What drawing plans do you have? I've just finished something I was working on and don't really have anything lined up. I might try a landscape in graphite but I'm not quite sure. I'm not particularly fond of landscapes... more reason for doing one eh!

Do you have any ideas for me... what's on your agenda?

Well you could go out in search of new drawing inspiration. Take some photos, do some on the spot sketches.

You could start a new drawing or painting in a different medium, go larger, go smaller, a new technique - impressionism, colour etc.

Its sometimes good to sit back and reflect after a drawing is complete and let your mind relax a bit before starting in again - for me at least.

This weekend I will be starting an oil painting on a large scale. I'm tired of confining myself to small scale of notebooks, etc so have the need to put something down on a grander scale.

I am just going to be continuing through Brenda's lessons. I am working on Bitty currently. I hope to get through as many as I can this weekend.

Jon

Plan to follow along with Brenda's book, seeing as I've only done the very first lesson (Woolly woo). Hopefully I'll find time to do that as well

I'll do the same as Johnnyds, I go on with Brendas book.
I just started with the faces. The eyes I drwa are good, the ears are pretty goodgood - and every nose is horrible!

So I will draw noses, noses and noses.
Any good advices for .. hm .. what was it what I have to practice??? Ooooh yes - NOSES.......

My plan is to pick up a dining table tonight so I can stop using my drawing table as a dining table. Then maybe, JUST MAYBE, I can start on my portrait for the portrait class, now that the class has been OVER for a week.

I hate when life gets in the way of my plans.

Oh Jeanette it would be nice to go out and get some pictures but the weather is really lousy. I hate the drizzle and the grey and I hate it particularly in pictures! I think I will do what I'm never keen on doing - draw a landscape. Good luck with your painting... and please know that I'm green with envy! I would love to be able to paint.

Martina: I have only one bit of advice for you. Draw what you see not what you think you see. Draw upside down if that helps... and no, I don't mean stand on your head. I'm not kidding, when something really eludes you try drawing it upside down... that way you fool the logical side of your brain and draw only what you actually see.

Sounds like you people are all set with a plan - good luck!

Going to finish some sketches.

My plan for the weekend is to catch up on some drawing .. I have done little as of late .. busy busy busy....Like jeanette I would LOVE to go bigger like paint a picture
I also think its great that everyone is using brendas book .. I really should get one i have heard good things about it .

Rose,
I know that drawing upside down outflanks my brain. And it works well most time but not with noses.
I don't know why, maybe I have a nosobie (nose phobie).
But I'll try again.

drawing, drawing. drawing, and oh...have to clean the house too. I must not forget that while I'm drawing hahahh

I was planning on putting a rough sketch I did along time ago on canvas and then doing an acrylic painting this weekend, but forgot tomorrow is my son's 6th birthday...So I have to do the family birthday part for him then I made plans with an old girlfriend from high school earlier in the week and she is picking me and hubby up in a limo and we are going out on the town bar hopping with alot of other friends. Sooo I am taking a break from art this weekend and getting some action in..

My husband is at the TV the whole day, motorsport is starting. I have the internet to myself. I have to do my anima drawing so lots to do.

well sounds like everyone is having alot of fun. i think i am going to do a color portrait this weekend and maybe do some watercolor tutorials i found on the internet.
Jeanette i would love to see you painting you get it done. my husband and i went to the art museum yesterday(he took a day off work) and we seen such large scale paintings-portraits, they were beautiful. i just could not believe the detail in some art work from the 1600's. it was magnificent. really inspriational. and then he took me to the art store and i got some more color pencils to go with the ones i already have, and some paper and colorpencil blenders and they work fantastic. i couldnt believe the difference. oh before he took me to breakfast--and then last night we went to sandusky mall because they had the sandusky racecars there for a show. (thats where my son races). but we still have to letter our sprint car so we didnt get it in the show. but i had a great time getting out of the house just us two because we havent had that for a long time. i love my kids but sometimes i just want them to go away. hahaha. so now for the rest of the weekend i think i am going to just do a portrait and work on my watercolors.
Lori

Do tell us where Lori. I'm fascinated by water colours but really don't know the first thing about them. I'd love to learn something.

I got a book of Bet Borgeson (the only one in german, i found from her) this week. So I will start to practise with colored pencels.

Uta

I have that one too Sunset. Loads of theory in that book... it's a good read. Enjoy!

I've got a book of Bet borgeson too and it is good.
Which one do you have, Sunset?

But for me the best book (until now) for colored pencils is : "No Experience Required!: Colored And Watercolor Pencil" by Gary Greene.
But is only in English available, Sunset.

After reading Greenes tutorial for fruits I made this one and finished just today. [attachmentid=3070] Yes racedolls, I used a blender on this drawing. But for the next one too.

I think it's a big differenz to this one. [attachmentid=3071]

@ Traumsonne

I have "The Colored Pencel" (DuMont's Handbuch der Malerei mit Farbstiften).
I also looked for your book. When I see your results, it must be very good. I don't think, that it's too difficult for me, because it has step-by-step demonstrations. Perhabs I'll order it, when I finnished with my book.

Thanks for the name I will look for it also .. I just did a step by step online for portraits and I did not really care much for it .. the way they do portraits was backwords starting with the hair then onto the face .. I was smearing graphite everywhere lol

You've spent your time very well Martina. I have one book by Gary Greene but I don't think it's the same one you have. Mine deals with watercolour pencils only.

