Welcome to the Drawspace Drawing Challenge! My name is Ernest Friedman-Hill, and I am your host for this week. The rules are simple: I post some photographs, you draw one or more, and you post your work. Then we can all admire the results, and discuss them. Post as many drawings as you like!

I've chosen a variety of (hopefully) interesting photographs, some easier than others. You can get the most out of a challenge by stretching yourself: try something you normally don't draw, or try a new medium, or a new technique. As your host, I will be more than happy to offer any help I can give, everything from instruction to suggestions to critique: just ask!

Technically, this is a drawing challenge. I want to see work in pencil (graphite or colored), pastel, charcoal, crayon, pen, etc; but if you post a watercolor or two, I won't complain. We generally frown on digital art in these challenges.

Now on to the photos. I've posted them all both in color and black and white. Feel free to crop them however you'd like -- i.e., you don't have to draw the whole image.
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Our first photo is right from the horse's mouth: an extreme closeup of the business end of a fine steed named Jiminy. My daughter graciously provided this photo. The camera angle delightfully distorts the normal proportions of the animal, giving you a good opportunity to practice observation. Don't forget the ripples and highlights on his shoulder!
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This seasonally-appropriate photo shows a pumpkin I carved for a past halloween. You'll have to control the values well to create the 3D hollow effect.
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We have a few folks here on Drawspace who like to draw fairies from their imagination; here's a real Imp that stopped by my house about 7 years ago. As you can see they are quite plump and wear elegant, flowing clothing.
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Spotted at a birthday party! This woman's lovely skin color and unusual features combine to create a unique subject. Can you capture the shine in those tiny curls?
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The palace at Versailles provides a textbook lesson in single-point perspective. You can ignore that young fellow there who seems to think this is just a vacation photo, and doesn't realize that in a few years he'll be posting this in a drawing challenge.
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Last but not least: the crater of Mt. Haleakala, 14,000 ft above the island of Maui. It seems to me that soft pastels would be an excellent medium for this, but with care I can imagine a strong rendition in graphite.

NOTE:Results posted on page 4 of this thread. Thanks everybody for making this a great challenge!

Hi, Ernest. Thanks for hosting!Careful and mindful selection of photos here.I can guess that the horse and the pumpkin will be the darlings of this challenge.Maybe the imp, too.
I will probably start with the horse so thanks to your daughter from me.

Hi
I'm going to TRY the lady with the curls. Mind you, I may regret that decision!!
Don't hold your breaths till it appears - I might chicken out.
Norma

beautiful photos and I love the description to each one of them, the young fellow we are supose to ignore wouldn't perhaps be named Ernest?! I also love the little Imp. , not sure wich to choose, they are all very challenging.
thanks for hosting Ernest.

Thanks for the fantastic selection of photo's this week Ernest and daughter. I hope to try one, these all sure look challenging.

Happy drawings,

Brian.

Hi Ernest,

thank you for hosting the challenge this week,i have never tried one of the challenges before.

I am looking forward to joining in.

Regards Wayneo

To make this real challenging I drew as fast as I could and still do a decent job. I timed my self and I spent less than an hour. The phone rang twice so I'm not sure just how much less than an hour.

Bobby,
Less than an hour, wow that is great.
I was hoping to try this one too...now I'm intimidated
But don't worry I'm not the kind of person to quit

Please don't let me intimidate you, let me inspire you. I found this photo to be very inspiring. I left the drawing a little large so you can study how I used the lines to suggest skin and and hair textures.

Thank you Bobby, indeed you are a big inspiration to me I will try my best on this one.

Thanks, all, for coming by. Wayneo, welcome! I am honored to be your first challenge host

Bobby, lovely work! That drawing is as beautiful as it is different from the version I have in mind to do Kaly, everybody's work is different, so please don't be intimidated by anything you see here. The goal of these challenges is for everyone to try something a little harder than normal, and, with help from everyone here, to succeed!

I look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with. Remember if you want to discuss a drawing before you start, I'm quite happy to do that!

This is my drawing of the fairy ... it was done in about a hour as well .

Bobby wonderful work as always .

Neat, Kim! Thanks for joining my challenge! The fairy is asleep right now but she will be happy to see this drawing of her younger self in the morning...

Wow, I am kind of ashamed posting this after seeing two fantastic drawings from Kim and Bob, I sure need the practise, my try at a quick sketch of your pumpkin Ernest.

Thanks for the great challenge, I hope to try another.

Happy Halloween all,

Brian.

My pumpkin is honored to have been judged to be so sincere It looks right at home in Linus's pumpkin patch!

I wasn't going to post this, but OK, fine. Here is my first attempt at a drawing for this challenge, and I'm not too happy with it. The values are just all over the map, and I tried some fairly heavy-handed blending (which I normally don't do) and I can't say I like the results. I rushed through this way too fast. But I will be honest and post it anyway. It was fun trying to get the proportions right, and I think I was mostly successful in that. Those tiny legs are funny!
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I promise to redeem myself later this week with something a little more professional

Hi Ernest - great photos. And I like how you have thought about including something with perspective and foreshortening. Those are areas where I need to work, so I hope I can find the time to try those out. And also the landscape - I avoid doing backgrounds as much as I can, because I am uncomfortable doing them, so that would be good practice as well.

