Hello everyone, its been awhile since I hosted a Drawing Challenge so I'm looking forward to this. For those new to the Challenge, here are the guidelines. If you have any questions, please ask.

Jeanette


All levels of drawing are encouraged to participate!

The goal of this thread is to enable and encourage individuals to practice their drawing skills, learn new techniques and have fun! If you just want to sketch that’s fine. If you want to create a complex, detailed drawing, that’s great too. You will get out of this what you want. The references used are from my own personal reference library of images that I have photographed and I release them here as not under copyright, meaning you can use them as you wish for drawing.

You will be challenged by some aspect of all references most likely as you all will have different strengths and weaknesses in your ability to translate the images to paper.

Reminder:

This is a DRAWING challenge. Therefore please confine your artistic endeavours to some form of drawing: graphite, coloured pencil, pen and ink or charcoal.

There is no ruling on what size your final drawing or sketch should be. Smaller, sketchbook sizes will provide a smaller file size which is easier for loading onto the thread.

If you would like assistance or advice, please ask for it and I will be more than willing to try to guide you.

This challenge will last for one week. At that time, all challenge drawings should be submitted to this thread.

I have offered 3-5 reference images to choose from. The images are also provided in greyscale. Seeing the images in black and white gives a better sense of basic values.

I have kept the images to simple shapes that still provide challenges. Block out your basic shapes first then work the details into them, rechecking proportion and measurement against other reference points in your drawing.

If you have an interest in hosting a challenge, please see the list in the pinned area of general discussions.

First some heirloom tomatoes from the greenhouse and garden this year.

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Perfect fall fruit - pears. I picked up this basket of them in the market.

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My grand daughter, here this summer for my eldest daughter's wedding.

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These are some of the fairies and rabbits on the Peter Pan statue in Bowring Park. One of only 7 statues like this in the world and a magnet for childen - and adults.

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Finally some marbles scattered across my drawing pad, catching the light.

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Wow Jeanette, there is something for everyone in this group of reference pictures. As much as I really would like to try one of these, I am going to be away this week. I am attending a reunion of all of the music groups I was a member of in high school. This includes members of the Glee Club, Chorale and Chorus and the Broadway show troupe. I am so excited about this. I haven't seen these folks in over 40+ years. As luck would have it, my prom date for my prom and a guy who asked me to his prom will be there. Those were such happy times for me. I'd say this reunion is timed well for me. I can hardly wait

Absolutely marvellous photos, Jeanette! We'll have a great week.
It's late now, almost midnite, but I can't wait. Sorry, this is only a quick sketch. I'll come back again. Thank you for the photos.

Definitely a challenge Jeanette! Lots and lots of shadows,it will be fun for sure

Click to view attachmentHello, wonderful fotos Jeanette regards.

I had some watercolor pencils lying around so I thought I'd give them a try. Not my forte' but it's supposed to be a challenge right?
p.s. nice photography!

Jim

do I still have to finish it, but that it seems of it?

Wow, you folks are off to a flying start! Excellent!

Trish, I hope you have a fabulous time at your reunion. It sounds like great fun. The images will still be here if you want to try your hand another time.

NVA, this is a great value sketch. I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with. The statue is so appealing isn't it?

Chris, good contrasts really appeal to me so my photos are often taken with dramatic lighting.

Zungewe, you are quick! And a sculpture? Amazing. Tell me more about it please. Size, clay, etc. This is a drawing challenge and perhaps the sculpture should be in a thread of its own in case there are other sculpture afficionados out there who would like to see it and miss it here.

Jim, thanks. Its good to stretch yourself outside your comfort zone. Its how we learn. Your pears are great. My only suggestion would be to bump up the colour in them. Are you using black in your shadows? What you consider a challenge could well become a strength looking at these.

Lory, you've captured her beautifully. The glistening eyes and shy smile. Perfect.

Thanks

ended, after the last retouches

Thanks

Wow! That is fantastic!!!

Jim, thanks. Its good to stretch yourself outside your comfort zone. Its how we learn. Your pears are great. My only suggestion would be to bump up the colour in them. Are you using black in your shadows? What you consider a challenge could well become a strength looking at these.


