Drawing in the Museum: Discovery Basecamp

We spent our final class in an area designed for children and classes -- Discovery Basecamp. The area provided plentiful seats and taxidermied birds and mammals in lightweight plexiglass boxes.

In short, the perfect environment for drawing natural history specimens up close.

And surprisingly few toddlers and preschoolers rambled through while we were sketching.

Near Discovery Basecamp we explored an exhibit entitled The Art of the Diorama.  That's where I fell in love with this Northern Raven and drew its portrait.

During the cold, gray days of winter, a museum is a wonderful place to sit and sketch.  And to stretch your legs.  The walk between exhibits, to different floors, etc. is both beautiful and healthful.  I enjoyed having room to roam without slipping on ice!

Happy Creating!

A Private Session with Model David

I recently had the privilege of drawing David at a private session. 

I used a variety of different drawing media, selecting whatever looked like fun at the beginning of each pose, from colored pencils, to graphite, to ink pens, an ink brush pen, and even watercolors.

The session began with a series of 1-minute gestures.

During the 2-minute gestures, David used a bright fabric flag on a staff as a prop.

We moved on to 5-minute poses, and I was able to add complexity to my drawings.

The short gestures helped me to warm up, and the 10-minute poses felt extravagantly long.

We finished with some 15-minute poses, including one with a bag of snack food.

I'm grateful to David for his creativity in presenting these beautiful poses.

Augusta the Fairy

We recently had a photo shoot with a professional traveling model named Augusta Monroe.  

She was wonderful to work with and created beautiful poses in wooded scenes. 

I used a photo from our shoot as a reference to draw this image in my sketchbook, 

giving model Augusta a pair of fairy wings.

Using a piece of tracing paper, I traced over the sketchbook drawing to transfer the image to watercolor paper. 

Then I colored on the back of the tracing paper with a 4B graphite pencil, and 

taped the drawing onto watercolor paper.  I traced over the main lines of the drawing, leaving behind a faint image on the watercolor paper to work from.

I laid in washes of color, and layered on detail.

I used Winsor & Newton watercolor paper in a block,

so I didn't have to tape my paper down.

I finished the image by adding tree branches in the background with Inktense colored pencils, and touching up details on Augusta's face.

Why not give this process a try?

  

Start with a photo you like, and make drawings in a sketchbook.

The pressure is off when you're just sketching for fun.

When you create a design you like, trace and transfer it to a sheet of better paper.

You can paint with watercolors, or use colored pencils, markers, or whatever medium you enjoy.

Let your imagination roam free on the page, and remember: 

You're not a camera creating photorealistic images.  

You're an artist creating expressive works!

I hope you make time for art in your schedule this week; you're worth it!

Here are two images of Augusta Monroe that you are welcome to use as reference photos to create artworks from.

Many thanks to model Augusta Monroe for her creative work!