Illustration Friday: Tree

I absolutely love trees.  I can tell you, describe for you, every single tree that I've been able to see outside of every single place I have ever lived in my life--the row of 100 year old maple trees outside of my childhood bedroom window, the larch tree outside my dorm room window in college one year which I thought died in the fall, and I was so happy when it came back to life in the spring, the elm trees with their swirling yellow leaves in the fall in Minneapolis and the giant sweet gum tree that towered over the house across the street, and....I really could go on and on.

But I rarely draw trees from life.  I'm not sure why.  I think it's enough to just see them.

I often "doodle" trees though.  The top one here is a tree I made on Corel Painter while talking on the phone.  And the bottom one is one I made this afternoon with water soluable painting crayons, water color, pencil and India ink.

Actually, I had an idea about these, and, as I learned from doing (or rather, attempting to do) the 29 Faces in September challenge, making one of anything doesn't teach you a whole lot.  You have to do a bunch.  So I started a bunch, and here's the first one.  The second one is drying, but I don't like it nearly so much.  

Old and New Projects

So an old project....making fairly quick sketches from pictures in the newspaper.  "Skewed sketches", if you will, where the initial sketch is very quick and loose, and then you slow down to render it, as if those distortions were reality.  I haven't done any in awhile, but they feel like good practice to me.  I've noticed, though, that over time, they've gotten less and less "skewed."  I wonder what's up with that.  If you click on the "Skewed Sketches" tab on the right, you can see all of them, and see what I mean.....

And the new project--interiors--is something I've meant to tackle for a long time.  I just draw people, and I feel very limited in that I have no idea how to draw the space AROUND the people.  So I'm going to (I hope) practice drawing spaces.  Interiors,  in particular, since it's heading towards winter (though I won't believe that until I feel it).  

So here's the first one, at a meeting, where I would have much preferred to simply draw the people (the kind kind people who have never objected to me drawing them during these monthly meetings).  But no, I attempted the space, which is so much less interesting, but, I've decided, necessary.

Illustration Friday: Sky

The Illustration Friday topic is "Sky".  Oh well.  This was an attempt.  I changed the obnoxious black splatters to white.  They were too heavy.  It's still awkward.  I might try another one.

Mermaid Fiddler

So this is for the topic "Water" for Illustration Friday.  I actually started it several weeks ago and then stopped working on it, and when the topic came up, I thought, "Good, here's my chance to actually finish this."  I've been working on it all week, and I had hoped to get it done before a new topic was posted, but alas, I did not.

The problem was that I didn't work out the tones before I started, and I was frustrated because you couldn't tell what was what.  My son came in this morning as I was deciding that I was finished even though I was unsatisfied, and said, "Cool!  Oh wait, there's are THINGS in there;  I thought it was just a cool doodle of shapes."  Exactly!

I seem to have a harder time with bigger pictures.  This one is 11" X 11".  More room to get distracted and lose your focus in.

But I am done, and now I will start something for this week's "Sky" topic.

29 Faces--#17 and #18

So--#17 and #18.  When I start a batch, I always finish the ones I like the best first, and then the dregs.  And this is the dregs.  I think there's another one or two around somewhere, but they must have gotten buried under some other stuff.  I AM going to finish these 29 faces, even though September is long-gone.

29 Faces--#16

At this rate, I won't get done with the 29 Faces in September until December.  Alas.  I like this one a lot.

29 Faces--#15

The 29 Faces in September challenge may be done, but I am not.  I had to take a couple weeks break from it, but here's the first of the next round.  I am learning some things about doing these.