Jeanette

I took your suggestion and increased the color saturation and added a little texture. Yes I yeilded to the temptation to use black in the shadows along with a few other colors Derwent color names "Bark","Outliner", and a little "Bright Blue"

Jim

Wow it looks even better now

Thanks you Crismh

I'm feeling really partial towards the first photo, does fountain pen count for drawing with? ^^

Beautiful pics so far *attempts to not feel intimidated*

Superb photos and drawings (and a sculpture) till now.
Here's a little drawing of the little girl.
Thank you for the challenge.

Your update looks great Lory. Thanks for joining in!

Jim, that addition of colour really bumped it up a big notch. Beautiful. I tend to steer away from blacks in shadows as they deaden drawings in my opinion. Introducing blues, red, greens into shadows gives some warmth to the value and makes it more convincing.

Dreamer, pen and ink would be perfect. And no need to feel intimidated, your own work will shine.

Sveta, another great piece of my grand daughter. You've captured her spirit well.

quick sketch.
sveta; very very well done.
jim; looks to much better.
lory; very good.
nva; wonderful sketch.
jeanette; i hope you like these one.
regards

zungewe, you've got good, strong values in this, however I feel as if you've rushed it a bit perhaps? I'm going to use your drawing to point out some basic drawing skills if you don't mind.

To have a drawing look accurate, you need to observe carefully where various points intersect with other points. These measurements are crucial to ensure that features are at the correct angles. Its easy to let the analytical side of your mind take over when drawing and to draw what you learned to draw as a child - representations of objects instead of what you actually see. Warming up with quick sketches and studies is a perfect way to kick start your mind into right side thinking - drawing mode.

In the heads, for instance, in the drawing they are level, but in the reference the left is lower than the right. Look at where the hand is in relation to the head on the left and the section of abdomen showing between the breast and where the arm bends. Look at the rabbit and where it is in relation to the fairy and how far back its paws should be. The rabbit's head should have a smoother curve to it to make it look more like a rabbit.

I agree that everyone should have their own interpretation of art and how it works for them. However, before you can do that, you need to understand the techniques of drawing (or painting) and then apply them to change what is in front of you.

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NVA, I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with. The statue is so appealing isn't it?

Your photos are so engaging that time is needed to do something seriously. I'll try this WE. As for the sketch inspired from the statues, I should better do something else. Therefore I've made a frame for this one just for fun. This gives something unexpected! Thank again for the photo.
NVA

Jeanette;
thank you very much for your wonderful point of view, you are right, i would like to trye another one, by taking your point of view.
regards

Amazing how a frame streamlines and focuses a drawing isn't it?

zungewe, I look forward to seeing more from you. You have a sure hand and a good eye for values.

Charcoal is another medium that I have always shied away from, but was intruiged by the contrast and reflections of the marbles, so I decided to try one more before I get back to my "other life".

Jim

JEANETTE; another one; oil on canvas.

Lovely little globes Jim. I was hoping someone would tackle these. I love using charcoal as you can go from strong bold strokes to delicate shading. Its so versatile I think.

My only suggestion would be to pull out the bright highlights to make these really shine. In rendering glass (or metal or water) contrasts and often distinct separations of the two give the illusion. So placing a dark next to a light with a clean separation gives you your reflections.

zungewe, you have a much better drawing this time around. The figures work well and are in proportion and I like the painting and colours. Just remember that this is a drawing challenge, so other paint mediums are not permitted unless we see the initial drawing for the piece.

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I tried her in charcoal several times. I ended up just rubbing it out. Then as I was closing up the picture I gave it another try in cp, over the charcoal. You can tell by the funny finish and colours. Still didn't get it.
Just looked at them side by side. I see it is a common problem that I have. The head is angled and I start this way but along the way, I start straightening things.

I tried to draw your lovely grand daughter with various coloured pencils on Sennelier. I'll need to practice more portraits in colour.

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Okay, I had to try again. Still not quite there, but way better.
I did a bit of measuring, to bring it along.

Another test, hopes here you like
I have used the red pencil

Svete you always do amazing work.

OK....
After deciding on which one to draw ( it was between the pears and your beautiful Granddaughter) Once again, I still cannot get the concept down with the whole hair issue.

I erased over and over again and I had to throw in the white flag. I gave it my best and I would love all of your input on where I could improve.

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Paulette, this is likely the most difficult reference of the group to recreate. Its very common to try to try to straighten then head when its at an angle. I like the cp version that you've done. It has a loose feel to it. You've gotten a better angle on the graphite version. Have another look at the distance between the right eye and where the tip of the nose is. I feel that the nose is a bit low and that may be throwing things off. Also the mouth seems too narrow even if it more or less lines up with features now. But when you change the nose that will alter the width of the mouth.

