7 Jan, 2022
30 Day Challenge to get out of old habits
My go-to media is always pen and ink, with watercolor or ink washes. But, in signing up for the online class Sktchy.com 30Faces30Days, I will be experimenting with a lot of different techniques as each video is presented by an artist demonstrating their take on pencil and/or pen. I think this will be a great way to start off the new year. Good to break up old habits, try new stuff, get a different perspective and breathe some life into a stale practice.
Day 1
Today's challenge was closest to my normal mode of sketching. Pen with light watercolor washes. The hands were challenging, of course, but the more I can focus on just the shapes, the better they turn out.
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| Mixed media paper helped avoid too many hard edges |
Day 2
I forget that you can use graphite almost as a brush. Laying down a mid-tone over the whole page and then molding the face by laying in darks using the side of a soft pencil, and lifting out the lights with a kneaded eraser feels almost like sculpture. I really enjoy this process (except that it's pretty messy). I need to remember to use this technique more often - it's so fun!! I tend to draw and then fill in the spaces instead of using my tools to make different marks and approach my subjects in a more painterly way (I even tend to use brushes like pens - outlining and then filling in). I think using today's technique with charcoal or graphite could help me break out of this habit.
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| I didn't have graphite dust to lay down the basic mid-tone - so I used charcoal. |
Day 3
Cross-hatching - my least favorite sketching technique!! But, I did learn a lot; it helps to use a variety of pen nibs, from super-fine (like 005) to larger, bolder nibs. Doing this allows for a lot more nuance to the shading. But, still, it's very time consuming. Usually, I hate doing hair, but I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out. Also, no pencil blocking in first! So, going to pen immediately is a bit like being on a trapeze with no net!
Day 4
Graphite and white charcoal pencil on toned 9x12 paper. This was fun to do but I'm aware that I could have pushed the value ranges a lot more - still looks unfinished to me. But, since I'm limiting myself to about an hour, it's not a bad start.
Day 5
Another pen and ink with cross-hatching. I reconciled myself to doing the cross-hatching by reducing the scale - this one is about 6x8. I ran out of my fine pointed black micron pens, so I substituted some colored ink microns that I had laying around. I'm trying to use up art supplies before buying new ones - I'm running out of room in my studio!! Also, unused supplies tend to dry out and, given how expensive supplies are, that drives me nuts.
So, what are my take-aways so far?
Day 1 was the most comfortable as this is how I normally sketch. Day 2 was the furthest away from my normal practice and turned out to be the most fun. I love how pulling and pushing the values feels almost like sculpture. So, while messy, it's very fun to do.
What I notice looking over the 5 sketches is that I didn't really do a full value range in any of them. The values could be pushed much further. Upon reflection, it isn't just impatience (although that's part of it); I think I'm afraid of wrecking a decent sketch by doing too much. And, of course, with pen and watercolor, you can't take it back! I'm thinking that I should do some practice with charcoal or pencils with the goal to get a full range of values into the sketch.
We'll see what the next 5 bring!
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| 2 minute semi-blind self-portrait contour sketch |
Wow!! I always admire people who have talent and can create art like this.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lot of fun - and really, it's more practice than talent!
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