I think I'm going to paint some nice and a bit weird scenery to the background .

Raimo's Point of View

Raimo's Point of View (Pencil)

Our school's photography teacher Raimo asked me to do a portrait of him for his anniversary. He wanted his portrait to be unconventional and mentioned some artists that he likes. One of those artist was Salvador Dali and for these first sketches I used some details straight from Dali's works to study his style. Raimo was also kind enough to get me some photos of him to use as a model for the portrait. There's some resemblance already in the first sketches and that gives me hope for the future work. I've noticed that some people are just easier to draw(unlike my sister) and luckily Raimo is one of those people. I'm not sure if this is just my imagination or not. It could also depend on the photo or the day.

I think that the final work will be an acrylic painting, but before I get there I think I'm going to do many more sketches. I have to think about the things I want to show and what influences of Dali will there be. Also the composition is really important and I have to think about it carefully.

This project feels very inspiring to me because I get to be creative and do lots of sketches and use different techniques. This is also a very challenging project, because I'm not used to painting portraits. I will be posting more sketches as I go on.

Off the Top of My Head

Watching TV (black fine liner, watercolor)

This time I was trying to draw something without thinking about it. It was quite fun and relaxing and I was watching TV at the same time. Not sure where all the ideas came from. Unfortunately I don't remember what was on TV, but I think it didn't have much effect on me. I added some color later to make the sketch look more interesting and to make some details pop out more.

Not Quite the Sister I Know

Something Familiar ( ballpoint pen, pencil)

My sister asked me if I could draw a picture of her. Well, apparently I can't! There's something right about the bigger sketch, but still something very wrong. First I drew a quick, 15 minute sketch of her with a ballpoint pen, but the proportions looked funny. Then I took a pen and used a bit longer to draw another sketch. I guess I have to do few more, because she looks way better in the original photo.

Laa-Laa and Tinky Winky

Last weekend I was visiting at my parents' house and couldn't resist this view. There really was two Teletubbies sitting on a pink chair in the living room. Everything else looked brown so these two cuties were a refreshing and a bit surprising sight. There are always grandchildren visiting my parents, so I guess toys just have to be ready for action at all times.

The situation was also interesting, because I was in a hurry and my aunt was looking closely over my shoulder the whole time. She also commented my work while I was doing it. Luckily the feedback was positive so I didn't feel crushed. Drawing and painting can be scary enough without anybody watching. There's something I have to remember as a teacher.

I drew this sketch with a ballpoint pen, so there might be some oddities with the proportions. I knew from the start that I wanted to use colors with this work because of the bright Teletubbies, and couldn't wait to get to the coloring part.
I've noticed that I love watercolors. Actually, I think I have to go paint something now...

Interior Design at It's Best (ballpoint pen, watercolor)

Blown Cover

The Cover (ink)

Here's one sketch I made with white ink. It's the new cover of my sketchbook. I didn't have to stress about it at all. Just started to draw and had fun with it.

Finding Courage

In a Bubble (ink)

One day I just started doodling. Nowadays when I draw I always have some kind of a goal, so sometimes it's refreshing to draw something pointless. The more I drew the easier it got. Suddenly I realized that I could draw anything that came to my mind. I didn't have to think about whether my drawings go together with everything else I had drawn. But it was surprisingly hard for me to forget about the end result. Thoughts about terrible looking page in my dear sketchbook kept popping to my mind. But as I said, it got easier when I drew more weird stuff.

I definitely have to do pages like this more. I have this strange belief that the more I struggle with my drawings the more it helps me to become a better drawer. Or it might be that I'm just torturing myself for nothing... We'll see. After all I've heard that there's no art without courage and I'm brave enough to suffer a little. I'm just getting there one step at a time.

Well Hello There, Mister!

Something Green (watercolor)

Last week I bought a Derwent water mister to use for my watercolor sketches. It's easy to take with you because it's so small and I needed a water supply for sketching trips. I mixed a nice green color and started to spray it around. My first test looked like this. Now I have one more background ready for action!

Once Upon a Time in Ullava

Tuta (pencil)

This sketch was made from an old photo I found. The young man in the picture was my grandfather or tuta as we called him. I think that photo was taken in a small town called Ullava, but I can't be sure. I started drawing from tuta and that was not a good idea because I'm right handed and I had to draw him few times because my hand kept smudging him. As I moved left my drawing started to change and it became sketchier. I think I actually like it better because it looks more effortless.

A Room with a View

A Room with a View (ballpoint pen)

For a long time I've been meaning to draw the view from my office. I think it looks interesting because of all the roofs you can see at a glance. I made this quick sketch with a ballpoint pen and decided to color it later with watercolors. Just wanted to show it before coloring. Who knows how long it will take.

