As 2006 draws to a close, its nice to reflect how we've grown and what we have accomplished over the year. This thread is an opportunity to show the piece of art that you have created in 2006 that, to you, represents your best work for the year.

This is your bragging thread.

But there's a catch You have to explain why you consider it is your best piece of work and what you have learned in the last year.

Jeanette,

Oooooohhh you is a sneaky one...hehehehehehe...I can't post mine until after SS...dang!

Jeanette this is a great idea!!! I will even be the first to post a picture. This one in particular is (besides the perspective drawing I sent to the school for my online class) is the second drawing I sent in and got 100% on which is an A in the states grade wise. Highest of grades too. It is a still life I did of a candle holder I had on my fireplace mantle. I actually did it just for the heck of drawing a still life and actually liked it enough to submit it and was very pleased with the grade which was actually higher than I exspected it to be. Anyways it drawn on canson sketch paper with a regular #2 pencil.

She is sneaky, isn't she? Hehehe Got to love that about her I'd think; she keeps things interesting and fun.

This is an easy one for me. The first one I submitted (and the one I use as my avatar) is my best of the year because it brought me HERE!

Oh yeah, and it is the piece where I finally learned to do eyes. For 2007 I'll have to do eyes with lashes.

I think Crystal is my best for 2006 since I have started only a few days back. I hope there will be lots mor. I love this site, it is very exciting. I like all the people to chat to. Thanks for being part of this site.

For me I guess it would be either my Yul Brenner or the Native American. Mainly because they are starting to look more like real people or something. I prefer trying to draw people. From photos of course. I tried to draw my mother and we both laughed so hard we cried. I'm just not ready for live portraits yet. LOL

these two i think are my best of this year, at least they are my favorites and i couldnt decide between the two. everyones looks great what a great year.
Lori

I've thought about this and decided that my best was the image of my daughter. It was done in mechanical pencil on Stonehenge paper and took weeks to complete using a circulism method. I changed it and altered parts and redid parts til it became what I wanted it to become. I sweated over it big time and it was part of a class in realistic portraiture.

I also learned a lot while doing that image. I learned how to be patient when completing a drawing and that what I think is good is not always quite as I see it. I learned to see with more clarity.

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This is without a doubt my best for the year. I didn't think I could do the "realism" thing. But I stuck with it and sure enough I did it. What I learned this year was to keep moving forward, don't dwell on the drawings that aren't perfect in your eyes, just move forward and do better the next time. I have learned from my mistakes.



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jeanette that is absolutely beautiful. and she does look real. beautiful job. i need to learn patients too.
painter--beautiful job also--that one looks real too. i love the tecture on the case. really great.
Lori

Tough call, but for me, not strictly a drawing but lets call it a drawing with paint. As you would expect from me a watercolour, and it has to be Sleepless.
This for me was the first time i actually thought "Blimey, did i really paint that, it's quite good!". This is the first painting that i was satisfied i'd done a good job.

RJS

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RJS,

You should be proud of this!!! It has an abstract quality to it and then when you connect it to the title your brain lets you see those rumpled sheets and comforter!!! Bravo!!!

Laura

I love this one RJS!

I dont really have a favorite .. the one i am working on now for a present for my husband is one I have taken longer then a day to start and finsh and I have used alot of what i have learned here .. but i cant post it cause he is the one who takes it from the camera to the pc .. and he will see it lol .. I will show it after christmas if that will be ok

Ok I got this figured out lol ... I was able to upload it .. so here is what I think is my best work for 2006 ...I want to thank all of you at drawspace .. because you helped me alot on how to do hair .. and how to get the right kind of light source ...I forget who you were that said just erase away from the place you want light and well all my lighted spots here are from eraser ....WARNING she is topless .

You say that like its a BAD thing.

Regardless, that is a fabulous drawing.
I wonder which is harder; to draw from reality where you have a subject to study, or, to draw something that only exists in your imagination.
That sounds like subject that needs a thread all its own.

Kim,

Your hubby is gonna love this!!! Great Job!!! If you love fantasy art and obviously you do...you have to check out some links I've saved....I'll go dig them up for you!!!

Laura

Dang Kim!!!! Georgous!!!! LOL I talked to your hubby earlier looking for you and he told me about this picture. He SAID he didn't look at it though he just knows you posted it as your best of 2006 and asked me to look at it and see if I liked it...I laughed at him and replied it was awesome so I think he is really excited for Christmas to hurry and get here so he can have his present. I think she needs wings......

