… both drawn for fun, while I cowered in the studio with the air conditioner roaring.
First, Slim’s Grandson is finished.
Second, Samson is begun.
The beginnings are always rougher looking than the finishes.
Drawing for Fun
Because I earn a living with art, I rarely draw just for fun. This is not a bad thing, it is just the way it is.
A few weeks ago, Trail Guy and I were visiting with a packer for the Park. He is quite interesting to look at. The sun was shining perfectly on his shirt, and his hat looked imminently drawable (no excess straw weavings like so many hats have). Besides, I have avoided portraits for a long time, and with the current lack of real work, this might be a good opportunity to try faces again. (Hey, maybe I AM on sabbatical for learning!!)
Without him knowing, I took his photo. Later I converted it to black & white, because this helps me be sure it isn’t the color in a photo that is creating the interest.
Then one hot afternoon, I sat in the studio with the A/C roaring, listened to a few Mike Rowe The Way I Heard It podcasts, and did this.
The background will take some thought, because in reality, it is busy and messy.
It doesn’t matter. There is no deadline, nor is there payment awaiting at the end of the job. That’s why I call this “drawing for fun”. And as far as portraiture, there is precious little face that is visible in this picture.
1997 Coming Back to Haunt Me
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A few weeks ago, I got a real letter in the real mail from a real person. She said my phone wasn’t working (this is common), nor was my email (also common), so she resorted to old fashioned means of communicating, which I believe to be superior in many ways, but that isn’t a topic for this post. (You can read about such things here.)
She was part of something called The Green Hotel Restoration Foundation, and they ran out of the 1000 notecards of my pencil drawing of their building. (That’s a burn rate of 38 cards per year, in case you are curious). The foundation wanted more cards.
Back in 1997, I didn’t have much of a computer, nor did I have a digital camera or a scanner. The only record I kept of my work was an occasional photocopy, a slide (remember Kodachrome?), or if the customer had cards or prints made, I’d keep an extra.
The printing company I used back then is out of business, and even if they weren’t, they certainly wouldn’t still have the plates and negatives used 26 years ago (that’s how offset printing use to be accomplished).
I called her, since obviously my email isn’t speaking to her email, and asked her for the original.
Oh-oh. No one knows where it is. We had a great visit, then she told me that her cousin would take over the project.
Her cousin and I had many phone conversations, with lots of ideas batted around to figure out how to get more cards without having the original, and more ideas about where to look for it (the foundation balked at paying me to draw the hotel again), and we reached an impasse.
Then I had an idea. I went rooting around in my many stacks, boxes, drawers, and binders of old cards and prints, and sure enough, I found the Green Hotel.
I scanned and photoshopped it into printing shape, since printing something with an ivory background will not yield good results.
A few more phone conversations, many undeliverable emails and lots of various attempts, and finally, finally, this drawing was in the determined and capable hands of The Green Hotel Restoration Foundation.
Then I wrote a copyright release letter and an invoice for the photoshop work. This wasn’t what one could refer to as highly profitable in terms of monetary gain, but I sure did enjoy talking to these two dynamic women, devoted to history, determined to get a thing accomplished, and very quick-minded.
To top it all off, Cousin Lady lives across the street from my brother-in-law’s parents former home, so despite being in a county to the south of Tulare County, the small-world-ness of my little life is alive and well.
Locals, at CACHE, Part 2
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“Locals” is the name of the current exhibit (i.e. show and sale of art) at CACHE, the new name for Exeter’s Courthouse Gallery and Museum. It stands for Center for Art, Culture, and History in Exeter. THE RECEPTION IS SUNDAY, 2-4 PM.
I began my recorded talk about this pencil drawing, “Big Oak in the Pasture” like this:
“I spent time with a friend who had cattle, and we often passed this large oak, standing by itself in her pasture. Sometimes I looked at the overall shape, and other times I looked at the tangled branches. I think it is a Valley Oak, and it kept calling me back. I took many photos, not sure how they would get used.”
