Hello, I am Elena, challenging you this week;

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 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 library 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.

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.

There is no ruling on what size your final drawing or sketch should be. Smaller, sketchbook sizes will provide a smaller file size which is easier for loading onto the thread.

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

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

I have offered 3-5 reference images to choose from. The images are also provided in greyscale. Seeing the images in black and white gives a better sense of basic values.

I have kept the images to simple shapes that still provide challenges. Block out your basic shapes first then work the details into them, rechecking proportion and measurement against other reference points in your drawing.

Here are my pics for this week

dill, green beans and onion, recipe not included
Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

A cross from the Merry Cemetery in Sapanta, Maramures(a Unesco Site)
Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

my fancy shoes
Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

an urn from the marketplace in my town
Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

and a view from Albaicin, Granada, Spain.
Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

I noticed I have no human face in this challenge.
So here is a grandmother and grandson in Sunday costume also from Maramures, Romania's countryside.
Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

Here is a Valentine special
Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

Great pics Elena..I shall be back

Nice Toes !!

My first contribution is the garden urn.



Charcoal on Strathmore drawing pad 11x14 in. One hour.

so pretty..a lovely piece of art..

Thanks, Kay. I am waiting for your drawing

another quickie.
2B pentalic graphite on Strathmore sketch pad 9x11 in; 30 minutes

it is hard to view images when posted so large ..i only have a little laptop..

anyhoot here is my rendition of the urn ..in mixed media..i really like that urn photo..i may try it again in something else


Click to view attachment

ugh i hate graphitint black

gorgeous, my friend. Bravo!

I simply couldn't resist the temptation of doing it in color.
Here is oil pastels urn on canson mi teintes ivy 8.5x11in. I took several breaks so i don't know the time, could be 2 hours or more.

Great pictures Elena!
Thank you for jumping in!

that one is beautiful too..you should frame them side by side..

Paulette, Kay, thank you.

Where is everybody?

wow..no kidding..where is everyone.. I shall try the shoes now elena..

Elena.. I don't know where everyone else is ...but this Gal has been pretty busy .. so I will have to wait a few days before I can get a draw on this thread .. never fear I will be here soon.. Just having to do some Community Art League functions and a big show for tonight to set up.. plus I have to work at my real job.. (yuck)..
I am trying to get all I can done on the ATC's and of course I still have all those Indians yet to appear..
I love all the ones that you and Kay are doing .. I still have plans on doing the Pastel's one day .. Especially after seeing the pots you did .. Just Awesome Wicked Knock Down gorgeous !!
How do you top that one ? I agree you need to frame those .. Great Art !!
...
Carol

here are the shoes and they were a real challenge for me to do..wow..bout drove myself blind trying to do the little pattern..

I am also going to put them in Ans' Gallery


Click to view attachment

Kay, you did an absolutely marvelous job. My husband was in admiration of your work.
fantastic rendering, my friend.
I see we are the only ones to play and have fun here.

carol, I am waiting for you to do some of my pics in liquid pencil.

OMG..liquid pencil..i went and checked that out..i have NEVER heard of it..carol your artwork is brilliant..when i looked at some of it i never realized that some were done with this..now here is another medium i MUST try..any tips on what kind i should get would be appreciated

Hi Elena,

Great drawings so far, I am having a go at the urn too, only in soft pastels. Seems like a popular choice this week.
Lovely shoes Kay, but where are the toes ?
I'm sure everyone else will be posting soon.

Hi, Paul. waiting for your urn.
Kay, check out the forum page liquid pencil
where Carol detailed this subject with examples of her work

thanks..i went and checked it out and it looks really great..i shall include some in my next order.

Hello ((((((()))))) Hello (((())))))..wow..its almost creepy...where is everyone..

Great shoes and beautiful vases!
Here is a very quick sketch - 20min. of the Grandmother and the toddler. It looks a bit strange, but anyway, I decided to be honest and post it.

Sveta..that is BEAUTIFUL..what a beautiful piece or artwork..I cant believe how you really captured her face..just lovely

Thank you so much- I wanted to do a really quick drawing and I was disappointed with the result. You've cheered me up.

Looks very good, Sveta.Thanks for joining with such a nice piece.

I will try and get something done tonight Elena.. Have finally got a little bit of time now..

