Callie Sullivan's Faves

This, not very ferocious fellow, was my social distancing Easter weekend project that I finished yesterday. A colored pencil drawing on Strathmore 400 colored pencil pad with several different wax and oil colored pencils.

Our rooster was killed by a weasel while defending his hens a few years ago, so this fellow was referenced from various on-line photos. He's drawn with colored pencils on Strathmore 400 Smooth Bristol board paper.

I've been playing with gesture drawing of humans and animals. Here are some quick pencil sketches of horses in motiion. 2B and 6B pencils on Canson sketch pad paper.

This week, I've been doing pencil drawings of dogs---usually while listening to the news on my computer. Cardigan Corgi, Bloodhound, and Borzoi (Russian Wolfhound). Various graphite pencils on Canson Sketch pad paper. Random on-line photos as reference.

Poppies are among my favorite flowers---vibrant AND delicate. Great swaths of "bread poppies" garnish our garden. We harvest seeds for lemon-seed cake and poppy-seed rolls. (No, we don't harvest that other stuff.) They reseed generously and we have beautiful crops of red and purple flowers each year. I've been working on this colored pencil drawing for the past week. Enclosed are some images of the progress over that time.

After struggling with horse anatomy from photos, I finally decided to search for white horses, figuring that I would be able to see details more easily than on darker photos. It worked out well, the details were much more discernible.

This week an inquisitive kitty is my subject. It's done in 2B and 4B graphite pencil on Canson Sketch Pad paper. The reference was a ZETA stock photo.

Maia, one of two current German Shepherds was born here at our house ten years ago. She is a grand old lady with a big ears, a big ruff and a sweet personality. This drawing was done from a photo reference AND her sleeping at my feet. I used Pigma Micron Pens in black and brown with a little graphite smudging to add a bit of shadow.

Yesterday, I was drawing during the Metropolitan Opera's daily streaming. My husband, Mike came by and looked dumbfounded. "Samson and Delilah inspired THIS subject matter?" Walked off shaking his head. We have a good laugh!

Drawing Prompt Submission

There are many reference photos for iguanas on the internet. This drawing relies on three difference reference images. The drawing was done with a micron .005 pen and then coloring added with pencils. He was a lot of fun....I think there may be more iguanas or other lizards and reptiles in my future!

Drawing Prompt Submission

More ballpoint pen experiments. This was trying to "blend" colors, using ball point pens in a similar way to colored pencils. I found Layering evenly to be pretty difficult, esp with the pens blotching and very very limited burnishing. The interesting thing is that the paper doesn't seem to get "tired" the way it does with pencils. This is just cheap printer card stock.

More ballpoint pen experiments. This is with a Bic Round Stic (12 for $1.49 at Staples!) on just a bond paper. Making progress with this medium, methinks!

When I am angry and frustrated with the world (politics, wild fires, injustice, etc.) I seem to be drawn to drawing raptors. The first one is today's sketch, the other two are from former days. Blackwing pencil and woodless B4 pencil on Canson sketch paper.

I try to do a couple of birds a week (obviously don't post them all). This is based on an on-line photo reference drawn with a "soft" Palomino Blackwing pencil and a 4B Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth Progress woodless pencil. Hence the dark velvety black.

This is the first prompt for Inktober 2020 (FISH). I used a Pigma micron .005 pen to do the black and white drawing. The colored version is tinted with Photoshop. I might print this out and try some other color combinations for fun.

Drawn from a garden photograph. This took me much longer than expected. I kept stopping because I was getting discouraged. I still don't like the leaves, but there's not too much I can do about it at this point.

Drawing Prompt Submission

Drawing Prompt Submission

Dysodia is a friend's avatar name on another site. I drew this colored pencil drawing as a tribute to her. There are several "leaf moths," this one's common name is: Picture winged leaf moth.