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.