Your quick drawing of the horse definitely caught the foreshortening, but I think that you have connected his hind legs with his stomach instead of his hips. If you squint at the photo you can see that behind and slightly above the stomach there is an extra part of the horse, which is where the legs are connected.

Bob - your experience at capturing likenesses is showing through - and thank you for the larger version. It is very interesting to see your use of lines!

Kim - lovely use of colours. That is another area I need to work at. So much to do, so little time.

And Brian - great pumpkin, and with your usual trademark as well!

Great job Bobby - less than hour for yours & Kim's gorgeous fairy - now I am intimidated!

That is a very deserving pumpkin to be found in the Great Pumpkin's Patch Brian!

And the horse looks good Ernest - I was thinking of that one myself. Hope to get a little work done on it soon.

Well, I did try. It took me about 3 hours yesterday evening, then a couple of tweeks this morning. I used various graphites then charcoal pencil for the hair. I used correcting fluuid for the necklace, as it seemed to need some highlighting.

I'm afraid I didn't do your beautifully carved pumpkin much justice on this quicky.

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I almost did the pumkin myself they look fun .. and the charcoal woman from Mum ...wow I cant do anything in that medium with out smearing it .

Sue never be intimidated by ones work ...your work is lovely also I am one of your fans

I am happy with all the joyful participation of skilled artists here.I will probably join soon.
I see Norma kept her promise and gave us a wonderful interpretation of the curly hair lady.
Excellent job so far, everyone.

Here is my attempt at the fairy(I wish I knew her name).The hair is not my forte so please make suggestions to improve it and the rest of the portrait.



2HB,2B,4B graphite on Strathmore drawing pad, 11x14 in.; one hour from the PC screen.

Thanks Ernest , Hrymfaxe , and Sue for your kind words.

Wow such talent going on here , I admire all the drawings very much they are very inspirational.

Ernest your Pumpkin patch continues to grow, same as the skill going on in this challenge.


Happy drawings,

Brian.

looks like this is going to be a fantastic weekly cjallenge, I see lots of talent here already congratulations everyone!

here is my atempt on the woman
2,30 hours
HB2, B2 and B4
the curly hair didn't come out quite as I wished.
and I think it needs more dark areas, maybe I'll look at it again in the daylight and improve it
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Earnest, I like your horse drawing. You placed the back legs where they appear to be the in the photo, but in the photo the darkness obscures the point where the legs meet the body. Tricky one.

Paulette, I like the pumpkin you drew! Colored pencils, right? I must learn it, lovely effect.

Elena, good job on the fairie princess. Probably just keeping the pencils sharper would help with the hair.

Clara, you and I are alike, can't force those darks in there! You made her look extremely beautiful and expressive, with the smooth skin and gently wavy hair.

Tonight I'll finally start on my attempt at the curly hair woman. There's just been so little time to draw lately.

Paulette, nice pumpkin! It's very tricky, the details of those holes in the pumpkin; there are a lot of different values. You did not fall prey to the obvious trap of coloring all the holes in dark, or leaving them all light.

Brian, a pumpkin WIP -- love it!

Elena, nice fairy! My wife recognized her on my screen from across the room. The fairy is actually my daughter Danielle (whose art I post here on Drawspace on a regular basis), six or seven years ago when she was a preschooler. Regarding the hair: as Mindy said, sharper pencils would help. But also using them properly. There are I think two important rules of hair: first, never begin a pencilstroke in open space. Strokes should start in a very dark area and lead outwards. Second, as you move the pencil from the dark area to the light -- i.e., into the highlight, or towards the end of the hair -- slowly, steadily reduce the pressure, so that when you get to the stopping point, the pencil is no longer making a mark at all. These tapered strokes make all the difference!

Clara, an excellent interpretation of the woman! She has such an interesting face, I am not surprised that it's possible to bring out many different aspects, as has been happening here. I think you have made her younger

Mindy and Marie, thanks for the input on the horse. Do you think there's a second horse in the photo behind this one? I think there is a second horse, and I just couldn't tell where the one ended and the other began. Anyway, I definitely added a lot of information that's not in the photo, and maybe that's why I'm so unhappy with it.

Kim, great pumpkin!! ANd thanks for the vote of confidence - still haven't started yet though

Norma, I am in awe of anyone who can tame charcoal, let alone produce such beautiful work.

Elena, lovely pic of the little fairy, and I agree with Mindy that sharper pencils help greatly with hair.

Lovely Clara!!!

My curly-haired woman. 4 hours. It would have taken another 4 hours to do the hair in detail... Used 2H, HB, 2B, and 8B. After printing it out & graphing the outlines, I went off the computer. In the photo she looks happy, but in my version she looks devastated...

