Making Marks

All about Drawing and embracing imperfection

Michael Nobbs is fanning the flames of the recent revival in everyday drawing. I've been seeing evidence of increasing numbers of people drawing, and items like Start to Draw Your Life, are encouraging regular folks to quit with the idea that they either need to draw like Michelangelo or give up. There's a happy medium which is to enjoy the marks that you make to record your observations, ideas and doodles.

I took art classes in college and decided I wasn't good enough. Much later in life I discovered artistic rubber stamps and was excited that other people had drawn images I could use. Now I'm interested in making my own images. We are all going to have our own path, and I'm so grateful for encouragement from people like Michael Nobbs. His other free inspiration is 75 Ways to Draw More.

In another era of my life, I would have been really upset that the printer goofed and pulled two pages as I was trying to follow the directions and print the Start to Draw booklet. This time, I just MacGyvered the pages to make it work and thought that my sketchbook will be full of little blips to add character and interest.

Fragments

I swear I saw a mouse scurry into my studio office the other night when I was brushing my teeth. (One of my night-time rituals is to brush while I survey what needs to be done the next day.)

My sweet husband came to the rescue with a bucket to trap the thing, and he set about looking through the stack of flat paper I have behind the door. No mouse to be found. Michael suggested that midnight was not a good time to tear my office studio apart to look for a furry beast, and I agreed. (I'll ignore the damage that could be done and accept that I probably don't know half of what goes on in our house in terms of unwanted guests.)

The next day I sorted through the paper to put it back and found a file with painted paper from a forgotten project. I still love the house.

I also sorted through my papers from the final few days of school, including some meeting notes. I found these little sketches and am proud that they actually look like humans. However, they most certainly don't look like the "models".

Worn - Illustration Friday

This week's theme for Illustration Friday is worn. In this case, Maxine finally figured out what to do with worn out socks. 

Like many recent illustrations, I used several media including china marker, colored pencil, gel pen and watercolor. 

See the rest of my blog here. See the rest of my Illustration Friday drawings here. See my Etsy shop (with illustrations) here.

Fortune Friday

With patience, mulberry leaves will become a silk gown.

Penguin Love

As I work on developing shading and adding different values to my work, I've been taking successful sketches to translate into color. It's more challenging than I would have guessed. It's much easier for me to think about colors than value. However, in a class I took from Fred Mullett, he said that all color is subordinate to value. I can see how this is true and I need to adjust my vision.

These penguins are oil pastel on watercolor paper. I will be interpreting the same image using at least one other mixed media technique. My goal is to compare what I like and don't like as my style and media preferences continue to evolve.

Drifting - Illustration Friday

This week's theme for Illustration Friday is drifting. I immediately thought of times in high school when friends and I drifted down the Sandy River in inner tubes. 

Like my previous illustration, I used several media in this illustration - oil marker (Sharpie), china marker, colored pencil, pen and watercolor. The black pen wasn't waterproof, so that was a problem.

See the rest of my blog here. See the rest of my Illustration Friday drawings here. See my Etsy shop (with illustrations) here.

Magazine Doodle Game

I made up a new game/drawing exercise where I find a suitable magazine picture and add a little drawing. This kept me entertained one recent weekend. It turned out to be quite fun!

What magazine and images would attract you?

Fortune Friday

The heart is wiser than the intellect.

More Metamorphosis

Here's another painting that I revised with oil pastels on top of watercolor. In this case, softening the background helped to push it back and keep it from competing too much with the bird. I also added some landscape details in the front which added some interest. The biggest improvement, however, was adding highlights and deepening colors in the bird.

Here's the original drawing.

I like the original, but I like the revision better. I need to pay attention to the backgrounds from the beginning of work on a piece.

Unfold - Illustration Friday

This week's illustration is truly mixed media - oil marker (Sharpie), china marker, colored pencil and watercolor. I like the mixture! In the original, her eyes are much brighter. I'll be learning Photoshop this summer and maybe I'll learn how to adjust things like that.

This week's theme for Illustration Friday is unfold. I love seeing what paper doll chains look like when they unfold.

See the rest of my blog here. See the rest of my Illustration Friday drawings here. See my Etsy shop (with illustrations) here.