Splashing Picasso

Splashing Picasso (ink, watercolor)

This is one of the sketches I made with my new inks and calligraphy set. I tried to draw Picasso from a picture and it felt difficult because I used only ink and couldn't erase anything. There's some problems with this Picasso's proportions but I still like this sketch better than the butterflies I made before. I think I should draw more people because I've noticed I'm the most excited whenever I do sketches of different people and I think excitement is really important when it comes to sketching.

Butterflies

Few days ago I bought a new calligraphy set and watercolors and wanted to try them out as soon as possible. I got some white and brown ink as well and decided to start with those. I used one of my previously made backgrounds and drew some butterflies with white ink. First I chose too fine nib and it was difficult to make fluent lines on the acrylic background. Drawing got easier when I changed the nib for a bigger one. I'm not very satisfied with this one, but it was a good practice.

White Butterflies (acrylic paint, white ink)

Midnight Sketching

Sleepy Bananas (ballpoint pen)

Last Sunday I had an inspiration in the middle of making evening snack. I noticed that our fruits looked especially interesting. We had accidentally bought too many bananas and they were creating interesting shapes and shades. I knew I had to act quickly before somebody eats my inspiring fruits. I used a ballpoint pen because I wanted to work fast. With a pencil it always takes me longer to get anything finished. This work was meant to be a quick sketch and although I was tempted to continue working,  I had to go to bed and have some sleep. Maybe it was a good thing.

Almost Like Christmas

Autumn White Poinsettia (colored charcoal pencil)

My sister came to visit me and brought me a Christmas plant. Well, she told me that it was an autumn plant although I'm still suspicious. Nevertheless it was a great thing for me to draw. I can be a bit lazy sometimes so it's good for me to practice drawing with things that have a lot of similar shapes. It can be hard and boring to draw the same thing all over again and I can sometimes cheat with the details. This time I tried to concentrate on all the shapes, lines and shades I saw. After drawing the plant I had no energy to use for the background so I just made this quick version. I used colored charcoal pencil for this one and had to draw some parts again because of the smudging. During the process I also got a nice color on my hand to go with the sketch.

The World's Tallest Mammal

Many Giraffes (acrylic paint, pencil, black fine liner)

A Lonely Giraffe (acrylic paint, pencil, black fine liner)

Here's one of the backgrounds I made earlier. The tin foil that looks like the African continent made me think about giraffes. I think that the yellow color had also something to do with my topic choice. So I looked up few photos of these amazing animals and started to draw. At first I planned to draw one page but then I ended up doing the whole spread. Got a bit tired though and drew only one and a half giraffes to the second page.

Cauliflower Power

A Cauliflower (pencil)

Have you ever closely looked a cauliflower?  I like the way they look and all the different textures they have. I drew this picture at home and it was already getting dark so it was hard to see different shades. There were some problems with the leafs but I was so tired that I didn't have the energy to examine all the little details. It's funny that I decided to use different crosshatching technique on the shadow. I don't know why I did that and now it disturbs me a bit. Overall, I'm still happy about this sketch

Sometimes It's Hard

What's Wrong with People These Days? (black fine liner, watercolor)

This is one of the works I'd rather forget. Everything went wrong with this one. Why are all the people so depressed!? Even the few ones that are laughing look a bit ill! I actually felt a bit ill myself when I showed this to my students. Well, it makes me laugh now so I guess it's maybe a good thing!

My idea was to try out different drawing techniques, because I'm still trying to find my own style. It was difficult to suddenly draw without a model and you can really see my struggle with this one. I want to say that this exercise got easier when I drew my first few faces, but no, it felt bad till the end! I just got used to the agonizing feeling I had every time I had to start a new face. The yellow color was meant to make this work happier, but it didn't work so well. Finally I added some purple to make it look more interesting.

Personal Pear Shoppers

Pears (ballpoint pen, black fine liner, watercolor)

One day I had some photography lessons and my students were supposed to create ideas for their photo shoots. However some of them felt a bit hungry and tired. They also saw me working with my sketchbook and wanted to do something with watercolor. I think that it's very important to photography students to practice their drawing and especially their seeing skills, so I gave them 10 euros and sent them to a local store to buy some fruits for us to draw and paint. As a price for their brisk shopping I told that they could also buy some cookies to get their energy levels up and lift their spirit.

When they came back they had bought ONE pear and lots of cookies, so it was very easy to pick the subject. We started to draw a pear. My first pear was too thin, so I made the other one wider. There wasn't much to draw because the pear was so colorful it was almost impossible to see any shades on it. But there sure was a lot to color. The pear was very spotted and splattering the color with a brush worked well in this case. I think that the smaller pear has more interesting colors on it although I don't know why I had to add some black fine liner to it afterwards. I think that was a big mistake. The wider pear looks better without the black lining. Finally, I added some yellow and red watercolor to the background and let it run different ways. This work was fun to make, it made me want to paint more!

