Hi everyone!

I have been so busy the last month or so that I haven't had time for anything. When I saw that a host was needed for this week I jumped for it!

I hope you all have fun with my pictures, of course I have to add pictures of my family but I also included others.

I thought the x-ray would be fun because it would be like drawing in reverse ( to me this sounds like a huge challenge)

I hope you all can find the time to join in.
~ Chris

Click to view attachment My son's Gabe's hand

Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment My daughter Ava at the May Crowning ceremony

Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment One of my roses from my husband for out 10th wedding anniversary

Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment Gabe and our puppy Daisy( now 2 yrs old)

Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment Daisy as a puppy, she's a Morkie (1/2 Maltese and 1/2 Yorkie)

Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment Gabe eating a lemon ( I love this one)

Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment My Hubby and son at Gabe's BMX race

HAVE FUN AND I HOPE YOU LIKE MY PHOTO CHOICES.


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 endeavors to some form of drawing: graphite, colored 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.

If you have an interest in hosting a challenge, please see the list in the pinned area of general discussions.Click to view attachment

Very nice pictures. Enquiring minds want to know - was Gabe's hand ok ?

LOL, yes. Gabe races BMX and this past season he had a few bad crashes. He had a tiny hairline fracture which he was very proud of. Gabe also proudly wore his bright pink hard cast for 3 weeks. lol. He thought it was very cool to see his bones and I said as long as they are on an x-ray and not out in the open where we can really see them!

ps... he also loved all of the attention from all of the girls at school

thanks for asking

Beautiful pictures Chris, I hope to try to draw your daughter Ava, time permitting ...

Thank you and I look forward to seeing it.

Decided to take the same reference and change it up a bit.. Pencil Liquid Graphite and adding background..

Thats really good ,, and i love how you use that liquid graphite gonna have to look at getting some

Well I did say I was going to challenge myself with those crazy things called flowers.. Why for the life of me can't I get it.. Should be nothing more than Values.. I swear I turn a blind eye and a closed mind..
I just want to say .. The scan is nothing like the real thing It has so many layers of watercolor you could use it for a plate .. I will one day just be able to give a light touch of watercolor and not even give it a second thought.. I need a nerve pill or a stiff drink.... .. maybe a cigarette ...and don't smoke !! I will keep trying ..

Lmfao i been waiting for this one

To me it is stunning but after your words yesterday i can understand a bit more of what you mean

<passes Carol nerve pills and LARGE Brandy>

hey TEXASLADY is that rose done with a brush and block watercolors? or is it watercolor pencil?

I think you have done a great job, much better than I could do. I feel the same way about hair! lol

how adorable!!!! What a great job, I wish I could get the whole animal drawing thing.

I love them and thank you!

Well it was suppose to be watercolor in a tube ,applied with brush ,, however after all is said and done? looks like enamel paint, applied with a shovel.. I am going to have to do this one again after I get my nerve pills and large brandy !!

Ava - colored pencil

Click to view attachment

this is a WOW one for me ,, brilliant

OMG this is gorgeous !!!! would really really love to see a step by step tutorial of your process.. PLEASE !!!

This is truly breathtaking,I actually have tears in my eyes. You are an amazing artist and I'm speachless.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Absolutely amazing.. beautiful work!!

Whoah, I wasn't prepared for such wonderful response. Thanks a lot everybody

Tutorial - I have to do it all over again then, and I dont have the patience for that. I did it in Photoshop and Painter so I have an advantage in the ability to use layers, but the technique is still pretty much the same as with traditional medias. Hatching, blending etc. The biggest difference is that I always etablish the values with black and white first and add color in the final step. With traditional media I would probably do the basic colors first with watercolors and then start building values with colored pencils and white chalk on top of that.

So is this or is this not "colored pencil?" (real colored pencils)

It's actually a mix of black 2B pencils, pastel, colored pencils and chalk - all digital (Painter 11) but nevertheless handdrawn with a grid and a digital pencil (Wacom). Only did minor color adjustments in Photoshop.

Thats pretty interesting. What do you draw on? Is there a digital pad or something?

Yes, I use a Wacom Intuos tablet - a digital drawing pad with a pencil with several exchangable tips to simulate pencils, markers etc. Takes a while to get used to, but it is a really great tool. The biggest challenge though is to make it look "real", it easily get a bit too computer drawn - so its actually a tremendous compliment that you even ask

I think that picking up a pencil and grabbing a piece of paper sounds much easier than what you have done so I think that your creation of Ava is a work of art. It took me forever to figure out how to use the mouse pad on my laptop when I first got it!

Anyway.... you have inspired me to draw Ava's portrait. I haven't picked up a pencil in what seems like forever.I have a tough time drawing my own kids because I know what their expressions and features look like with my eyes closed, so we'll see what happens.

Thank you again!

And so after all is done .. what do you do, just print it out ? Is there a special paper you have to use ? .. Sounds like a nice toy to have and the results look very professional.. My next question is. Will this be the next Gallery phase and how does a Juried Show take to them.. Have you ever entered in to a Juried show with your Wacoms?

Hi Chris.
Beautiful pictures, thank you for stepping in this week!

Methinks thou art too modest!

Still waiting on my pill and Brandy .. and then I will give it another go with less paint and more water.. Ha !

Hy.
I've tried to make the rose. Hope it's good enough. Click to view attachment

Oana.. Great rose.. Is it colored pencil ? I really should try that one again in CP..