Drawing Because I Can
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Sometimes I draw simply because I love to draw. I try to hold back, because my flat files are full. When I have a good reason and know the drawing will not simply be stored in my files, then get outta my way.
(“Outta” is like “prolly” and “liberry”: words I like in spite of being an editor and a proofreader.)
An acquaintance did me a big favor, so I am drawing her cabin.
I started several months ago, then set it aside because of paid work. My work priority order is this: 1. commissions with a deadline; 2. commissions without a deadline; 3. building up inventory of subjects that will prolly sell; 4. reworking paintings that haven’t sold; 5. whatever I feel like painting or drawing.
This one is considered to be Category #2. The customer isn’t commissioning me because she doesn’t know she is a customer. I am commissioning myself.
What does commission mean? That’s another topic for another blog post.
This is the drawing before I tackled it with Photoshop Junior to prepare it for eventual printing, which most likely won’t happen.
And this is after I converted it to grayscale and erased any errant lines or spots, most likely the result of a scanner screen that WILL NOT come clean, which is most likely the result of scanning paintings that aren’t quite dry, which is most likely the result of being in a hurry, which is most like the result of any number of unfortunate incidents such as not planning ahead, pulling weeds or taking walks instead of working, or choosing to draw something without a deadline instead of painting to build up inventory.
Where were we?
Oh. The finished drawing.
Now I am outta here.
Two Drawings, Mine and Someone Else’s
Hers
A drawing student brought in a photo she had taken, a challenging choice for a beginner. I tell my students, “Pick something you love, because you will be looking at it for a long time”. She loves this scene and worked very diligently.
This is the result of her labors, and I think she did a wonderful job! (I removed her name because she didn’t ask to be on the World Wide Web, and I didn’t ask her permission.)
This is how it looks after I’ve photoshopped it for reproduction purposes, in case my student wants to have copies or cards printed.
Mine
For about five years, I have been working with a writer on a book about tuberculosis. It began as a local story about the TB hospital in Springville (here in Tulare County). When he started researching, the story grew into a different book, a massive project. Through it I have learned much more than I ever expected about “the white plague”, as opposed to “the black plague” (both of which refer to skin color associated with the disease, not race, so no need to get your knickers in a twist.)
The author came to me initially for some drawings for the Springville book, and upon further discussion, hired me to edit for him. We are finally reaching the end of the main text and are now gathering appropriate illustrations.
He couldn’t find a good photo of Virginia Poe (wife of Edgar), so he asked me to draw her from a rather gruesome photo (or painting?) taken shortly after she assumed room temperature.
Are you properly horrified? This fits with Edgar Allan Poe’s writings, doesn’t it? I haven’t read his work, but I learned plenty about him through the process of assisting with the writing of this book. I’ll stick with modern writers for my fiction.
Meanwhile, I think the background needs a little bit more work.
Okay, all better now. I also remembered to sign the drawing. 
Drawing While Waiting
As of January 23, I hadn’t heard from the big Catholic church in Visalia as to when I may begin the two murals. This meant lots of free time.
My studio is in two parts: the painting workshop and the studio where I draw and do business-like tasks. The workshop is cold and dark on overcast days, and just cold on sunny days in winter. I could light the stove/furnace, but it is a little bit scary, takes a long time for the heat to reach the easels on the other end of the room, and it upsets the cats because I keep the doors closed. The studio is a little easier to heat, but I don’t have a lot of work in there right now.
Honestly, I like to be in the living room with the wood stove, Trail Guy, and sometimes Pippin.
I got asked to attend a meeting in Exeter, and didn’t want to drive 50 miles just to listen and talk. So, the leader of the meeting called me and used the phone speaker while I drew. Very nice. This makes for a very good time to work on a drawing.
Working from top to bottom, left to right, just inching along, layering, making up trees, trunks, and branches. This is a thank you gift for someone who most likely doesn’t read my blog. She did something very nice for me, and since I have nothing pressing and love to draw, it’s a natural activity to partake in while listening to people talk. That is, when I am not finding excuses to stay in the house.