Sweet Tooth

Sweet Dreams (black fine liner, watercolor)

The idea was to make a grid to your sketchbook and then fill it with variations of the same topic. My topic was desserts. Bad choice. Especially when I started to color these nightmares I think I started to drool. In Felix Scheinberger's book Urban Watercolor Sketching Scheinberger writes that adding color makes drawings look alive. He says that drawing tries to explain things and painting creates illusions. I agree, color really made all the sweets look more delicious.

I told my students that they have to fill two pages with this exercise. They were allowed to change topic for the other page and so was I. So there's more to come.

San Francisco on My Mind

Foggy Day (acrylic paint, pencil, black fine liner)

Today I used two postcards as a model and mixed those together with an earlier made background. When I painted the background it reminded me of fog and I knew that I wanted to draw something related to that theme. The foggiest place I've ever been to is San Francisco, so I decided to draw the Golden Gate. The lady is from another postcard from New York. The idea of mixing different photos together inspires me, so I might do it again soon. Also, I will keep making these backgrounds, because they give me the greatest ideas for sketches.

A Girl with Yellow Tears

A Girl with Yellow tears (pencil, watercolor)

I saw this photo in a photography magazine and wanted to draw it because of the interesting light and posture. The girl doesn't look the same as in the picture but I try not to worry about it. After all the point wasn't to make a perfect copy of the photo but to draw something from a model and to practise seeing different shades. The background was made earlier with watercolor and acrylic paint and I think it works pretty well with this work. I especially like the yellow "tear" on her cheek and the red splatters behind her. Makes you wonder what's going on behind that calm face.

Wrinkles on a Young Woman

Wrinkles (watercolor, acrylic paint, pencil, red fine liner)

This time we used the same pictures as last time. The point was to wrinkle the pictures and then draw them from different angles. It was difficult and you really had to concentrate on the lights and shades to make the drawing look crumbled like it was supposed to. I had this idea for an exercise from Pinterest and originally it was taken from Christiane Feser's crumbled work ( http://christianefeser.de/works/modelle/ ). I think this exercise might have been too difficult, but still it was a good practice for studying the model.

This Girl is on Fire

Girl on Fire (acrylic paint, charcoal pencil)

Last week we drew portraits from pictures. I chose this picture of a woman because of the interesting angle it has. I had made this Background earlier with acrylic paint and watercolor so the page didn't seem so empty when I started to draw. This drawing was made with charcoal pencil so I had to use some fixative for preventing smudging. The charcoal pencil is really nice to draw with because it's more accurate and doesn't make ass much mess as traditional charcoal. I think that the end result looks like a woman who is standing in the flames and watching you. That's something I didn't plan at all. Aren't surprises great?

Preparing for the Future

I colored some pages of my sketchbook today. Just to be prepared for the future. I've noticed that it's more fun to start sketching when you have something to begin with. In these cases, colorful backgrounds. It's also fun to make these! I get to make splatters and all kinds of experiments with paints. Sometimes they work and sometimes don't. We'll see what will become of these.

Counting Sheep

Last Friday I was feeling creative and came up with an idea for an assignment. I cut out some pictures of interesting looking people from magazines and my students got to pick one. Then they had to glue this picture to their sketchbook and draw the dreams of the person. They were allowed to use other pictures and such as a model but that was optional. Because I thought that it would only be fair I let them choose a picture for me and they chose a picture of a SHEEP! A sheep.

Yes, well I got a bit excited with this one. But what better could you do on a Friday night?

Dream Big (pencil, watercolor)

A Lonely Lunch

Going Bananas (black fine liner, watercolor)

One day at lunch I had to eat alone and because there was no one to talk to I started to draw. This time I drew some fruits that I had with me. I'm really starting to like drawing with a black fine liner because it makes drawing feel so exciting. You can't fix your mistakes and if you manage to finish your work, you may feel a hint of pride. It's a terrifying but rewarding technique.

After lunch I decided to color my sketches with watercolor. We were just practicing coloring techniques with my students and I used my bananas as an example to show them. I had just bought a lovely book about watercolor sketching few weeks ago and wanted to use the coloring techniques described in it. The book is called Urban Watercolor Sketching and it's written by Felix Scheinberger. Scheinberger uses a coloring method called glazing where you let every layer of color dry before applying the next layer. So we started to color our drawings one layer at a time. I think that the results were great. Nobody even wanted to leave when I told them that they could go home! 

PS. I actually have a new better sketchbook now because the old one had so thin pages that it was incredibly hard to scan. So hopefully the quality of my pictures is going to be better from now on. The old sketchbook would have been fine for pencil sketching, but it's not enough for me this time. Using different drawing instruments, adding color and making colorful backgrounds is a part of the fun for me because it adds the element of surprise to my work.