Remember when we were kids and we used to draw scenes with the high sun as a ball and all the rays coming out of it? Well that's what I did today! Not exactly one of my masterpieces! but this is perhaps the second landscape I have attempted so perhaps there is still hope for me. At least I think I got the values right.

Here's my snowscape and reference I worked from.

[attachmentid=3075][attachmentid=3076]

rose--you did a beautiful job--
Lori

Rose, if you go to About.com they have a search engine and type in Water Colors or Water Color Pencils and I'll bet they have some great tutorial and advice on how to start out. I get emails from there all of the time for different things to do with art or when they get new materials for it...hmmm let me see if I have the watercolor pencils link for there...brb... ...
http://painting.about.com/od/usingwatercol...color%20Pencils

Ok obviously I'm back..I hope this helps you out...

wow you all sound all busy well in england the day is over here so am off to bed now

2morrow im going to church for 3 hours and am teaching the nursey at church ages 18months till 3 years old last time i read 5 stories to one child shes taken a likeing to me i dont know why though



then am cooking for husband and hes going to watch hes football on the internet we normaly go to my husbands mum and dads every sunday after church but this sunday there are TO many meetings going on at church and that to much for me and my husband so we went to my husbands mums and dads place 2day instead

Sunset,
the book is written in easy to understand english, you won't have any problems with it.

Rose,
your picture is totally nice! I love snow pictures very much.
I have another book of Gary Greene, it is a photo refence book for artists and contains some 100 landscape fotos.
And one step-by-step demonstration with colored pencils (and 5 other demonstrations with other media), when I saw this, I HAD to order this book I told. It was hard to wait - the shipping from USA to Germany takes more than 2 weeks - this time I had to wait nearly 4 weeks. But it was worth.

Kim,
*loooooool* I a-l-w-a-y-s smear the graphit. Becuase of this I use a light ochre or raw sienna pencils for the sketch now. Or for green areas a very light green pencils or a light yellow. That works better for me.

Venus - thanks for the link.

Martina - wouldn't it be better for you to order from Amazon UK... you'd probably get the books sooner. I knew Gary Greene had a reference book. I never realised he included demonstrations in it however.... now that makes it more interesting and I just might consider it. Does he have any demonstrations on seascapes and water reflections?

Not much drawing for me, unfortunately. I have two finals on monday and tuesday. But I am having to pull prints on Sunday. I get to draw some for that. Just some painted frogs. But I plan to do a ton come wed!

Rose I very much love the snow .. I love the prints and the glare from the sun ...I love that you are not afraid to take on a image and do it and then post it for us to see ... its truely a pleasure to look at your drawings
Martina .. normaly i dont have the problem cause i start from the top of the face them down when filling in .

Rose,



1.) I am an idiot!! Rose, you are totally right, to order from amazon.uk must be faster, if they have the book. This is a REALLY good idea!!

2.) not inthe "Colored and watercolor pencils" book. But he has a whole photo reference book about "Boats & Nautical Scenes" (Look Insinde) and one about "reflections, textures and backgrounds" (Link). I bet there is such a demonstration, because Gary Greene only use colored pencils.

And in the "Landscapes" book is a step-by-step-demonstration of a stream with colored pencils - there is a little bit reflection in it.

Well, you still did a great job on yours. I don't really have preference of which I like doing, I guess its just more often I can draw an object than a landscape.

I am planning on doing a couple landscapes because I have an iamge of a bridge in my head.

I also have an urge to do an urban landscape. I am not sure what though. Maybe something involving great architecture.

Thank you Aviation.

Martina - I guess it becomes a question of balancing the pros and cons - in this case time of delivery as against cost. You might get your books sooner from Amazon UK but they will also cost considerably more. With the current rate of exchange you save a lot on the dollar... and I do mean more than a third of your total cost.

Hi all

Weekend Yes! And I'm off too. Wow.
Not much going on today, I will try to draw something.
Tomorrow thow is the big day.
My mom's birthday. She will be 80 years old.
I wanted to make her portrait for a present and didn't get to it.
I think I was scared to try.

We are doing a party at my sister's place tomorow and I ordered a big cake.
I expect about 35 or 40 person. She has 21 grand children and one great grand child, and that's beside the 10 kids she raised.

She's in decent healt and do a lot of knitting. So we all got her a big ball of knitting wool.
She will knit to her heart content. Mits, glove, socks and slippers, she knit them all.
She makes the most comfortable slippers that you've ever seen or worn for that matter.

It will be a nice occasion to take some snapshots of the kids for future drawing.

This is my plan for this weekend. See ya later.

Here is some of my weekend work, and its only Sunday!

Wowza Jon - you're doing awesome!!

If you will allow me - may I suggest something. In the starfish drawing... if you leave a tiny white spot just in side the little arches you will really get the full benefit of the bumpy texture. Have a look at the base of this gnome to see what I mean.

[attachmentid=3106]

Man! I can tell your heart is in it! You are really doing wonderful!

Nice drawings Jon ....Rose is a big help ...have a look at her gallery
Mecharver .. slippers knitted .. I use to love them my grandma knitted them and I loved them .. I no longer have any grandmas .. so please wish your mom a happy brithday ..I sent you a pm ...check it out

rose here are some lessons on watercolors
http://www.watercolorpainting.com/step-by-step-paintings.htm
and here
http://www.watercolorpainting.com/watercolor-tutorials.htm
they might be the same site but i thought these were really great especially for a beginner.
sorry it took so long--been so very busy .
Lori