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

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