Welcome to the second Drawing Challenge of Drawspace!

All levels of drawing are encouraged to participate!

The goal of this thread is to enable and encourage individuals to practice their drawing skills, learn new techniques and above all have FUN! If you just want to sketch that’s fine. If you want to create a complex, detailed drawing, that’s great too. You will get out of this what you want. The references used are from my own personal reference libray of images that I have photographed and I release them here as not under copyright, meaning you can use them as you wish for drawing. The images will be posted in the Drawing Challenges Gallery for free use after they are posted in this thread.

You will be challenged by some aspect of all references most likely as you all will have different strengths and weaknesses in your ability to translate the images to paper.

Reminder:

This is a DRAWING challenge. Therefore please confine your artistic endeavours to some form of drawing: graphite, coloured pencil, pen and ink or charcoal. If you find that you must do your drawing in paint or pastel, you may post your underdrawing to this forum as credit, and direct the audience to view your painted work posted in your personal gallery.

There is no ruling on what size your final drawing or sketch should be. Keep in mind that some members connect using dial up, so try to keep file sizes to the smallest possible without degrading the artwork.

If you would like assistance or advice, please ask for it and I or another member will be more than willing to try to guide you.

This challenge will last for two weeks. At that time, all challenge drawings should be submitted to this thread.

And now, since everybody has been very good, I'll provide you with a little tidbit since everybody is so anxious. Well you can thank J-Lynn for these couple pics direct out of my backyard on a nice sunny day last week. I hope you find them challenging enough. I'll put the other pics out on the start time. Meanwhile, happy drawing!

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Okay, okay! Enough of me. Here is what you have all been waiting for:

First one is for the Ladies; something soft and delicate. Taken on my visit to Butterfly World in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
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The second (Ahem...much deeper voice) is for the Men; some cold hard steel. Taken at the farm of my wife's parents in Northern Germany.
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And, the third one can't be resisted by anyone. A true "Babe in Bunting" taken on a skiing trip in the Austrian Alps. Did someone say snow is hard to draw? Try bunting!
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Again, as before I have provided you all three forms of the photos for you to reference from depending on your style.

Looking forward to seeing what you can make out of these refs. So have fun!
Eric

Admin? What have you done?
I can't believe this! My public was waiting!

Oh, my everybody! I must apologize for the censorship on the pics I provided you. Seems as though I am being watched closely around here. I know the Speedos were a "little" tight, but they were the ones I wore during my High School swim meets back in the days of Mark Spitz. Can't you all understand that you need to allow a guy some room to bring out his Retro?

Now you've probably opened up a whole new door for members to go and start drawing in anything they want for my lower half. God forbid I'll probably end up with frog, horse, or goat legs. Or even turn me into a Merman or something half human like that.

Thanks a lot Admin! I'll bet you've already forwarded my actual photo on to all those questionable websites out there. I would hate to find my pictures plastered all over the front pages of Yahoo, or MSN in the morning. Geez, they'd probably make a lot of people spill coffee all over themselves when the pic loads up. Anyway, you can't cut a guy for trying.

I'll put out the right stuff at midnight. Sleep tight, or better yet, keep an eye open for the rest of the photos, who knows what I might try and *slip* in.

Eric

Thankyou admin, you work wonders.

Great images Eric. Thank you for posting them as well as the grey scale images. You know my thoughts on the line images...

There are enough challenges here for everyone by the looks of it. I have one started and will probably post it tomorrow.

Lots of ellipse practice for those who take on the wheels...

i'm loving the baby with sport sunglasses. Ive cropped it down so i can concentrate on the details of the face.

great photos

Yep, that grabbed my attention too. I'll see what I come up with tomrrow.

Oooops I uploaded the wrong pick of Eric......or did I......

Awesome Job, Brian!!! Couldn't have gotten it better if you tried...I'm impressed.

