Illustration Friday - Entangled

When I saw the prompt entangled, I immediately thought of a thicket of bushes in my backyard. The tangles have long fascinated me, and I have been wanting to draw them for some time now. This prompt was a good excuse. I drew from life for about an hour and then switched to imagination. I developed the drawing in pencil and at the end added some colored pencil, colored pen, and pastel pencil. I left part of the drawing undone, because I think it looks more interesting that way.

Box Figure

I am practicing reducing figures to basic shapes such as boxes. This drawing is based on a photograph in Yoga Magazine. It is a woman doing a yoga pose.

Illustration Friday - Music

The children eagerly follow the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

I am working on my silhouettes. I think the key to a good silhouette is (1) gesture and (2) details such as hair, ribbons, profile, and clothing. Arthur Rackham was a master at silhouette.

I drew the figures from imagination. I have been practicing figures and am finding practice pays off for imaginative work. The figures are drawn in Chartpack AD Marker on printer paper. The marker bled a little; next time I need to remember to use paper specifically made for markers.

Pumps

I first drew these pumps using water soluble graphite pencils, but I didn't like the results. So I went over them with charcoal. I don't think these two mediums were meant to go together, but I like the results.

Illustration Friday - Unbalanced

On Wednesday evening of last week, Mrs. Thea Gilberston from the town of Franklin was ajudged insane by Judge J.D. Perry and was taken to Mendota State Asylum on the Thursday afternoon train by Sherriff Buckley (Badger State Banner, April 13, 1893).

The above quote is from the wonderfully strange Wisconsin Death Trip by Michael Lesy, which chronicles crime and insanity in the 1890's in Wisconsin. I drew this portrait from imagination in pastel and charcoal on a watercolor-toned board and then adjusted in Photoshop Elements.

After Durer

I love Durer's pen and ink work.

Figure Drawing Practice

This drawing is based on a painting by Emmanuel Benner. I am practicing constructing the figure.

Illustration Friday - Blur

As Albert aged, he found the years passed by in a blur.

I drew this from life using pencil, scanned it in, cropped it, and added color in Photoshop Elements.

In the Blue Grotto

Figure drawing practice. This is after In the Blue Grotto by Jean Benner, which I found on this site by Mary Van Deusen.

My dog Shelty.

Hand and Foot

The foot is mine; I was looking down at it. It looks like a hobbit's foot, doesn't it?

Skull and Watch

I drew the skull and watch from life in pencil, and then I adjusted the color in Photoshop Elements.