[attachmentid=1377]Hi guys,

I'm new to the website and im loving it!!

I havent drawn in years about 6 to be correct and I thought that I would take it up again...

so i have posted one of the 3 drawings I did this year....hope you like it...I do....

But he is my little doggy!!

Welcome bee ....love the puppy
thank you for your comments .. laura he LOVES this kind of art ...he thinks its a girl holding flowers lol .
Venus he told me you guys talked and that you like the drawing . thanks

Kim, as usual, you did a drop-dead drawing with those colored pencils. I don't know how you could possibly pick your best, they're all really good. I'm sure your hubby will love it.

Sweet dog Beezneez, it looks very appealing

Kim! Wow! He'll love this. Its very well done. You're a whiz with the fantasy art. Its an area I've never ventured into. Excellent work.

kim fantastic-- that is really awesome. he will love it.
beezneeze-- really great, i do like it. keep them coming.
Lori

kim i love the drawing i love fantasy art.

he will love it







I love all of your drawings that have posted in here we have alot of talant here cant wait to see nexts years:D

Thank you everyone .. I enjoy this kind of art .. I am curently working on some pictures of super heros for my nephew .. I said to him .. I said Miah ...want a drawing of wonder women and spiderman or a gift ( I am getting him a gift but wanted to know what he would say ) he said .. wonderwomen and spiderman he is 4 and LOVES my artwork .. I draw him Kim possibles pictures and he use to carry them around with him and show everyone until finally they just were nothing more then shreds. gotta love kis

These are awesome drawings everyone!!

I have absolutely nothing that even comes close. I'm not beating myself up about that - after all I have only been drawing for a month. But what I mean is I really don't know whether anything I've done is worthy of this thread.

Maybe you can choose for me.... there's not all that much to choose from!

Rose, I have doubts everytime i produce something, people say "that's so good" but i dont see it.
If it were not for other people then i probably wouldn't be painting at all, and i am not saying that for compliment, that is the truth.
We all doubt ourselves all the time, it's what makes us strive to do better and to learn. I look around this site at some of the pictures and i am in awe, and it makes me want to be better.

MerryXmas

RJS

Rose,
I went to your gallery to have a look. You're having trouble because you have more than one to pick from. My top pick would be the self portrait. But then I see the one of your daughter, then your vino jug, then your still life.......... Which one did you learn the most from?
Paulette

The first cardinal rule of art is NEVER compare yourself to anyone else.

Everything you create is unique and has your style and talent attached to it. If you want to choose a drawing that you consider the best for 2006, choose one that shows the process, how you learned, what you learned, how you applied your knowledge to the best of your abilities. This of the 'eureka moment'. That point in time when a skill or technique suddenly becomes apparent to you and you think 'geez, so THAT'S how its done' and then you apply it to your drawing and it does what you expected.

All of your drawings are good. All of your drawings have part of you in them. Choose based on what you believe you created with the best of your technical ability, not how your art compares to anyone elses.

Rose .. your still life of the metal plate and jug and flowers .. I like the light source on the plate and the table .. good detail .

This seems to have been a good learning year - great expressive art by everyone. Kim your husband will love that masterpiece. This pencil painting of mine may not be my absolute best but it is my absolute favourite of this year. Because I do believe I captured the essence of my 12-yr-old grandson who is such a sweet and generous boy. He was still dealing with trauma from what Hurricane Katrina did to Louisiana last fall, but stayed cheerful and helpful through it all. And he loved being a model for grandma. What did I learn this year? Hmmmmm! Maybe that training the artistic eye is a lifetime job, but persistence and practice help immensely.

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Cheers.....Maire

Thank you all so much for your comments. You know, it's psychologically not easy to start drawing at such a venerable age! When you're a kid it's ok to make mistakes ... when you're older you expect all you do to be perfect and up to scratch. So you can well appreciate how balmy all the encouragement I get here feels for me. Thank you everyone - you rock!!



Yes Kim, that is the one I thought of too. I think back to the day I did it and showed it to my son. I asked him what he thought the objects were made of and he said without the slightest hesitation: the plate is copper, the jug is enamel and the vase is some sort of embossed glass. I can't tell you how happy that made me!! I guess likeness is essential and not easy in portraiture but I suppose it is equally challenging to portray the substance and texture of still life - which in a way is it's "likeness". So for that reason I choose this still life.