Eric, great pictures! I could careless about the metal thing but the butterfly and baby I am defanitly doing!!! Since I have no ink in my printer I guess I am gonna have to go to the drug store and make copies so that I can draw from the pictures. I really, really, really love the butterfly one. Favorite bug and love flowers!! You did awesome. The baby was just to cute for words! Yours? Anyways will start tomorrow if all goes well.

Islander just to let you know I did finally break down and take my daughter to the hospital today and it was just as I thought, still a stomache virus. So I had to watch my baby get poked and probed. they did put her on an IV for about a half hour so she wouldn't get dehydrated. Lets hope she get better sometime soon.

Well I hope everyone that participates enjoys themselves and have fun!!! I know I will...toodles.

Eric, Eric, Eric - it wasn't Admin who censored your photos - it was your wife! She didn't want you to embarrass yourself in public! Just thank the Lord that you've got a good woman like that!

I absolutely hate snow & cold but that baby is precious. Of course, I can just feel my fingers stiffening up even thinking about snow like that! Maybe I can wear gloves to keep my hands warm plus keep the paper all nice and clean - sort of double duty!

And flowers are my favorite subjects and that flower photo is a beauty.

But, this is supposed to be a challenge, right? I think the disc would be a definite challenge if only to hold my interest long enough to complete! But look at all of those delicious angles & all that perspective! Venus! In spite of what you said, this one is calling your name!

Well, I'm going to be like Scarlett O'Hara & think about it tomorrow! lol Actually, the coming week is going to be a busy one for me so don't know when I'll find time to decide and draw! This is a great variety of subject matter though & the choice will be hard!

Thanks for volunteering to host, Eric, ya really "done good" with the photo choices!

J

artastic photos Eric and love the baby with the glasses which i shall be starting on asap
by the way 'artastic' is my new word

oh and 'no comment' on the cropped photos of you .. well i would but its unprintable

I love the baby too. so i think i will do that one. all the white i think will be a challenge for me.
Lori

great pics eric cannot decide at the moment what to draw the baby one is exellent. oh and by the way thank god for admin

Funny how we all have our preferences for images and drawings isn't it? I prefer drawing animals and people and the thought of a flower or butterfly is just blah to me.

I started this drawing last night in my Moleskine with mechanical pencil, 2B lead. I may have a go at the farm implement (what exactly IS it??) later this week.

I need to tweak the settings of the scanner to get this right. Its looking a little grainy. Perhaps I'll try with the digital camera later.

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Gosh, you all are too kind. I tried to find things that would interest you, however I didn't expect you would all be gushing so much over them! Well, then again, in all honesty I did. I had a whole two weeks to decide what to put there. You aren't a hard bunch to please, and it looks like everybody is finding everything in order to help them with their personal challenges.

My most challenging topic is people so I am going to take on that Baby photo first. He looks so warm and cuddly tucked away in that bundle. Well, it was a rather chilly day, and its a good thing his parents were looking out for him like they were.

I knew you would like the butterfly/flower combo as well. It is a great piece to try out the colored pencils on. Plus all the delicate textures involved make it a real challenge in itself.

Then that big steel whichamajiggy, or thingamabob, or whatchamacallit, that...that...THING! As J-Lynn already pointed out, I put it there for Venus. Talk about getting those circles and bars done right. All those techie drawers out there are going to have fun with this one. It just screams "perspective drawing".

And about the Speedo thing, I guess we'll have to find some other way to get that one slipped (sic) in here. I hope you liked the entertainment though! And, yes BrianDavid you did well putting those six-pack abs in there, but I must admit the six-pack I'm packin' is a little droopy at this age! Anyway, thanks for the memories.

Have fun!
Eric

Thanks Venus, I could not resist throwing that one in and I do love cartooning. By the way I really have been admiring your work and I hope your daughter gets well real soon.


Islander I see you practice what you teach, I think your pic is outstanding but then again I admire all your work.