I did do that awful rose over again and tried like the dickens to loosen up and go easy on the paint.. They say squinting you will see it lighter and more well heck how do I put it.. less detailed ? Okay one more time .. I used less paint and more water.. still am having trouble.. Perhaps I should stick with what I am more comfortable with and it's not FLOWERS !

Its a beautiful painting again Carol

and completely the other end of the colour scale of your last one

again no advise can be offered from me just praise

I think it's a great rose also, I have a really hard time with flowers and making them look real. You did a great job!

I'm still working on Ava but her nose is giving me a little bit of trouble!

I don't know what you are talking about!!! It's a beautiful rose, and the highlighted part really make it pop! LOVE IT!

Oh hush silly!! This is really beautiful!!

Carol, I think both the first and second attempts are absolutely gorgeous.

Oana, your version of the rose is very soft and romantic, love it!

Thanks guys ,, but honestly ya'll have to know I stressed big time .. I hope that if I keep attempting I will feel more relaxed and not try and white knuckle it.

love your drawings of daisy! great job.... thank you

Drawing is just a hobby, I've never shown anything in a gallery or entered any Juried shows. I've never felt my work is good enough, and I'm not sure if digital art is fully accepted as true art yet.

I usually dont print my work, I just keep it in my computer arhcive. However, I've done a few pieces for friends. The Les Trente Roses Rouges (found in my gallery) for instance was a 30th birthday gift for a friend, and that was plotted on 60x90 cm canvas (yes - REAL canvas). When plotting on canvas I can also use REAL oil or acrylics to enchance and emboss some details, then you get a very cool mix of old and new technique, which I find very interesting



Hehe, I know what you mean. I've been working on a portrait of my father and his wife for almost two years, and I can never get it right. The mind seems to be confused between what the pictures show and what my memory tells me.



I dont understand what you are talking about either, it's absolutely beautiful

Hege .. I love your hobby to death !! I was thinking about those canvas things you can order from Flickr.. You know they take your picture and transpose it on canvas .. I was wondering about how it would look and if it was good quality.. I was talking to a friend the other day and he had bought one of those Wacoms.. said he was still trying to learn.. He also was concerned about Juried Shows and such.. I suppose the best way to find out is to ask a committee.. I also suppose it is what they accept in a category.. Like Mixed media and such. Very Curious.. I swear it looks like some of those magazine photo's or maybe like those enhanced cartoon movies where they look like real people and yet you know they aren't. Amazing what technology does.. Personally I still love the messiness and smells of turps and handling of my brushes and pencils.. I mean I would probably enjoy it for a while and then like most things I would tire of it.
I hope you get the portrait finished one day soon .. Please post it when you do..
Thanks for the kudo's on my attempts with the rose .. I will keep trying , but not anywhere soon.

Hi Hege

I just went on the Wacom website to check it out and I'm really curious about it. How hard is it to learn how to use it and do you recommended it for anyone to try or someone who has more experience in digital art?

Thanks,
Chris

Happy New Year to all!

Happy New Year!!

Beautiful paintings everyone, well done and a Happy new year to you all.
Not too happy with the likeness on this one but its a start using this medium.
Its 12 X 9 using oil pastels.

Its really good love it

I've heard people struggle with it, and like anything else it takes a little practise, but I dont think the tablet it self is hard to learn.

There are three main things to consider.

1. The tablet size: the smaller versions are hard to use for drawing, so I would recommend getting at least the large one. (I have large). The biggger the tablet, the more control you have over your strokes. I'd say getting a small or medium is wasted money, and you're more likely to be frustrated. The setup of the tablet also matters a lot, so should you decide to get one you should experiment with the settings to find one that suits you.

2. For some people it is a bit of a challenge getting used to drawing on the tablet while looking at the monitor. For me this was easy, cause I used to draw rather complex things with my mouse before I got the Wacom. Now it is also possible to get a tablet with a monitor (Cintiq) so you can actually see the result where your pen is. This is a lot more like you are already used to with pen and paper, but the prices are also a lot higher.

3. The software: this is where you'll spend most of your time trying to learn. While you'll most likely get used to the tablet within a week or two, the softwares holds so many possibilities you'll never stop learning. I prefer Photoshop, mainly beause I know it so well through my work, but it can be rather overwhelming, so for those who are new to digital art I'd normally recommend Corel Painter. Painter has all the various brushes and medias included, like watercolor, impasto oil, colored pencils, sketching pencils, markers, pastel and a lot more. It's a lot of fun! And the best part - you dont have to wait for the paint to dry

Corel also offers a bundle with Painter 11 and a Wacom Intuos 4 tablet: http://apps.corel.com/promotions/wacom_px/index.html

OMG Paul !!!! This is just awesome !! Likeness is very good .. I don't know why you don't think so.. An Artist has an impression of what he sees..take a look at those scary flowers I did.. They are how I see them not how they should be.. that's for certain Ha ! Paul I absolutely love it.. I am envious of those who use Pastels.. I never really tried.. Suppose it is because I have so many mediums clogging up my tiny studio and a Master of none to stay with. One more to the mix and I may explode !! Ha !

It's beautiful Paul!! You did a great job

Well due to Carols thing for flowers i have been dreaming about them

i thought the only cure for my sleepness nights and to get Carol out of my head was to have a go at this Flower

Click to view attachment

That is a great drawing of the rose! Well done