Wet 'n' Wild

I have a bit of catching up to do on posting work from drawing class but I just wanted to get this one posted right now.

I love, love, love working with ink and we learned a new technique last week. I really wish our teacher showed us this technique last semester because I would have used it in my final project.

It's called "wet in wet" and you first wet the area you are working on with a paint brush loaded with water. Then you dip the brush in the tiniest amount of ink and dab it into the wet paper and watch as the paper sucks it up and spreads it across the wetted surface. It's the coolest thing ever and easily my favorite of all our assignments.

The still life above is the second one I did. The first one I did is still at school. We get to display them in a showcase in the hallway for a couple of weeks. This one is my favorite, though. We each had to pick our own subjects to drawn and after I picked the rose I had second thoughts. But now I'm glad I did. I love it. I'm not even done with it but wanted to show you. I have to add more of a shadow to the right of the little cup.

I also wanted to show you a very cool example of the process. Our teacher sent this video she found on youtube. He's using some kind of water bottle, but it's the same basic technique:

Drawn To You

Here are some pen and ink plant studies from my drawing 1 class.

Here is my final project I talked about in a previous post.

click images for larger view

If you remember, we had to create a creature of land, sea or air from our imagination using plants as the texture for the creatures skin/body as well as to include an anatomical bone somewhere in it. Don't ask me what the names are of the plants I used. I only know that one of them is a gingko (if you can find it). And the bone is the coccyx. I can't help it. I find humor in that bone, because I've fallen on it a lot in life, I guess.

My teacher seemed to like, what I will refer to as, "The EYE". She asked what my thought process was for it. Long story short, I wanted a winged creature coming out of a picture frame which was floating above the ocean, but in the end it kind of morphed into this all-seeing eye rising from the sea.

Here is my initial sketch where the idea of the picture frame might be a bit more apparent...or not.

See, the waves are coming out of the frame, which is blank, because I was basically stuck for an idea. I guess I'm not a natural in the creature department. Backgrounds don't seem to be a problem, though. =)

After all that, I am happy to report that I received an "A" in the class and I can't wait for drawing 2 next semester.

Pen & Ink, I Think I've Found True Love

Last week we started working with Pen & Ink. What a way to end the semester. This is by far my favorite medium for drawing. Here are a few of the drawings I did last night. The Jug and book were drawn from a handout we were given. Do you know what the other two are? No, they are not chickens or insects. They are two different views of a vertebra from some animal. Which animal, I do not know. I forgot what the professor said. I should have taken a picture of it. It's pretty small, about 2-3 inches. I tried a quick search on-line, but couldn't find it. If anyone can figure it out, let me know.

Our final exam project is to create a new creature of land or sea in pen & ink using only plant life (leaves, branches, flowers, etc.) as the texture of its outer layers. We also have to insert a protruding bone somewhere.

Interesting? Confusing? Scary? Maybe a little. I already have a background in mind for my creature. Now I just have to search my imagination to create this strange new species. Some no-no's were: NO Fairies (sorry Maria). NO Angels. NO mermaids. And most importantly, NO "cute". 

We have until the end of the semester to finish it. We saw a slide show last night of previous student work with examples of what she does and doesn't want. This is going to be fun.

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics, Dee. ;)

Doodle 1: Let's Eat