Norma, you've got the angle right on this piece and that's a real challenge! Well done. I think you should look at the width of the mouth, as it seems a bit small but otherwise, the features seem to be in place. My grand daughter's colouring is pale and full of pinks, purples, blues and greens. Its difficult to recreate and takes time and lots of layers. The shading needs to be subtle as the image isn't strongly lit. If you have photoshop you can posterize this image to see the areas of shading better and then use some of these alternate colours to shade the face.

While she does have quite pale blonde hair, your drawing shows it to be quite yellow, but I'd use creams, browns, blues - all the cool colours to reflect that shade of blonde that she is.

Here's a cp piece that I did of her that gives you an idea of colours that I used.

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Lory, that's a wonderful sketch. The red pencil gives it that old feel which is perfect for this statue.

Chris, good job on the drawing. As I mentioned to Paulette, this is a difficult reference to tackle. My grand daughter is a solid little thing, with a rather squared head In your drawing, her right cheek should be wider and rounder I think to reflect that squarer face that she has. The length from the top of her head to her eyes is too long and if you look at the reference is goes back fairly straight and flat, not rounded til it reaches the back of her head.

Have another look at where her nose starts in relation to her right eye. It seems too low or long in your drawing, making her appear older.

You've made a great start on the hair and looks like you have the concept down. But its early stages, it needs more values and work on it. Remember you're drawing the shadows, not the hairs.

Children have features slightly different than adults in terms of measurements and is very easy to make them appear older or younger by moving a feature one way or the other.

That looks great!

I think it's great!

Thank you Jeanette!
I can see everything that you pointed out to me. I still have a lot to overcome as far as drawing what I see as opposed to what I think I see. As far as the hair goes, I guess that will eventually come to me.

I do know what my #1 problem is though, I start out full speed ahead! I am a very high strung person ( drawing has definitely helped me as far as that goes, it's almost like therapy) Everything that I do is "full speed ahead" but that is just the way I am and probably always will be.

My other problem is that my hands are very shaky. This has been getting worse over the last year and I am not quite sure if it is related to my personality or I am just noticing it now because I have started to draw.

Anyway... Thank you for your guidance, it is sooo appreciated!

Thanks Islander

Hey, here's my intpretation of the first photo you posted. I hope it's ok.

Is it o.k for me to paint this?

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Excellent drawing Dreamer. Pen and ink works beautifully on this. What kind of pen did you use?

And yes, paint it. Now that we've seen the 'bones' of it, it will look great in colour.

THanks for your comments, Jeanette. I know this sounds phoney, but the actual drawing's hair isn't as yellow. I'm not sure which one it is, but one of my pale browns seems to scan as yellow. It's happened before, but as I usually land up with a handful of colours, I've not yet figured which one does change. Has anyone else found this happening?

I actually only used a regular black fountain pen.

Thank you, Islander

norma, scanning often changes colours because of the intense light and I find images usually need tweaking after the scan to get them back to close to the original. Do you use a graphics editor like Photoshop or Gimp after you scan?

Dreamer, the pen worked well for you. I often use ballpoint pens for sketching when I'm outside and nothing else is around. Now what are you going to paint it with?

No, I'm afraid I don't. I tried Photoshop a couple of years ago, but gave up as it was too complicated! My grand daughter was telling me that Gimp was easier to understand, so I might give it a go.

an attempt at those marbles pencils and charcoal..a bit lumpy they are..it was fun..thank you!

Yes try GIMP Norma. You may be able to make some adjustments to your images then. Scanners are notorious for being difficult in representing true colours.

Katydyd, good job on the marbles. They don't look lumpy to me, nice and round in fact. You may want to pump up the darker values to really get some oomph into them.

I'm not entirely sure, I'm thinking acrylic.

Jeanette, I was working on a pretty orange tomato last week that my Dad had picked so couldn't help but add one of yours with it, international tomatoes?? Good therapy working with plain old graphite..wish I could find time to use colored pencil though before my tomato overripened.

It looks good in graphite Nancy. Tomatoes are wonderful to draw and paint and these heirloom ones have amazing shapes to them.

I like!!!
good work

Inked pears! Jeanette, the problem with ink is that you must go ahead, knowing you'll make mistakes!
Hope it's not too late for the challenge!
An

Here is a pear drawn sometime ago. Now, I don't have much time to draw