Kay I am glad you liked the Liquid Pencil.. Oh my goodness I have almost everyone in my Art League here wanting to try it now.. We had a Council Of the Arts banquet last night and I showed my Indian Art ..(You should see them framed !!) well 5 of them anyway .. and when I explained the medium .. everyone was excited to try it out..
I just ordered another bottle of the grey #9 and a bottle of the sepia.. I am anxious to give the sepia a try..

Hi, folks. I just finished this piece in charcoal and i am a little bit disappointed because I expected something more dramatic out of my photo in Albaicin, Granada, Spain.

very very nicely done elena..I am afraid perhaps you have scared everyone away from this challenge with such a high bar that you have set ..

i have never seen such an empty challenge room. where is everyone?

Thanks, Kay. I had this situation before when very few people showed at my challenge. If you remember my first challenge here, I was flooded with drawings and people opening accounts to join and draw. Never was repeated that miracle.

Ok. maybe It's my fault and the pics are too difficult. I added a Valentine theme, my teddy Peter and lambertina, my baby sheep.Check it out on the first page.

i do remember that challenge..that was a good one..these pics are fine elena..though your teddies are cute..I always like the pics you choose for the challenge..anyway..i wasnt going to post this one at all..but seeing as how the thread is running slowly I will..I did the very very quick sketch in pen and no pencil underneath..straight out of the ol ballpoint..that is the only reason i am showing it to you..she actually didnt come out too terrible..i like pen sketches but mine never look good enough..but i will share her anyway..

Click to view attachment

Oh, Kay how nice of you to help me out. Now, this sketch is very good, first the face has a proud expression and also the gesture, the attitude of Romanian peasant women.I guess is good enough for any challenge.

Okay .. Cats are doing well .. Banquet is long over with and the Indians are at a Pow Wow.. so here is the Draw I promised .. I will try and get one more done tomorrow.. A lot going on.. storms hit close to our little town .. Nerves are pretty raw.. I think it reflects in this one .. But anyway.. wanted to do the Liquid Pencil Urn..
I love the ones posted so far .. And I agree the bar is High you gals are showing us up..love them all.. Hugs.. Carol

Splendid draw, Carol.Thanks for joining in. Real cool your urn.

This is done in soft pastels.

Paul, this is absolutely splendid pastel artpiece.The values are excellently rendered. The beauty of the bougainvillea is breathtaking.
Exquisite work!

Here is a fast sketch of the grandmother.

It remembered me how much I like to draw with pen

Great draw, Dir3kt.Bravo!

A modest attempt to draw the shoes on the rag with markers.

The photo is awfully good rendered, Sveta. The rug, the shoes, the toes. Excellent.

Sorry for being late, I've been a little bit busy nowadays. I am glad to have found the time to draw this tough. I knew I wanted to try my hand on this the moment I saw it. Looks very much like Bodrum, a town very near to where I live. I've been back and back many times to look at it but I didn't find the time to attempt a drawing until today. Thanks for the challenge.

Very nice, Peribocegi.Tesekkurler for participating in this challenge.I like that you picked this one. It's my favorite, too.

very lovely drawings friends..sveta i love the way you handle color..those are lovely..you have a very definite style in this medium too..it is very lovely..i am so glad to see some one pop in ..i was beginning to get worried

just gorgeous carol..what a wonderful skill and talent you have..i cant wait to try out this new medium..it looks awesome..great work as usual my dear.

Sveta DAHLINK, You really must bring your lovely shoes over to the gallery and post them there too..they are very lovely and eventually An will round them up and make up another shoe page..he has made us several already and they are lovely

Hello girls and boys

I havent had time or spirit to draw anything lately

But I have to say, wow what wonderful drawings you all have been doing.
Elena you are always so full of energy wow!. I love all your drawings...you have grown so much! and I too remember very well the first time you where a host here...I beleive there where 15 pages full of lovely drawings.

I hope my drawing urge comes back quickly so I can join these challenges.

Keep up the good work

OLa, Clara.Missing you a lot from all the forum topics and challenges, hope everything is fine with you.Thanks for dropping by.

Hello to all!! This is my first time participating in a challenge. Also my first attempt to use the soft pastels...Hope you like it! Elena, loved all your reference pictures! Thank you! Regards.