.. and more gourds...

I first drew this with a dip pen and black ink, then water colored it in.  I wanted to try a pad of "Illustration" paper by Canson.  It worked out pretty good with the ink and watercolor.

This drawing is with pen and ink, on Canson "Classic Cream" Drawing paper.  9x12 inch pad.

Gourds drawing

Gourds, a cloth and an acorn...    Graphite pencil drawing on Canson "Classic Cream" Drawing paper

More Gourds...

This pad of drawing paper is Canson "Classic Cream",  the charcoal pencil works very nicely on it, and also pastels!

Another gourd drawing...

Another drawing of my little gourds, this one is graphite, and white charcoal on Ingres paper.  I think I will wind up doing a painting of one of these drawings.

More gourd drawings...

I made a little change to the one above,  and added the acorn.  I thought it made a nice addition to the composition.
And.. I colored in my other drawing (below) with pastels...

Pastel on Canson paper

I think it might be nice to mat and frame some of these.

Little Gourds

It's that time of year!  I bought a few of these colorful little gourds to draw and paint.  I love their shapes and colors.  

I did this drawing with charcoal pencil, and white chalk on light gray colored Canson Ingres paper. 

Charcoal and Pastel

Cloth, lemon, cup and vase.   Charcoal and white charcoal on Ingres paper.  I love this type of drawing- black and white on mid-toned paper. 

A crab apple from a tree in my backyard.  These drawing are done on a pad of Strathmore charcoal paper. 

The one on top is graphite pencil and white charcoal.  The one on bottom is charcoal and colored with pastel pencil.  I enjoyed doing these drawings and later, picked a few more apples and did an oil painting of them.

Color with Pastel

I did this drawing a week or two ago, and every since, every time I see it I'd want to color it in.  I finally couldn't resist and colored it with my pastels.  I didn't have any of the items set up for reference, so it was just sort of colored in by imagination.  It was so fun, and I really liked the feel of the pastels on this type of paper, it is Canson Ingres paper.  Scroll down the page a bit to see how it looked in black and white.

Charcoal drawings

I really like this drawing, It is charcoal on Canson charcoal paper.  I added the virtual frame to see how it might look matted.
The next drawing I did of some left over items I had put aside as I tried to arrange a still life.  I wound up liking the mix of items better than anything I arranged myself.

"Mannikin and Fruit"  9.5x12 inches on Ingres paper

Below is a charcoal drawing on 9x 12 in. Canson Pastel paper ( Mi Teintes) This mannikin is larger than the little one above... this mannikin is a foot tall :-)

Charcoal

I've been distracted from my pastels for the moment in favor of some charcoal!  I wanted to draw with charcoal, and white chalk on gray paper.  I have a pad of Canson charcoal paper and some Canson Ingres paper (one big sheet that I cut into smaller pieces).  I did these sketches of black plums and cloth this afternoon and I loved it so much!  I think I like the charcoal paper better than the Ingres.. the Ingres has a line through it that shows up as you color over it.  I'm not so sure I like how it stands out.  I suppose it wouldn't be so obvious if I had used the whole sheet for a large drawing.  I used soft, medium and hard charcoal pencils and a white charcoal pencil.  I also plan to try a drawing on Canson Mi Teintes paper too, to see how that comes out.

 

charcoal and white chalk on Canson charcoal paper(appox. 8x10 inches)

Charcoal and white chalk on Canson Ingres paper

Pastels

Over the years, every so often, my fascination with pastels comes back to me.  And, over the years I have accumulated lots of different kinds of pastels, and papers.  I usually would try them, and discover I didn't like it as much as painting and go back to oils.  But, as time goes by I like to go back and play with them again.
  This drawing of spring flowers,  I did with pencil, but decided to color it in and used my pastels.  It is in a "Cachet" Earthbound sketch book, that has tan colored paper.  The paper is smooth unlike pastel paper, but it worked out nicely just the same. This got me curious to try some more drawings on some different pastel papers I have. 

Magnolia bloom, Narcissus and daffodil.

I did these little drawings below on the Sennelier La Carte, which holds the pastel well, makes a nice line, and keeps holding as you layer.  One draw back.... I found that the surface is water soluble.  So, any techniques using water on this paper won't work out. 

Orange on folded cloth.  I did an oil painting with this same folded cloth since I liked it so much.

 

sketches of fruit, cloth and an iris

close up (4x4 section)

I also did some drawings on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch paper, which is a "sanded" paper that comes in the same colors as the regular Mi-Teintes pastel paper.  I also did drawings on Art Spectrum Colorfix paper, and regular Mi Teirntes paper... I'll take pictures and post them as I have time.
(I also wonder... I've always called a work in pastel a "drawing"... but most of the time I read about pastels, it is refered to as a "painting".  I've never understood why.  I figure a 'painting' is made with paint.  I hope it is alright that I am referring to my pastel drawings as drawings, because that's what they are to me. )

Charcoal pencil drawing

charcoal, and white pastel on gray toned paper

I haven't had much time for painting lately, so I've been doing some drawings.  I thought I'd post this one since it was my favorite.   I think it would make a nice painting too.  I love the shapes in the layers of cloth. 

Daffodil pencil drawing and pear in pastel,,,

 

 I recently painted a picture of a daffodil and a pear... I thought I'd do a pencil sketch of the daffodils.  I took my time cross hatching lightly all the shading gradually getting darker and darker tones.  It was a nice exercise to do. 
Any time I get a new pad of paper, I try out all my different pens and pencils on it, pastels too, and even a little watercolor just to see what might work nicely on it.  Using pastels on this little sketch pad, I drew this pear, and thought about how nice and loose it looked.  It seemed easier to draw than to paint.  Not that this would be a finished drawing, but I think I should try to paint more like I draw.  Maybe things would come out with a more relaxed and casual look to them.

Dip pen and ink, a butterfly drawing...

I stayed up late, listening to cool music on Pandora radio, and having fun drawing with my dip pen and ink.  I used a piece of Strathmore mixed media paper, with a wash of watercolor to tone it.  I started with pencil to sketch in the butterflies, then used brown ink with my smallest dip pen nib to draw.

As I got further into the drawing, I had an idea to use my camera on the video setting to take a video while I drew.  I thought it would be fun to watch it back.  It wasn't easy holding the camera near my chin with one hand and drawing with the other, but I gave it a try.  I wasn't focusing on what was in the view finder, just on what I was drawing, so, my pen is out of the picture here and there... oh well.
 I've never posted a video before on the blog, so I thought I might try and see if it worked out. 

The video file wouldn't load to blogger from my own file, so I tried putting on youtube first then adding it, and that seems to work.  (it takes foooorrrr eveeerrrrrrrrr to upload to youtube though, wow!  like an hour for a 5 minute video)

And...in the end, I added black ink, then some white charcoal pencil to highlight, and color pencil for a bit of color.    I stayed up too late, but had a lovely peaceful time just doing what I love to do ;)

Dip pen and ink

Things on my desk

I got a set of Speedball dip pens, and some black ink and had fun sketching in a new pad of Strathmore Mixed Media paper.  The paper is nice and smooth, and the pen nibs didn't scratch into it or catch.  So nice to draw with!!  I added some watercolor with a brush after.

Drawings on Toned gray sketch paper

I have a small pad of Strathmore Toned gray sketch paper that I've been drawing in, thought I'd show a couple...

 .. I set up some chess pieces and drew them, I liked this one the best.  I'm thinking I might try a painting of it.

Also just felt like doodling with black ink and highlighted with white.