Eyes are the windows of the soul

 Now practising drawing eyes.  Using either graphite or pen.  I know, keep practising!  I’m quite pleased with my progress so far, but I’m a very impatient person and need to see results quickly.  I must learn to slow down and draw mindfully.

I invested in the Bargue book to help me with my practice.  So far so good.  I intend to practice daily this week and then maybe move on to other features.

When I draw or paint a portrait I adore adding the eyes, they really bring the drawing to life!

I always feel that to get a good likeness you really have to get the eyes right especially.

Any thoughts or advice is gratefully received.

Best wishes

Shari 💕

Drawing Course

 I have started a new online course which I’m hoping will kickstart my creative mojo again!

For too long I have neglected my drawing and I felt it was time to rectify this.  I have only just begun the course, but here is an example of what I’m doing.  It’s very intense, so I have t have lots of breaks, but I’m really enjoying it so far.

Still a long way to go as you can see, but slow and steady wins the race!  I’m just glad to be back drawing.

If you get stuck creatively what do you do to get out of the slump and regain your mojo?  I would love to know.

For me, starting a new course really helps and I’m hoping it will this time too.

Best wishes

Shari 💕

And Another One!

 

Marker pens in moleskine sketchbook

Working with marker pens has been interesting but I’m still not achieving the result I was hoping for.  I may try going back to watercolour - pen & wash.  The strength of the marker pens can be overwhelming and I’m not too keen on the bleed through either.  Although it has been fun sometimes to use the bleed through to create another picture.

I do enjoy using the fine liner for the sketch and I’m warming to the subject matter, but the colouring is not quite there.

Good to be back!

 

Marker pens

Hello everyone, sorry I’ve been away too long.  For personal reasons I was unable to indulge in my painting for quite some time.  But now I’m back and experimenting with quick sketches.

I decided that I would face my fears as in try sketching buildings.  I like quirky and the wonkier the better.  Some have been quite successful and some not so, but it’s all been a learning curve.

I know what I want to achieve, but I’m not quite there yet.

Here are a few… the good, the bad and the ugly.  You choose which is which! lol 😂 

Pen and wash

Pen and ink

Ink

Marker pens

All completed in less than 60 minutes.  There are some bits I like, some I really dislike, but above all I have really enjoyed getting the sketchbook out again!

Teddies, teddies everywhere!

Just introducing a few of my teddies.  I love sketching them and often write their little stories too.  The grandkids love this.

First is Beryl, she loves to shop and was quite put out when the pandemic hit and our world was turned upside down.  She armed herself with a face mask and hand sanitiser and headed for the shops, even when the only shops open were the supermarkets! 

Boris is not actually a Teddy, but is in fact a bulldog.  However he gets along tremendously with all the teddies and just loves to compete with Trevor all the time.

Trevor, the Traveller.  Trevor adores travelling and has made his was to various parts of the United Kingdom, Paris and Italy.  His trip of a lifetime was to be to Peru and the Amazon.  However this was curtailed at the eleventh hour when Covid struck and Peru closed it’s borders.  This happened on the evening before Trevor was due to fly out.  He was, as you can imagine, devastated.  Boris didn’t help by sniggering about it at every opportunity, calling it Trevor’s trip that never was!

Garth, always on hand for a cuddle or a kind word.

Jacques Bernard comes from Paris and is quite homesick.  However he has now met a delightful young Teddy named Isabella, who is in fact a fellow Parisienne (or so he believes!).

And this is The Quirky Bird who needs no further introduction! 

 

Too long

Yes it’s been far too long since I posted on this blog.  Life kind of got in the way but I never stopped sketching and painting, albeit not as often as I would have liked.  However, I am hoping that this will all change in the New Year 2020.  I have cut down on the day job (reducing to just one day a week). So I shall have much more time to devote to my artwork.  To push things off I have given you a few of my daily sketches here.

Rain

Waiting in the rain

Oils on deep canvas

Made a start on this, lots to rectify.