A Horsedog in a Buss with Socks

Photographer's Socks (ballpoint pen)

A Horsedog (ballpoint pen)

I was sitting on a bus and had planned to draw something. We were on our way to Helsinki with our photography students and planning to visit The Finnish Museum of Photography’s #snapshot exhibition. Luckily there was a guy on the bus sitting on the next seat and he decided to lift his legs up so I had something to draw. His socks and legs and especially all the folds on them looked interesting to me. I've noticed that now that I'm thinking about drawing much more than before I see everything as a potential model for a sketch. I'm staring people too long and bringing old, half-eaten vegetables home...

I had also given my students an assignment regarding the museum. They had to choose one of the works there and take inspiration from it. The idea was to draw something related to that picture or to draw the work as it was. For my inspiration I chose Theron Humphrey's photos of his dog and decided to draw one where his dog has a horse mask on. I wanted to see if I can draw it so that it looks right but I wanted to combine the picture of a dog with my own simple background. I made this sketch with a ballpoint pen and it was actually really enjoyable technique. Easier than fine liner, because you can create more shades by pushing the pen harder, but almost as rewarding. The fact that I was drawing in a bus made it even more interesting.

Figuring out

Dreaming

Jamming

Some Action

Twins

Today we were drawing human figures and studying human proportions. I accidentally asked my students to fill ten pages of their sketchbooks with sketches of different bodies, limbs, heads, ears, lips etc., anything related to human proportions. And the moment I said it I realized that I have to do it as well... Me and my big mouth! However, it was actually a good thing for me to do. I felt really rusty, but then after few pages it got easier.

I took my inspiration from Andrew Loomis - Figure Drawing For All It's Worth. There's actually a possibility for free download of this book at http://illustrationage.com/2013/04/02/free-andrew-loomis-art-instruction-downloads/ . When you use these human frames it's easy to get the figure's actions look right very fast. You quickly know what posture works and what doesn't. Now I quess I should just draw more.

A Colorful Request

One day some of my students asked me to show how to use oil pastels and I quickly drew them some sunflowers. I used to draw and paint lots of sunflowers many years ago (I even painted them on a kitchen wall at my parents' house. My parents are awesome, I know!). So it was a familiar subject for me. It was easy, because I knew that the end result was going to be ok. I didn't have to be nervous at all. Maybe that is why the drawing looks boring to me. Maybe the excitement and nervousness is something I need, so that I can be happy with the end result. No pain, no gain?

Sunflowers (oil pastels)

Inkteresting Person

Our next exercise was to draw a person from a picture. The catch was to draw it with ink. This way you had to work fast and without hesitation. My original sketchbook was very cheap and the paper in it was so thin that you could see the previous sketches through the page. I used this to my advantage and drew my sketch again to the next page. Only this time I drew the "dark side" of the person I chose. So here's the original sketch and the weird version of it.

"The Dark Side" (black fine liner)

The original sketch (ink and brush)

Colleague

In a meeting, again. I really like meetings nowadays. It means I get to draw people that have to sit still for about two hours. I drew this picture of my colleague with a pencil. She moved a bit and it had some effect on the proportions. When I showed this to my students they knew who it was so I was happy. After a while one of the students started to wonder why this woman has a telescope hand. What a great feedback! The other hand really looks a bit too long. This remark gave us a good change to discuss about errors that "even a teacher" can make. I try to show my students that it's ok to make mistakes as long as you just do something! Nobody got hurt even though I drew a telescopic hand!

A Colleague (pencil)

Meeting and Eating

My aim is to draw a lot. So I try to make sketches whenever I can. I drew this one at a meeting. And when teachers have a meeting, there will be a slight mess. This time I saw tea and coffee cups, half eaten apples, papers etc. I used a black fine liner to make this sketch. The proportions are not quite right but there is no chance to correct errors with this technique. Still, I'm happy I made this one. Drawing different subjects is already getting easier and more natural for me.

At a Meeting (black fine liner)

I See Peas

The next exercise was to draw something that you see in front of you. Well,  I saw peas. I drew these with a black fine liner. Unfortunately my sketchbook has a pretty poor quality, so you can see the older sketches trough the page. I think I'm going to start a new book soon. But this exercise was a good practice for line shading!

Peas on a see trough page (black fine liner)

Getting Started

An Orchid (ink, watercolor)

My hand (colored charcoal pencil, watercolor)

One of our exercises was to draw something that we see near us. First i drew an orchid and then my own hand. I had to use ink at least for the other one. The point was to draw without thinking about the end result. It was quite difficult not to judge your own work and actually I did. Still i managed to show my sketches to my students. I think that it's important to show them that it's ok to draw things that dont look perfect, and that's why I've shown them or at least someone all of my sketches in my sketchbook from that day on. With this exercise we also used watercolored backrounds that we had made earlier to avoid the fear of the white paper. I think it made drawing a bit easier.