Very nice job IslanderNL! You do such wonderful work with your single pencil making all the tones in one drawing. The chick I drew in the last challenge was also done with just one .05mm B mechanical pencil. I couldn't completely control the toning the way you do though. I'll just have to keep working at it. I may try doing the Baby this time using just cross hatching and see what happens.

Eric

Ilander--awesome work. i hope mine is half is good and i will be happy.
Lori

jeanette I think your baby drawing is fabulous. venus I hope your little one gets well soon. anyway this is my drawing of the farm machine it was a lot harder than it looks
was drawn with 2h mech pencil H 4B & 6B normal pencils on crimson & blake sketch paper

Wonderful sketch DavidB. I can see that you are definitely improving your skills with each drawing you submit. Thanks for sharing that this drawing was no "piece of cake". I wanted to keep something with simple shapes, but also add some complexity to the work involved in producing it. You have proved to me that I made a proper choice. Your first wheel seems to have a small cut to it and doesn't seem completely circular. It looks as though you tried to compensate for the gap left between the first two discs. I must also say that you've done a great job of depicting the wear and tear as well on this piece.

Eric

Thanks Brian. Of all the mediums that I use, I keep going back to pencil as my medium of choice.

Thank you Eric. I enjoy challenging myself to use just one pencil to complete a drawing. It comes down to pressure and layers to get the range of tones and it comes with years of practice.

Racedolls, thank you. I know your drawing will be wonderful. I look forward to seeing it.

Thanks DavidB. You've done a fabulous job on that - whatever it is - . I agree with Eric that you might like to revisit the first ellipse and check it to make sure it is correct. You can do this by creating a square, dissect it into quarters by drawing two lines diagonallywithin the square, then complete the ellipse within that square. Does that make sense?

I guess im more of a painter by choice, but the fundamentals are the same with drawing and painting... the way i approach it anyway.

Im not sure if i'll have enough spare time to do much more progress on this drawing, my portfolio is due in 2 weeks... PANIC!!!!

Anyway, this is mine so far, i did it with a black colouring pencil, because ive heard they develop really nice blacks (at the expence of not being able to erase)... see what you think.

This is a wonderful drawing 3lansir. I like the graininess of the pencil and you have gotten some good dark tones with it. Great work!

Goodluck with the portfolio.

Very nice 3lansir! Thank you for providing this so early to give our members another view option to see. You have a very good eye for seeing the picture within the picture, taking just enough, but not too much. The black pencil has really helped you in creating that contrast effect and tonal balance.

Eric

thanks eric and jeanette I see what you mean on the first wheel I will sort it out. 3lansir I think the work you have done so far on the baby is outstanding

this is my updated drawing as you can see I moved the spokes around and rounded the wheel I hope this is right now that first wheel is the hardest to draw and get right

Oooo, machinery.... (thus speaks the engineer turned chemist ) I'll be getting to these later in the week and am impressed with those of you who have already completed enough to post.
Beth

Hey, Beth ... (Ahem, lower voice) ... Hey, Beth,

That one was put there for the guys! Ok, nevermind, I won't ask.

David I think you did a great job on the farm thingy ...lol no way will i be able to do that ...here is my attempt at the butterfly .

Well , after one of those days at work today I managed to find time this eve to start this sketch.

Islander....Interesting Jeanette I find I prefer to use pencil also ever since I started drawing . I am curious as to the types you are useing for your sketch............

I really have been admiring everyone's work thus far.

Ok so I started with the butterfly and it is NOT done yet. I started a rough draft because I like it so much I didn't want all of the detail that way I can transfer it to other paper types. I am gonna finish it in water color pencil..(don't know if that ok or not...BUT I plan on drawing all of the pictures...lol...I have to prove to ERIC that the machine isn't just a man's realm!!!) Anyways I wasn't sure what the bottome of the butterfly was suppost to look like so I came to my own conclusion. For it being just the outline I like it as it is, too. I guess I can be weird like that. Ok so enough blabbling...here it is:


Here is my butterfly done in my water colour pencils. I didn't add water though being as how its suppost to be a drawing challenge and not painting. I noticed one of my wings was off and not like the other one. hey it gives the butterfly character and shows that perfection is in the eye of the beholder. Anyways I am looking for replys to know if it is good enough to put into a portfolio. I figured there is no better time than now to start one if I have plans on trying to become an illustrator. My mother in law told me the other day she had ideas for me to draw for a book she was thinking about. So you never know might have something there. She is a very smart woman was validictorian of her senior class. So feel free to let me know what all of ya's think.

computer is being stupid!!!!!!!

