I slowed right down for this portrait of Sktchy muse Rocio and I think it shows. I feel this is a return to my traditional Copic style and I’m so pleased I’ve found my way back.
I drew this in a Midori cotton sketchbook with Copic markers and Prismacolor coloured pencils.
I haven’t drawn on my iPad so much recently, I’m not sure why. Maybe because I do most of my iPad drawing in the evening and evenings are when I’ve been finding it hardest to focus during lockdown. But it was good to sit and really try to focus on this portrait, and especially to try to experiment with some techniques and brushes rather than going for the ones I usually use. I really like the sheen I got on Daria’s cheek and nose, though there are other parts of the portrait I’m less happy with, especially that hand. But all in all it was a good exercise.
I drew this on an iPad Pro with a 2nd Gen Apple Pencil using the Procreate app.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been reading books (both fiction and non-fiction) written by black women in an attempt to educate myself more and become a better ally to the BLM movement. Although I’ve had many black friends throughout my life I never realised until I read these books how fundamentally different black hair is to care for from my very thick curly Caucasian hair. And hair is a big theme in every book I’ve read so far! So when I saw Joy’s beautiful photo on Sktchy I really wanted to draw her hair. I spent longer on it than I have on any hair I think I’ve ever drawn and I still don’t think I’ve really captured its beauty, but it’s a start.
I drew Joy in my Midori Cotton sketchbook with Copic markers and Prismacolor coloured pencils.
I spent a lot of time on this portrait of Monika but eventually ran out of steam and really didn’t want to work on it any more. This is my problem with both ballpoint pen and coloured pencil drawings – they take a lot of work to finish well. Sometimes they look good at a half done stage but you really have judge well when to stop. I worked on this one too long, past that stage so it really needs a lot more work to look much more finished to look good again. But that is a useful lesson for me in itself.
I drew this in an Emilio Braga notebook with Bic 4-way multicolour ballpoint pens.
Day 2 of my drawing therapy and I’ve drawn Big Al, Sktchy artist and muse. I used a new dip pen I bought recently and India ink – hence the blob of ink on Al’s ear. I forgot that pen and ink can be messy! But it’s also fun.
I made this portrait in my Moleskine watercolour sketchbook with pen and ink, Zecchi watercolours , Prismacolor coloured pencils and a white gel pen.
As those of you who’ve been following my blog these past few months will know I’ve been struggling with my mental health and with finding the motivation to draw since the coronavirus lockdown in the UK. I’m having some talking therapy now and my therapist has giving me homework this week of doing 1-2 hours drawing every day! So this portrait of Cilla is my homework for Day 1.
I drew Cilla in my Midori Cotton sketchbook with Copic markers and Prismacolor coloured pencils.
I’ve been struggling a little bit these past few days to find either the time or the motivation for drawing. I’m feeling slightly overwhelmed again with work and I’m so tired when I’m not working it’s hard to settle down to drawing. But I have managed a Procreate drawing of Ada over several days – but boy was it hard work!
The Brighton-based life drawing school “Draw Brighton” started a Patreon at the beginning of the Coronavirus lockdown to provide an income to help support the teachers and life models while the school is closed. I’m a patron and receive enormous bundles of amazing photos to draw from every month but I haven’t got around to drawing from many of them. But finally I painted this from one of their “Drawing Circus” collections. I’m afraid I don’t know the models name.
I painted this in my Moleskine watercolour sketchbook with Zecchi Toscana watercolours and finished it with Prismacolor coloured pencils.
If you’d like to know more about Draw Brighton and/or their Patreon you can find more details here.
This is Beata, drawn from Sktchy for this week’s Sktchy Blended Portrait Party. I drew the portrait with Copic markers and Prismacolor coloured pencils in a Midori cotton sketchbook.
I drew Sassa in my small Emilio Braga notebook with Bic ballpoint pens. It’s always a little strange seeing a scan of a small portrait write larger on my iPad or laptop screen – my pen strokes look so much larger and every error is magnified. Sassa’s ear, which isn’t right in my small drawing, is so much more obviously wrong here. But I remind myself that it doesn’t really matter – sharing is simply what keeps me accountable, what makes me keep drawing. It’s the process that really matters, not the outcome.
This is just the fourth drawing in my Emilio Braga notebook and already the notebook is starting to come apart at the seams. I love the paper – it’s a great surface for drawing on with ballpoints. But the notebooks are just that, notebooks designed for writing in, not drawing in. They are clearly not designed for the fairly heavy handling of my ballpoint pen drawing. It seems to be way that I keep turning the book when I’m hatching that is pulling on the stitching. I’m quite frustrated anyway that it doesn’t seem to be up to the job and I might have to abandon it.
drawing faces 