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hi all,

I am new to this website and dont know you guys as well as you all know each other.

however i would like to take a moment to thank you all for your wonderful comments and support.

Maire, the drawing of your grandson is so good, i love it when a drawing captures the energy and soul of the subject.....if thats not your best i can not wait to see more.

thanks again guys.

have a wonderful Christmas

The Beezneez

Funny you mentioned perfection, Rose. I'm like that too sometimes; I think everything I do has to be perfect because of this or that. Problem is that there is no definitive defintion of what's perfect, when, where, and according to whom.

Know what helps me? I think about the "Cat in the Hat" -- a book rejected over and over again until someone finally took a chance on it being worth something. I can't imagine a world without Dr Seuss--his art and his stories. Nor can I image a world without art and artists of all skills and styles.

I know I'm not perfect in most things, but I am perfectly me!

Merry xmas everyone!

Marie I dont remember seeing that one .. its awsome ..
Rose thats the one .. I love that one it is a very nice still life.
and your welcome Bee

hi guys,

just finished another one of my little doggy.....and err....I'ts better than the first so i change my best 06 works to this one.....if thats allowed..hehe.
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I think this is my best drawing for this year although I could of made the background a bit better. Anyway I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my friends a happy christmas.





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Is that Elton John with long hair?

Looks like Ozzy Ozborne to me - doesn't matter. Its a really great picture. Good Job!!!!

Its supposed to be Ozzy osbourne doesnt say much for my drawing if you think its elton john

LOL David!!! Actually now that I look at it again it could pass for either.

brian-- -- you did a fantastic job. everyones did a great job. love them all.
Lori

being this is my first year of drawing, i went pretty far from stick figures (or things that were suppose to be stick figures!) lol...

this was my fav one to draw, i really like dark characters





tho i do think this one was a lil better (even tho i did screw up on some places that i still goota refix, like the lips) =p






the attachment is my fav digital art i made this year , using it as my wallpaper now

I have two pictures. The first is the picture that I drew after I read a couple of Brenda's lessons, and thought I can do that. It is a picture of a mountain goat in Colorado. It is done on printer paper with a no. 2 pencil. This drawing got me interested in doing more and better.
My next drawing is the one I did for Jeanette in the Secret Santa. This one I put the most work into and went back several times to fix and touch up the drawing. It shows what I have learned in the two and a half months that I have been on drawspace. Shading being the main thing. It was done on medium tooth paper with staedtler pencils 2h, hb, and 2b. Oh and I learned that good supplies make for better drawings.
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I think I'm going to change my best for 2006 too. I think my best so far, for me at least, is something I did yesterday from a reference that Nellie posted recently.

Unfortunately it did not scan perfectly well, even with my brand new Pixma 180 which I got from the kids for Christmas. In real life it has a dreamy feeling about it which makes me look at it and say - did I really do that?! I also like it as a composition... I would say it's my first real "painting".

I'm calling it Reflections.

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I'm editing this post to add another view of the drawing. I placed it on the table easel I also got for Christmas and took it into my husband's study to take a pic of it. He said to please leave it there because he likes is so much... he thinks it's the best I have done so far.

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I don't know about your best Laura...but in my opinion YES your Secret Santa drawing is one of the best I have ever seen! so HA I loved it!!! Thanks again!





DAVID DREW MY HEROOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I love Ozzy David!! And if ya know Ozzy then it is clear that IS Ozzy! AWESOME! Totally wicked rendition of The Man!

Antisnow well done for your first year drawing keep at it you will get better still

Paulette4 great drawings well done

Farfallina a great drawing of the swan good work

Pammy thanks for your comments I love ozzy as well he is brilliant.

i love ozzy too-- and you did a fantastic job with that drawing of him.
i love seeing everyones work.
Lori

David ... did you ever watch the OzBornes on TV .. I loved that show ...my husband has been to the Oz Fest .

Pammy,

The reason I chose the mustang as my best was because the difficulty of the perspective and the time constraints...This piece was done on a 5x7 piece of hp watercolor paper and it only took me about 8 hours total...over several days. The perspective isn't perfect, but all the work is freehand. There rim area is so busy that it camoflauges alot of the mistakes and fools the eye enough that it works. A year ago I wouldn't have even attempted to freehand / eyeball perspective...I really enjoyed doing this for you and I hope we get to do it again next year!!! I'll post it here now that it's done and the cat er car is outta the bag!