Wow! Everyone is doing just a super job with these refs. And submitting stuff so early in the week. Do any of you have real jobs? I just barely find the time to pop in here and comment. Looking forward to the weekend again to sit down with these myself.

DavidB: Nice touch up with the wheel of that Thingamabob! I was wondering when doing your correction on that, how much you may end up altering other things, but you came out OK. Especially after dusting off all the eraser buggers covering your lap. It has a much smoother look to it now.

Kim1963: Excellent CP of the the delicate topics in this pic. You have molded the flower petals very nicely with your shading, and the the center has a terrific 3D effect. A couple things I noticed are that the butterfly looks a little flat and 2D where maybe a little shadow on the flower may bring it out more. Another thing that keeps pulling my eye away from the central figures is the horizontal background shading to the left of the flower above the butterfly wing, and the vertical shading between its tails. It seems that my eye wants to make something out of the lines there, but nothing appears. Maybe taking the hard edge out of those areas will help release the attractiveness.

Brian (Man with 2 First Names) David: Very nice beginnings with the Babe in Bunting pic. You are really beginning to see how to get the initial start lines down in order to begin your next phase. One thing I would look at before you get too far is that you may have the head tilted too far back. The angle you have him in is close to laying down, whereas the pic shows that he is actually sitting up. Look at the line of the sunglasses going to the ear in the original and then in yours. See how yours goes down at an angle and the original doesn't? Again, great beginning work.

Venus, Venus, Venus! Always trying to hang with the Boys! Well, you have provided a very colorful rendition of the two delicate items and I agree with you when you say you are more of an illustration rather than a realism artist. There is nothing wrong with that, as each person has their own interpretation of what they see. The drawing you did seems very loose and has that "again" cartoonish look to it. What paper did you use for this? It looks almost as though its done on canvas. One particular fact about butterfles is that they have perfect symmetry between their wings (give or take a close encounter with a windshield or two). This is what makes them so intrigueing to look at. Your wings are not equal in view and therefore it throws off the balance that is so commonly expected. I think if you go back and relook trying to get the wings identical, not necessarily a copy of the photo, but symmetrically correct, it will really enhance your drawing. I will be the first to admit that these are difficult to do, and I know Brenda has a lesson on Symmetry that I will definitely look at prior to trying this one myself. But then again I probably don't have to, this was the pic "for the Girls".

Again, I hope not to offend anybody with my comments. I am not a fully experienced artist by no measure and I am sure my work will not be void of comment as well. Please, don't get discouraged as I am only trying to suggest improvements and not picking things apart. Again, I am the volunteered Host for this week, so I should act like one, right?

Terrific efforts from Everyone!
Eric

Eric,
I totally agree with you and seriously didn't notice the other wing until I had scanned the picture. I will redo it and resubmit. I was planning to anyways. I used water color pencils so naturally I used water color paper. So yes it does look like a canvas. Ohh and for the working question...no I don't I have 4 kids remember? Child care would kill us and probably take my WHOLE check if I worked. So I think it is better to stay home with the kids.


Everyone Else,
Great jobs!!!

Good job Davidb on fixing that front wheel/disc whatever it is The lefthand side still looks a little off, you may need to tweak it a bit more. It is a difficult composition that you tackled. My hat is off to you for doing so well with it.

