Lesson 3 - Practicing with Black and White Charcoal Pencils

5-Minute Studies

We had 5 minutes to do each study, the one with the two German Shepherds I took 5 minutes for each dog.

Long-Haired Dog

Our next assignment was to choose a cat or dog with long hair to draw.  I thought this Yorkie has the sweetest scruffy face.  He is intentionally left unfinished with the dark border and lettering added to help balance the weight of the finished left side and to show a little of the "process" that went into creating him.

YORKIE

4B Pencil on Strathmore Bristol Vellum

8x10 design

11x14 exterior mat dimensions

Short Haired Cat

I really like this kitty, she looks a lot like my cat, Tia.

Short-haired Cat

4B Pencil on Strathmore Bristol Vellum

Drawing Dogs & Cats - New Online Class

On the heels of the Watercolor Lettering Class I started Val Webb's on-line Drawing Cats & Dogs Class.  She is a great teacher and it is good to be back drawing again.  I forgot how long it takes to draw something with care and not with the intent to then paint it.  Basically we are just using 4B pencils and eraser so far.

The first couple of lessons were practicing drawing marks with a pointed and beveled edge pencil and lifting with a kneaded eraser.  We also experimented with different types of strokes to achieve the look of long silky hair, short curly fur and wavy long fur, we also worked on eyes for both cats and dogs and noses.

OOPS! Need to update the blog!

I've been taking an on-line Watercolor Lettering class by Val Webb and have since moved on to her current class, Drawing Cats & Dogs.  I've been diligent in posting our the homework site but not here on my own blog.  Let's see if I can bring us all up to date....


 This lesson was one of my favorite.  We chose a word and decorated each letter inside a box.  I chose my friend, Ginger, who adores cats.  I was pretty happy with her response when I presented her with it. :)

I had so much fun with the previous assignment that I decided to do it again, this time my husband came up with the idea to commemorate our recent trip to Maui where we celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary - amazing he has put up with me this long!  

The next assignment is called a CRAZY QUILT.  The idea is to pick a poem, lyric, etc. and incorporate it into a patchwork-style painting.  I couldn't think of a poem I liked so I made up my own words keeping in theme with my "trying to find Zen" concept for 2013.

The final project was another type of CRAZY QUILT but this time having a larger central picture.
Because I had already started the next course, Drawing Cats & Dogs, but had one more Watercolor Lettering project to do I decided to combine them.  So this is my sketched (and then painted) kitty and my quote from one of Jimmy Buffet's songs, "Wrinkles will only go where the smile has been".  Recognize my zen thing continuing on here? :)  This little guy was actually looking really good in my sketch but I wanted to paint him so he fit in better with the overall project.  I tried to recapture the loosey-goosey feel of the portrait I had done previously of Mollie but I'm not sure I quite got there.  Either way, I am entirely pleased with all that I learned in Val Webb's class and my projects.

Illuminating Letters - What Fun!

For the first part of this lesson by Val Webb we drew our letter, painted the inside and used white ink to added curlicues and designs inside the letter itself.  Today we expanded upon that same design and decorated the outside area.  It was so relaxing and fun that I forgot to plan dinner! :)