Ernest suggested pastels for this one, so I tried it with soft pastels on A4 cartridge paper. Doesn't look much like original, but I enjoyed trying it.

This is my fairy... she doesn't look like on picture. I will try, maybe I can fix it

Thanks for hosting this week Ernest. Looks like every one is having fun with your photos.

I like your style Bobby.
I love the soft pink look of your drawing Kim.
The GREAT PUMPKIN Charlie Brown! Oh the memories. Thanks Brian.
Pretty wild perspective on that horse Ernest.
You captured the persona of the woman very well Mumwond.
Way to let it go freely Paulette.
Elena I admire your approach to drawing. FUN!
Looks great Clara.
I can feel the emotion on her face Mindy.

I had a look at those photos and as some of you may know from past challenges, I like to create a composition of two or more. On this one it just jumped out at me. Water color paper 24x32 cm
6B, 2B, F, 4H
Took a while...

I call it "Global Warming à la Français".

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Protect your planet!

Best wishes to everyone in the challenge. And for those who may be watching on the sidelines, jump in and join the fun!

If you're interested pop by my website. I started a WIP this week.

Mumwond, I like your landscape in pastels.

anu4ka, sure it looks like her, I see the resemblance. Great work on the costume too.

Mr. Blanchette, WOW. What a great idea, combining picutures, and you did an amazing job here.

Norma, I love your landscape! The colors in that crater change quite a bit during the day. In the photo, the sun is at a fairly low angle and shadows are creeping in. You can just say yours, with those more cheerful hues, is at high noon!

Anu4ka, it's actually very hard to judge how well you've captured a likeness from just a single photo. If you know a person well (and I know this fairy quite well!) then it's much easier to tell. I will let you in on a secret: I think you've captured her spirit the best of anyone so far!

RJ, that's hilarious! A volcanic crater would be an excellent place to build a palace like Versailles -- it would keep out the rabble As always, I am humbled by your skill.

Thank you all for your comments on my portrait

Mindy, I think you did a great job, that hair sure is hard !!well maybe not hard, just allot of pacience and time!

Norma, I like you lanscape very much.

Anu4ka, I think you did an excelent job, and it does look like the picture

RJ, you always surprise us, on the positive side of course, I love the way you did both pictures in one. You think there will be many turists wanting to see the Verssailles palace with a volcanic crater just next to it??? who knows maybe there would be even more people wanting to visit

Well had an hour to spare tonight so had a go at two of the pics, used 2B, 6b & 9B on both

Vicky I like the skechy way you did these.

I tried my new sanguine dry pencil on the pumpkin. I never can do simple things.

Vicky, nice attention to detail on the pumpkin. I like the way the ribs wrap around at the sides and the top.

Elena, I admire your willingness to try new things. You have tried so many media in such a short time!

I have another entry for the challenge. I spent about an hour in front of the TV on this enhanced line drawing, transferred it to a larger piece of watercolor paper, and produced my first watercolor portrait. It is far from perfect but I'm fairly pleased with the results.
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I felt I had to try to draw Danielle. She looks so cute!

Elena I like your pumpkin, looks very cheerfull;)

wow Ernest for the first portrait in watercolor that is awsome! I think you did the skin tones very nicely.

Norma, very nice drawing of Danielle

I'm not very good at landscapes so I thought this would be good to practice, I tried the volcanic landscape in soft pastels.
30 mitunes on A4 sized paper.



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It's interesting to see someone else's version of the landscape in soft pastels. Well done, Clara.

thank you Norma, its hard to get a drawing well defined with soft pastels. I enjoyed doing this one and getting my hands all dirty by blending it

I love the emulation spirit of this challenge.
Here is my First attempt at a portrait in watercolor. I thought I should start out with a smile

Fantastic, Elena! Oh, Danielle is going to love that...

Thanks, Ernest. Tell her I love her angel smile and thank her from me that she was a sweet model.

R.J. I like your title as much as your drawing. I always enjoy it when you participate in these challenges, and thanks for your kind comments.

Some more fantastic drawings, I admire them all.

I thought I would also try a combo after seeing R. J.'S drawing and attempted to sketch in some of those mountains.

Thanks for the challenge Ernest

Happy drawings all,

Brian.




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Elena, Ernest, very nice portraits You make me feel like drawing a some portrait in watercolor in my first time too

There has been so much wonderful work since I last commented that I don't think I can comment individually, but I love seeing all the landscapes, and that little fairy is going to have so many to choose from. I had to work on my days off but I have managed to do a graphite crop of Jiminy in ATC size - about 1/2 hour to do this.

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Brian, love it! I bet that rich volcanic soil is excellent for growing pumpkins -- if they don't get blown to smithereens, of course

Sue, cool horse! I like the subtle highlights on his shoulder. Very good control of values in the different areas of the card.

I'm glad I was able to inspire you Brian. I like your drawing. The more I look at it the more I laugh. It took me a while to see old Charlie in his spotted ghost costume with a few too many holes. Watch here for Halloween I hope no one gets a rock when they trick or treat!