How to Draw with Graphite and Colored Pencils, Ch. 5
Today you will see what a piece of cake it is to add color to a little part of a pencil drawing. Since you have slept since I showed you how to complete the graphite pencil part, here it is again. The right edge is gray because either the scanner is lying about having a 12″ bed or the paper is lying about being 12″. 
ADDING COLOR: A decision about which set of colored pencils to use
The first step was to decide which set of colored pencils to use. Because nobody cares if I match the shade of red exactlY, I chose the simplest, easiest to use set of twelve: Blackwing Colors. 
On my laptop, I enlarged the photo so that I could study the darks and lights in the chair.
Darkest colors first: brown
My method of using color (and graphite) is to put down the darkest colors first. Because someone somewhere sometime chewed me out for using black (Pray tell, Mr. Chew-Out, why is black manufactured if its use is forbidden?), I started with brown. Using a sharp point and a light touch, with tiny motions in order to get it into all the cracks and crevices of the cratery paper, I put brown everywhere that seemed right. 
Purple
Next, I added purple over the top of the brown, and put it in new places that seemed to want it. This might sound like mysterious gobbledygook, but if we were sitting together, I would point out which of those places need which color and why. However, I have other projects ahead. So, trust your instinct when you work on your own picture, because after all, it’s only paper! 
Red
Now it is time for red. I covered over the brown and purple, and put red on the places that appeared to be solidly red without those other colors dulling or darkening it. This time I did more layers, because those other colors do make me wonder if I have wrecked the less red places. Even with experience, an artist can be full of doubt, because every project is brand new.
I do much of this sort of thing under my magnifier in order to not cross over the lines and to try to fill in the dips a little better. I’ve never been this old before, so I am relying more and more on my giant magnifying glass with a light bulb attached. 
Pink
For the light red places, instead of trying to make my red pencil be less red, I chose pink. Why Blackwing considers pink to be one of the 12 basic colors is a mystery to me, but instead of trying to solve it, I just go with it. 
More Red
Finally, I covered everything again with red, including the pink parts, changing pressure and amount of layering with how dark or light the photo showed. If I was really getting into the minutia here, I’d probably sharpen my pencil even more and work under the magnifier to really fill in those tiny craters. But as a cowboy once said to his fence builders, “This ain’t no piany yer buildin’”. 
FINISHED!
In studying the metal chair legs, I decided that regular graphite pencil would do just fine. Again, I worked under the magnifer, sharpening the edges of the chair, adding a bit of darkness to indicate more shadow behind the chair and to separate the colored portion from the graphite, and generally just tidying up the whole little area. The shiny parts of the metal legs are plain paper, no pencil at all.
As I scanned the entire piece a final time, I realized that my scanner settings were still darker than normal for a pencil drawing. This final photo is the way it is supposed to be, complete with eensy little signature (done under the magnifier, of course.) 
And thus we conclude my first tutorial, How to Draw With Graphite and Colored Pencils.
How to Draw with Graphite and Colored Pencils, Ch. 2
Happy Birthday, Trail Guy!
Hello, my guinea pig friends! Today I continue testing out my tutorial writing skills.
The Next Steps
Step five: Straighten out the lines. It is NOT “cheating” to use straight edges. If it took a tool to build the actual item, it most likely will take a tool to draw it accurately. There is quite a bit of erasing at this stage, and I use the erasing shield to remove the tiny lines that are wrong. I want my work to be clean and accurate, without hairy or double (or triple) sketchy lines. 
ANTI-SMEAR TACTIC: When you erase, you make crumbs. If you flick them with your hand, you will smear. If you blow, you might spit. (Yes, spit happens). Use a drafting brush, a soft paint brush, an antique shaving brush, whatever you have.
Step six: start shading. Shading is the fun part, the party! It is when things come alive with textures and depth. Because I am right handed, I start on the left and the top. This keeps me from dragging my hand across the shaded parts and smearing it.
