My first venture into artist grade colouring pencils - and I'm smitten! I never thought I could achieve such boldness and blendability with them! I'm still getting used to them and will think about choosing smoother paper with less tooth next time. The texture and weight was more for the water-based gouache along with alcohol inks (which are very unforgiving to even primed heavy paper!). Apologies for the unevenness of lighting between the 2 sides of paper; will correct that when I'm making proper image files.
I asked my husband (who is our Covid-period grocery shopper as I am high risk) to bring home a fruit to draw. He came home with a dragon fruit. For those who don't know this interesting edible, it's from a cactus. There are two species: the Asian species is white inside, the Central American variety is shocking pink (see photo). Great in smoothies or when nicely ripe (as this one was) it's tasty eaten out of the skin with a spoon.
Architectural subjects are not my penchant....but this is a pen line drawing of our house which I did a few weeks ago near the beginning of the "stay at home" phase of our lives. Seemed a fitting subject. Just a couple of micron pens on a smooth surfaced paper.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCtS009hqco/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link A beautiful moth came for a visit. Silky smooth (I petted her of course) and magnificent.
Here is a pencil drawing of actress Charlize Theron. I used Cold Greys and black from the Faber Castell Polychroms range of color pencils on Strathmore Bristol Smooth (series 300) paper. Many thanks for looking
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.
A fun drawing to do. I usually do a lot of crosshatching, but for this one I went for the smoothness, better to capture the light, I suppose, where crosshatching can be a little distracting. Or look like hair! As some have said.
The Woman Puppet from Rome. A clay or plaster of paris puppet head that was glossy and smooth. This painting of the woman pupped is regal and dignified. It shows little animation or dramatic expression. It is unlike most of the others, say for its counterpart
The tables were covered in white paper. Crayons, pastels, and smooth sticks waited quietly. Then came Lucy’s glittery purse—her 8-year-old hands had filled it with stones to pass along, one by one, to the strangers around the table.
We traced them. Pushed them. Held them.
Then we let the colors lead:
-Red for emotion.
-Yellow for curiosity.
-Blue for memory.
Each color came with music, with story, with space.
At the Museum of Wisconsin Art, we made marks not for meaning but for presence.
Thank you to Ann Marie and MOWA for the invitation and trust. And thank you to the participants—some new friends, some old students—for showing up and making lines that listened before they spoke.
I had a rock tumbler as a child and really enjoyed it. When my youngest was a child we bought her one. She was eager to enjoy it too, but somewhere after starting on that path, we lost track and it everything inside turned into a solid mass. We tossed it and forgot about it. On a recent beach trip, I collected handfuls of rocks, as I am always likely to do, and, upon return, remembered how I loved my childhood rock tumbler. I immediately researched, ordered and eagerly anticipated its delivery. Of course, with Amazon Prime, that was only a couple day’s wait. As soon as I unboxed it I thought “what am I doing?” I have neither time, nor space for yet another hobby. I thought “what will I DO with a pile of polished, pretty rocks?” I would gather them in my hands and feel their silky smoothness. I would likely gather them in some beautiful glass bowl and…then what? I have toddler grand kids frequently at my home. They put small colorful things in their mouths and up their noses and feed them to the dogs regularly. And I don’t even have a single space to display a bog bowl of pretty rocks. So I quickly decided “I’m Returning the Rock Tumbler” and will, for NOW, stick to painting them when the mood strikes.
A captivating exploration of form, this work features an imaginative flower with a distinctive, almost sculptural head. The smooth, folded petals suggest a soft resilience, like a fleshy, protective helmet, while delicate antennae reach tentatively toward the light. The long, winding stem and minimal leaves anchor the drawing, creating a strong vertical movement. Rendered in a mix of colored pencil and graphite, the piece uses subtle shading to give the subject a remarkable three-dimensional quality, making it pop against the neutral background.
Inspired by the Neo-Classical period, I pushed myself as an artist to portray subjects in an idealistic fashion combining drama and artificial lighting. The subject is my sister who modelled as a reference, enabling me to control the shadowy effect over her face. The dim lighting and dark background resonated with the period style, focusing on the facial parts that are visible. The end result looks like she is emerging from the darkness. A somber atmosphere is illustrated through visual expression.
Adding the fast drying oil on the brushes improved the blending of the colours on the canvas which was especially useful when it came to applying strokes on the face smoothly. Visit https://www.martiaposts.com for more
Hi, completed in pencil. Softest 4B. Layered technique. Without any use of blending tools. Just the silky smooth pencil in hand bringing out the texture of the 300lb Bristol Vellum.
As usual I struggled to get a true likeness, but that notwithstanding, I was still pleased with the result.
HB, 5B and 9B graphite pencils on smooth cartridge drawing paper, size A3.
The plight of the maker is tears from a dropped stitch, the unrelenting mental gauntlet that is bobbin knots, the pain of fingertips burned smooth from the lava-like ooze that hold our creations together. Makers! Know this. You are not alone.