Kim your drawing of the butterfly and flower is well rendered. The colour is a little flat however and I'd suggest that you add some complimentary colours into the flower to deepen tones. Blue/violet would work with the orange. The same with the buttlerfly. Try some tone variance and it should bring it to life. THen try evening out the background. Coloured pencil is a slow medium and needs lots of layers with even coverage to be effective.

This is really quite good Brian. Your line drawing is pretty accurate, but as Eric has said, have a look at placement. Measuring one section against another is the best way to have proportioned drawings. Also draw at a 45 degree angle using a drawing board, so that you don't get a skewed drawing.

As for pencils that I used in my drawing - it was all done with a mechanical pencil with a 2B lead. Layers and varying pressure provides the depth of tone. Try creating a tonal value scale with just one pencil and you'll see how you can create a wide range of tones.

Venus, yes I agree this has an illustrational feel to it and it is your style. Depending on what you want to acheive, you may want a more realistic look or you may go for a whimsical feel to it, such as it has now. I believe that your paper choice is a bit rough for this type of work. I presume its watercolour paper as you said you used watercolour pencils? Even so, you should aim for hotpress watercolour paper to have a smoother surface to work with. Rough, or cold press watercolour is good for big, wet washes when you don't want the paper to buckle. For small intricate drawings, a smoother surface is much more effective as you're using little water with these pencils and want to keep the integrity of the drawing to some degree.

As for illustration work, its something that comes with time and experience. Book authors sometimes have a specific type of illustration in mind, some don't know what they want, others change their minds a dozen times before deciding. You can only provide what is your style and what is within your capabilities. I say this from first hand experience having provided test illustrations for a children's book recently.

I would suggest that you look at some sites that feature current illustrator's work and then base your decision from there to see if you could do something similar. The problem with book illustration as with other commission work is that you draw what someone else wants, not what you want. There is a certain degree of give and take but it comes down to pleasing the client and it isn't for everyone.

Hi everyone...
Running as usual..short on time....pant pant!
...I've seen the submitted drawings and serve up as inspiration and great samples of talent and skills

congrats:jeannette, David, Eric, lansir, Brian, Venus

I did a quick 30-mins 1-pencil aidless freehand sketch, from reference photo displayed on monitor


Regards

J-E-T: Very nice freehand. You show how to get the best out of a roughly drawn presentation. I think if you would lighten up on the face, the whole picture would focus more on the Babe. He seems to get lost in the tone of the drawing and not stand out. You definitely have enough tone in the objects surrounding the face that going lighter would definitely frame it really well.

Eric

Ive found out what the farm machine is. I believe it to be a disk harrow. got nothing better to do with my time

Eric....thanks for your help I see what you mean. Hey maybe the kid is tired...and wants to lie down. I will have another go at it my very next opportunity thanks again ..... and I likely have been called worse names...lol.

Thanks Jeanette for sharing that info with me. I seem to lack art supplies I do have a mech. pencils but only H.B. lead and no drawing board. I have also been useing various staedler pencils, I see what you mean though and it sure makes a difference how hard I press.

J-E-T. I think for a quick 30.min sketch you did an outstanding job, I really like it. If I spent a couple hours I probably couldn't even come close.

3lansir. ...I admire your work , I would be happy if I had a fraction of your talent.

Davidb ... I think you did a great job on that one and a difficult pick.

Thank you Eric and Islander for the advice .. I took what you both suggested and tried to add that to my drawing and this is what i came up with .. I like it alot better ..... I added more color to the wings and put a drop shadow on the flower ... I used purple on the flower to help bring out the pedals ....thank you for the help .

The first darwing is the drawing I added your ideas to .. the second drawing .. well its the same drawing before the added ideas .

JET, I really admire your ability to loosen up, its something I can't do, ether I'm too loose, or I just go completely detailed.

More contrast would help make it a bit more interesting, especially the face, just erase the grey parts some of the raised features, just to give it sparkle.

