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December Sketch a day
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Posted
Just got to go for it with portraits - they work or they don't, I find... you can work on a painted portrait until the cows come home (in opaque media) but there's a limit to how much drawing you can add without everything looking like an explosion in a waxworks. Interests me, this, on two levels - sketchbooks and portraiture; I've been looking though my old ones too (having a big clear-out of old files, sketches and more, some nearly 50 years old) and found a few pencil drawings that I'd abandoned - sketches of my grandfather, in particular, whom I never could get right. I went over some of them the other day, in ink - some of them were just as bad as ever they'd been because the proportions were wrong, but others began to take shape: I'd been too tentative, and the ink strengthened and tightened the drawings and almost made them work.
I know what people mean about spiral pads, too - I use them because the glue that holds other pads together is so weak (probably designedly so, enabling you to remove your finished drawings for framing: which few of mine deserve): so if you're going to get a no spiral bound sketchbook, get one that's stitched, and well stitched at that. Moleskine do these, don't they? Sylvia will know.
Posted
Here's a pencil drawing I did in my sketchbook. It was in response to all the emails I've had about this Black Friday thing. (You'll have had them too, I suspect.) Don't like this much, but it's in my sketchbook which might prompt me to have another go sometime. It's Faber water soluble pencil used wet then dry.
On the subject of sketchbooks, I like Stillman & Birn too, it was probably Alan that put me onto them. On the downside (for me) is that so far the largest I've found is 9 x 12 inches.
I prefer them larger now, because I struggle drawing small stuff.
Here's my full Stillman & Birn from this year. Spiral bound you'll see, so it's become one of my topsy-turvey sketchbooks. I work through drawing on the right hand page, when those are full, I turn the book upside down and go back the other way....
...the pic on the right is watercolour, coloured pencils, a little gouache and pen. These books are pretty rugged and there's little or no cockling (at least how I paint). I see they do a stitched version so I'll definitely be getting one of those. (270 gsm). These are quality books so I use them for more finished work.
On the subject of sketchbooks, I like Stillman & Birn too, it was probably Alan that put me onto them. On the downside (for me) is that so far the largest I've found is 9 x 12 inches.
I prefer them larger now, because I struggle drawing small stuff.
Here's my full Stillman & Birn from this year. Spiral bound you'll see, so it's become one of my topsy-turvey sketchbooks. I work through drawing on the right hand page, when those are full, I turn the book upside down and go back the other way....
...the pic on the right is watercolour, coloured pencils, a little gouache and pen. These books are pretty rugged and there's little or no cockling (at least how I paint). I see they do a stitched version so I'll definitely be getting one of those. (270 gsm). These are quality books so I use them for more finished work.
wonderful sketches here; here my daily coffee drink with pen&wash; the cadmium had a particularly good taste today...