In a recent post, I mentioned that I’ve picked up some sketching pencils along with a drawing pad after my work shift so I could pick up drawing again after several months of being out of college. Since then I’ve been practicing drawing techniques and looking for subjects to sketch into my pad.
So far, I’m doing better but there are some things I need to improve on. But I never said that I was the best fine artist out there. Plus, you can only get better if you practice your skills in whatever art medium you choose.
Whenever I find something out in public or online that’s interesting, I’ll make a screenshot of it or take a quick photo of it with my phone. I can then use either as a reference for when I start my drawing.
I recently found two subjects that I decided to test my drawing skills with. Both drawings took me at least two weeks to finish and usually when I start a drawing or sketch, I develop a very intense concentration that’s hard to break.
My (semi) finished drawings are shown below next to the subjects I chose to draw.
For shading, I used my finger to blend in the pencil marks and add more marks to fill in any gaps in the shades or shadows. Getting the shape of the subject is something that’s easy for me to do, but there are other shading techniques I can try out instead of finger blending.
Figure drawing is a challenge for me since I haven’t taken a class on the subject. This can be seen in the second drawing; the nose isn’t detailed and there’s little shading. Perhaps I can carve out some time to practice sketching parts of the human face or body?
I’m working on another sketch on any free time I carve out for myself, whether it’s the hour before heading into work or the hour after. I got the shape of the leaves and stem down, but I don’t know if I’m going to add a background behind the subjects.
le fleur artsy 