Kingfisher in Crayons

My latest joy.

I loved the colors on the kingfisher. I was also wanting to try something with crayons and sandpaper again, so I thought I'd give the kingfisher a crack. I got excited, too, when I saw how bright the crayons were on the sandpaper.

I had a lot of fun working on this one. I felt very comfortable with the crayons. I didn't feel too constrained with getting the lines and shapes right. I actually enjoyed just playing with the colors. I wasn't so keen on studying the color wheel, so this was a good, fun alternative.

I will have to look at the colorwheel and study it, eventually, but it just wouldn't be me if I don't spend a lot of time screwin' around first. Hah!

In hindsight, probably should have used more black on the wing.

Completed: 8 August 2013
Time spent: Approx. 8 hours
Materials: Crayola and one-dollar crayons
Paper: Sandpaper, 8.5in x 8.5in

Brown Hawk

I used a workable fixative on a colored drawing for the first time with this one. It was interesting to see how it darkens the colors, and I was actually surprised to discover that the dark brown colors almost got lost in the black background. The feathers on the back of the hawk's head was quite bright before I applied the fixative. They became dull and flat with the fixative. However, I was able to make corrections as well, which was a lifesaver.

I'm quite unmethodical when applying colors. By that I mean, I don't think about how colors blend or how they affect each other when they're side by side. I just try to match, as much as possible, the colors I see on my reference image with the color pencils I have available to me.

At this stage, I just draw what I see. That is to say, there is no method in my madness, just intuition and desire to complete a drawing.

Completed: 26 July 2013
Time Spent: 8 hours
Materials: Blick Studio color pencils, regular eraser, Krylon workable fixative
Paper: Strathmore 400 black drawing paper, 9x12

NatGeo Turtle

I started this drawing in October 2012. This one took almost nine months from start to completion. It proved to be a huge challenge for me. I'd be lying if I said I had a lot of fun working on it, because I often felt overwhelmed and frustrated. I really didn't know what I was doing. I could draw shapes. Shading, I could figure out, although I did struggle with it a lot. It was figuring out how to draw the different textures that really kicked my ass, so much so that I had to walk away from the drawing so many times—sometimes for weeks at a time.

Of course, all the frustration and fear (yes, fear) was all worth it when I finally completed the drawing. I'm quite happy about how the turtle turned out. It's perfect in my eyes. :) I did my best with the seaweeds and the seafloor, and I know they could be done a lot better, but that's the whole point, isn't it? Take a challenge, not to achieve perfection, but to see how far you can go and where you need to improve on.

Nota bene:
Although shading is also still a weakness, I was able to cope with it relatively well. I knew I still had a long way to go in terms of seeing the interplay of light and shadow and rendering that on paper, so trying to get that right on this drawing was an enjoyable learning process for me.

Completed: 7 July 2013
Time Spent: Not sure. Lots of hours.
Materials: Different pencil grades, tortillons, regular eraser, kneaded eraser, workable fixative
Paper: Strathmore 300 Series Drawing Paper, 18in x 24in

CP: Bird, Flowers, Leaves

CP for Coloring Pages.

I got the idea of coloring an existing drawing, because I was still excited about using my color pencils—too excited to draw first, then color. I just wanted to color. I used photos as reference for the colors I used here. I'm not sure I still have them in my computer, but I'll look out for them.

Completed: 30 November 2012
Time Spent: 2 hours
Materials: Artist's Loft and Crayola color pencils
Paper: Multipurpose bond paper, 8.5in x 11in

Butterfly Doodle

Completed: 20 November 2012
Time Spent: 3 hours
Materials: Artist's Loft and Crayola color pencils
Paper: Strathmore recycled sketch paper, 9in x 12in

Marker Sheepie

The idea of drawing a sheep came to mind when a religious holiday, celebrated by some friends, came up. I wanted to draw with markers as well since I've already played around with color pencils. I used watercolor paper, thinking the ink will just bleed through the other types of paper I had around. I didn't have paper for marker drawings then. The texture of the watercolor paper was a bit unpleasant to work on with markers with thin tips. I don't know why I didn't think about using the smoother side of the paper, but there you go.

Problems with pressure sensitivity is quite evident here, and as of the time of this writing, it still is! (Note to self: practice, practice, practice.)

I found out quickly that correcting errors was not an easy task. (Is it possible to do it cleanly?) Inattention caused me to shade the top of the right ear. Ooops. I didn't know how else to correct it, so I used a correcting fluid. It did the job although not very well.

It's not all bad. The colors are bright and fun, and at least, the sheepie looks like a sheepie. Okay, sheep.

 Completed: 27 October 2012 4:02P
Time Spent: 1 hour
Materials: Artist's Loft Markers, White-Out correction fluid
Paper: Strathmore 300 Series Watercolor paper, 11in x 15in

Curious Cat

This is one of my favorite drawings. It's the only drawing that I've done with genuine excitement and focus. I drew the cat as I saw it on paper, and I'm really happy how it turned out. 

Dare I say, I think it looks more adorable than the original!

I'm not really sure how long I worked on this drawing, but I think three hours is an accurate guess. An experienced artist would've completed this drawing in five minutes, but this is just my second drawing with color pencils.

Completed: 21 October 2012
Time Spent: 3 hours
Materials: Artist's Loft and Crayola color pencils
Paper: Strathmore 400 black drawing paper, 9x12

Lion Fish

I apologize for all the pencil smudges on the page. I debated for a momemt if I should remove them digitally and decided it's better to leave it as it is. This is a record of my progress after all.

I loved the drawing when I first saw it on Facebook, and I was excited to try drawing it. The experience was both fun and frustrating at the same time. Using grids to help me draw the outline, I was excited to see the fish take form without a lot of mistakes. However, the shading process was a different story. I struggled with it quite a bit. I think I erased the stripes in different spots a few times. I realized too late that the stripes weren't random. It was a good lesson about paying attention to details.

Needless to say, I was quite happy to learn my lesson and felt proud that I did it!

Completed: 17 June 2012
Time Spent: 15+ hours
Paper: Strathmore recycled sketch paper, 9in x 12in
Materials: Different pencil grades, regular eraser