Today I Created

I’m soooo behind on the Drawing Lab meetup that Angie is hosting. Ever since I started Carla Sonheim’s “The Art of Silliness 4″ online class, it’s just been harder and harder to keep up. One of these days I’ll get caught back up, but considering this is all supposed to be FOR FUN, it seems stupid to stress about it, no?

So Drawing Lab 6- Index Card Multiples (From Carla Sonheim’s Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists)

Assignment- Draw one dog, one pose, 20 times, using a black chisel-point marker & a stack of index cards.
Observations- So yeah… this kind of sucked. I never really felt like I got into a groove with these. Half the time they didn’t even seem to look like dogs! Each drawing felt more awkward than the last. I made dots in the top right corner of dogs that I didn’t totally hate, but even now, the ones I like have changed.

Conclusions- 1) This was an exercise in getting closer to developing your style. I think I need to draw about 100 more of these dogs- lol!

2) Carla offered some “Taking It Further” suggestions for things to do with your drawings. One was to “doodle it” up. I might try that to see if I can’t “rescue” one of these little doggies and turn it into something I actually like. I’ll post it if I find the time to do that.

Yes, I finally caught up on my Drawing Lab assignments! (Recap- Angie Allen’s Drawing Lab Weekly Meetup/Carla Sonheim’s book, Drawing Lab/spending time getting comfy drawing- any of this ringing a bell?)

Drawing Labs 4 and 5 both dealt with drawing animals at the zoo. I knew this assignment was coming up, as was a family trip to the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. I also knew that drawing at the zoo with my family and friends in tow wasn’t the most practical idea, so I shot some videos of critters to draw later.

The Assignments:

Drawing Lab #4-

I’m not sure if drawing in public was part of this lesson here, but I’m not down for that just yet if it was. Watching and trying to catch the big shapes of the animals was where I focused my energy. I drew some stingrays that my son was fed and petted. I don’t know what it is about stingrays that I love so much, but I see a fabric collection based on them is in my future. Anyhow, the drawings-

I finally towards the end got the hang of how they flapped their wings and how to draw that. So there’s that.

Drawing Lab 5-

More zoo animals, only this time experimenting with different pencils.

I’ve always found myself drawn to the softer leads with their softer, more forgiving lines, although they do tend to smear easier.

Oh, and that freaky looking creature in the center? Is actually supposed to be an alligator drawn from above while he’s swimming. I’ll just go ahead and say, “You’re welcome!” because honestly, any misgivings you have about your own drawing skills should be laid to rest with that gem- lol!

Final Observations:

Admittedly, I procrastinated like a mofo on these assignments. I don’t know if it was having to sit at my desk to watch the zoo videos while doing this assignment or something about the specific assignments that kept me from completing them on time, but I’m glad it’s over. And honestly, I probably spent more time thinking about NOT wanting to do the assignment, than doing the assignments.

So maybe that’s the lesson I learned here…