By Golly Kim! I could have sworn I saw a butterfly in that drawing a second ago. Maybe it just landed on that beautiful orange flower for a second to rest his weary wings.

See what just a little shadow can do? That whirlybird is just popping out of there now! Super effort. I know for a fact there are a lot of members and lurkers out there taking a good lesson from this one. If you have the room on your monitor, open both of Kim's drawings up and look at them side by side to really see what just a small improvement has done to her artpiece.

Thank you so much!
Eric

I did this butterfly in colored pencils in only a few hours. I'll probably try the other images too because this is so much fun!

carrie

JET, I love the roundness of this image. You may like to bump up the contrast on the piece with either highlights or darks (or both!) and watch it become dimensional.

Kim, that's so much better, I agree! You have a depth to your tones and colours now and the background seems more natural. Good work!

Carrie, this image is great. Lots of colour and depth ot it. Coloured pencil isn't a quick medium and needs lots of layers for it to work well. I would suggest for the future adding some other colours to make your shadows rather than simple layering of the same colour to intensify it. If you look carefully at both the butterfly and the flower you will see a range of colours within them that will enhance the form and tones. Don't be afraid to experiment.

Well my 2nd try for a start on this one.

Hey all, like my new Sig? I'm hoping Brenda does too, cause this is what this site means to me! I just love to hear the comments like those from CanarySue who said "because this is so much fun!". That is exactly the kind of atmosphere we want to see here. I hope you are all thinking these happy thoughts.

CanaryGirl: You are definitely singing the high notes with this beautiful rendition from the Flower and Schmetterling (oops German) pic. Your flower is very nicely molded and you can see that some petals are actually closer than others. I agree with Islander that your butterfly can use a boost to help separate it from the flower. You really did a fine job on this, and I'm definitely looking forward to more drawings. Also if you can, try to submit your drawing using the attachment feature within the Forum. This way we don't have problems when Ted tries to round them all up to include in the final post. If you need help, just ask.

BrianD: Yes, this is much better. Now adding the tones and shading will begin to make it a realistic piece. Still his left cheek looks a little cramped into his jacket, but you may get this corrected as you begin your toning work. Can't wait to see the finished piece.

Super efforts!
Eric

canarysue,I repost your drawing for those that don't like to open outside attactment.This was for me also .This way when I save it to my folder they all will be on the same program.Thanks again for you lovely art.

Thank you so much for doing that. I told you that I am just not good at doing computer stuff....lol
carrie

Eric thanks, I agree his left cheek doe's look off and I have to work on my tones and will when I am able to get back at it. I was wondering if you or Jeanette can offer some advice on trying to add the snow. I have only been able to do it cartoon style in the past and need help. I really have been enjoying this and learning lots, thanks.

Carrie... I love your butterfly.

Thank you Eric and islander ... here is my drawing of the child in the snow sled ... i really didnt want to do it cause i thought it was going to be too hard .. and as it was hard it was a good challenge for me and I am glad I did it ....thanks again ..and good luck to everyone eles. kim

Brian, great start on the second drawing. Yes the baby's more upright now. Pay attention to the shape of the face and try measuring one part against the other. Look at where the edge of the mouth lines up with the nose and eye or where the cheek is in relation to the edge of the jacket or sheepskin.

The sections of the baby's face that are most shaded are the areas that are closest to a section of the clothing so around the edges of the hood mostly. Look closely for subtle shading and make sure there aren't harsh lines on the baby's face. Those will come in later life...

As for rendering snow. To draw anything white you simply draw the shadows. The white draws itself. Snow is the same as drapery or folds in material and clothing. Its a series of peaks and valleys with softly graduated shading, leaving the white paper as the brightest highlights.

I hope this helps.

Excellent work on the baby Kim! The shading is superb. Well done!

My suggestion would be to measure again the head/hat from the face to the top of the head, it seems rather long. Try softening the mouth too with a little shading and note carefully the shape and where it intersects with the cheek and chin. Use shading alone to indicate form, not a line.