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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This is a color pencil drawing by me based on a model named Veronika.I used Faber Castell Polychroms and Prismacolor pencils on Smooth Cartridge 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.
So I've been looking into other programs tailored to illustrators and I came across Krita. It's free, easy to use and I LOVE the intuitive pen pressure and natural smoothness
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
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
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.
Before I got into digital painting, I was putting together digital collages. I love digital collages, but most of them are a bit too literal/pop art for me. No diss on pop art; I create a lot in that style. But, I wanted to make a smoother, more blended collage for my profile pic.
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.
