Sunflower Sketch....

original drawing using charcoal and white conte on a blue toned paper
size: 9"x11"
copyright MaryAnn Cleary

the photo on the left is the original, the one on the right is using the Lucis filter
Reference photos taken by MaryAnn Cleary copyright

In order to do a sketch not only from life, but to be later have a reference photo to use, I sometimes take photographs of what I am sketching or something that I would like to sketch. In this photo, I wanted to capture the light on the sunflowers as the sun began setting. The light would only last a few minutes and then the moment would be gone.

I not only took the photo, but then I also used some software that manipulates the photo to bring out the dark areas. It is an Lucis Art Filter that I added to my Photoshop Elements program. Sometimes, when a person thinks that a photo has totally been lost due to being underexposed, this software can bring out the details. It can also be used to give the photograph some fun effects.

In this post I wanted to show how I sometimes uses photos for my drawings. I am not one who does an exact replicate of the photo as I feel that photos should be used as a reference tool. If a person wants realism, then why draw...take a photograph. To get this photo, I also had to take around ten to twelve shots with only one or two really being able to be used. As Making a Mark noted today, it definitely does take several shots to get a really usable one. I thought it was my poor photography skills, but it is nice to know that even a professional photographer takes numerous photos before getting a good one.

The White Orchid

ORCHIDS
original drawing with conte on toned paper
size: 8.5" x 10.5"
copyright MaryAnn Cleary

This drawing is of an orchid that I drew from a plant that I have....hopefully it will be able to stand my plant care and survive. I thought that I would take photos as I progress through the drawing. I may add some more finishing touches, but for now I need to just set it aside for a day or so.

I am thinking that I may do something more with the background and flowers, but for now it is best to just leave it alone. If there are any changes, I will add them.

Here is the latest change...a couple more adjustments

MaryAnn

P.S. Please feel free to leave any comments.

A Little Drawing.....

Nico's Toes

(final version)

copyright MaryAnn Cleary

The process of getting to the end of "Nico's Toes"....with photos....



TOOLS USED

1. a piece of toned Canson Mi Tientes paper smooth side
2. erasers...all types and varieties (kneaded, red, white, pencil....try them all to find what works for you)
3. charcoal pencils
4. conte sticks (black, sanguine, white)
5. a chamois (small piece of tanned leather)
6. a small cotton cloth
7. an erasing shield
8. smudge stick
9. tape, newsprint and a drawing board
10. photo or draw from life....(I like using charcoal and conte to sketch from life)

Here are some of the things that I use for this type of drawing technique

The PROCESS......

Stage 1: The paper is first taped to newsprint that is on a drawing board and then a rough sketch is drawn.

Stage 2: Here charcoal and the sanguine conte are used. The chamois will actually pull some of the charcoal or conte off of the paper when rubbed. The small piece of cotton cloth will blend and soften the charcoal/conte. It is best not to use fingers due to the oil on your hands. This could have a detrimental effect on the life of the drawing.

Stage 3: Above one can see the progression of the drawing. The conte is blended, charcoal is used in the dark value areas and then an eraser is used to pull out the lighter areas. Using an eraser is much like drawing.

Stage 4: This is were white conte is used to add highlights. This must be used at the very end of the drawing and I do not blend it.

Nico's Toes...not the final version..

Stage 5: This was supposed to be the final drawing with my name signed to it. However, I really did not like it at all so I set it aside for a day. After looking at it for a day, I knew that I hated the end drawing so I ended up redoing it. I erased a lot of the dark areas out with both the red eraser and one of those soft, big ones. I then added more of a sanguine color and redrew some areas. My mistake with this one was probably using charcoal to do the initial drawing instead of a sanguine conte. By using the charcoal, the dark areas were just too overworked. The drawing at the beginning of the post is how I am going to leave it. (I may soften the highlights at the top, but for now I will leave it as is.)

This really wasn't one of my better attempts, but I thought that it would be helpful to see the process. Even if one goofs up, it still can be corrected. Next time I will use a lot less charcoal and start the drawing using the mid-tone sanguine conte and then use the charcoal and the white for the light and dark areas. It is very important to save the white for the very end. There have been times when I just could not resist putting it on the paper. What happens then is that the white gets muddy looking, especially if a person tries to work it in with other colors.

When the drawing is finally finished, I use my chop (this is a stone with a mark carved into the bottom of it) from when I lived in China, and then also put my signature on it. With this drawing, the chop actually showed up better when I erased some of the charcoal areas - when I decided that I hated the drawing. In the almost final drawing, I did stamp the chop onto the drawing, but it did not show up too well. In a future post, I can show some photos of my chop (I did get several), but one is special as it was done by an artist who was very good at it. He went to school to learn calligraphy and was excellent.

Hope this process was interesting...

MaryAnn

My Favorite Medium

One of my favorite mediums is to use charcoal and conte crayons on toned paper. The toned paper is nice as the middle tone is already there and all that is necessary is to add some value with the sepia color of the conte and the black of the charcoal. At the every end, and the best part, is to add those highlights with the white conte.

Tools that I use for this process are a piece of cotton cloth, a leather chamois, and many different types of erasers as well as various grades of charcoal. I also will use a piece of paper to put under my hand if the work is being done while I am at a table. (It is important when you do work this way to stand back from the drawing as things can easily get out of whack.)

I also will use a drawing board with newprint or other paper under the drawing paper. The drawing paper is also taped in place with masking tape or a tape that can easily be removed. I will tape about a 1/4 inch along all the edges. This fulfills two purposes...the first is that the drawing paper stays in place and the second is that when the tape is removed there is a nice clean edge for a border.

Tonight I am going to start a drawing of my grandson and I will take pics of the process to share with how I actually do it.

Stay tuned....MaryAnn