I start with a 4B, using the side of the lead. The photo has lots of indiscernible blobs in the window, so I chose to just do some fuzzy sloping strokes, almost a painting technique. Keep the pressure very light, because you can always add more, but it is a hassle to erase if you get too strong in the beginning. 
The scan looks much darker than the actual drawing because I want the texture to show.
PENCIL TALK: There is no industry standard, so the same pencils look different in different brands. “B” means black; “H” stands for hard. The higher the number with the B or H, the more of that particular quality. For example, 4B is blacker (and softer) than 2B; 6H is harder (and lighter) than 4H. HB is smack dab in the middle, and is the equivalent of a #2 pencil, which is a completely different pencil rating system.
Step seven: Continue layering. Over the 4B, I put 2B using the same type of strokes, and extended it to some new areas, then followed with HB layered on top of the previous layers, and ended with 2H, on top of the previous layers and on the rest of the glass on the window. I just kept layering, working on the glass and the wood surrounding it. I build my shades with many layers rather than pressure, and mostly use the side of the lead rather than the point. Then I come back with a point to sharpen the edges. 
I think we will have about 2 more days of this tutorial, and then I’ll abruptly change topics so I don’t lose my readers who are bored with watching paint dry.
How to draw with graphite and colored pencils, Ch. 1
My colored pencil artist friend Carrie Lewis asked me to write a tutorial, showing the steps of completing a drawing with pencil and colored pencil.
I said, “How do I do that?”
She offered to type while I talk through the steps, but I realized we’d have to be on the phone for about 8 hours.
So, I chose a photo, started drawing, photographing the steps, and writing about it. Well, yes, sort of, sort of not.
The first session was confusing. I took notes, was sure I’d remember what they meant in order to transcribe them later.
I photographed a few things, and also scanned the drawing as I went along, but then it was tricky to figure out which order all the pictures went in. Then, I realized there is a lot of information that doesn’t fall in line with the steps.
I’ve decided to post the whole tutorial here on my blog, in 5 chapters. Maybe we can tighten it up together.
How to draw with pencils (and later, add some color)
The first four steps
Step one: Choose your photo. I chose this because the red chair is a good candidate to be drawn in colored pencil, with everything else in graphite. You can just tint things at the end of a drawing or you can choose a specific item to do in full color. I prefer the latter method. 
Step two: crop the photo. Beginners often feel chained to exactly what is in front of them. Over time and with experience, we learn what matters and what doesn’t, and eventually decide that we are the boss of our own artwork.
TOOLS: I use the items in the photo, working at a slanted drafting table. T-square, ruler (with picas so I don’t have to deal with fractions), drafting brush, erasing shield, calculator, pencil sharpener that catches its own crumbs, and Tombow pencils, from 4B to 2H, along with a couple of erasers that don’t show. I prefer the Mars white plastic, but seem to have lost mine. Because I began drawing so lightly, the kneadable eraser works, but it is too ugly to photograph. (It looks like gray chewed gum, gross.) 
Step three: draw the borders, making a size that is proportional to the photo. Measure, use math, eyeball it—whatever works best for you. I measure and use tools. It is always best to have margins, so you don’t view the edge of your paper as the edge of your drawing. If you misjudge sizes while drawing, this will give your drawing room to grow. It also prevents a signing or framing problem, should you decide to get it framed. I draw the border with a sharp point on an HB, using a very light touch. I might want to move the border later, draw exactly up to it, or draw over it without it showing through. 
Step four: Start figuring out where things are going to go. Look for the main items, in this case, the door and the chair. Draw very very lightly. My lines barely show, so I darkened the lines (just on the photo using my scanner) in order for you to see them. 
DISCLAIMER: I chose to alter the picture, to appear as if we are looking straight on the scene rather than from an angle. In most pictures, vertical is always vertical. It is the horizontal surfaces and lines and edges that disappear off toward vanishing points. However, I decided to keep the horizontals and verticals all true to a straight on view rather than slightly angled, as the photo shows. THIS IS REALLY HARD TO DO WHEN YOU ARE STARTING OUT, so you will have less trouble if you just stick to the photo.
Tomorrow: the next steps.