These are a collection of drawing studies I've done over the course of the summer so far that I felt are worthy enough of sharing here.
Couple of pages from Taiwan. Funny story with the Axolotl drawing on the first page: as I was drawing this in the Taipei Zoo, I managed to get quite a large crowd observing my process. It was a bit of a daunting experience, but cool as well to see people of your original culture appreciating your work.
The only two good drawings that came out of my first week of figure drawing. I was having a really rough time since it was the first figure drawing session I've been to in a very long time...not a good idea to let the rust accumulate. Fortunately, after I figured these two drawings out, I started getting my groove back.
The two best drawings from week two, albeit somewhat unfinished. Loosening up with calligraphy pen gestures really helped these. I was presented with the challenge of drawing a very masculine man whose poses spoke of structure and force without making the drawings too rigid. The answer? Back to the old Sheldon fallback--muscle rhythms that is. I learned a lot from that figure drawing session and it was actually quite fun drawing a macho-man model for a change.
Figure drawings from online practice. Mostly quick drawings except for the one rendered one. The "finished" figure was inspired from a bust sculpture study I did in the Legion of Honor, as I wanted to test how I could work tonally with a mere ballpoint pen.
A couple of pages from the Legion of Honor, as well as a couple studies of a creek in Sunol Park. The composition master studies were done from paintings in the Impressionists on Water exhibit at the Legion, which I must say was an excellent exhibition; never before have I been most tempted by such mastery of the crafts to stay a full 8 hours at a museum. I will say, I am pretty happy with how the bust sculpture study came out. My friend Thierry allowed me to borrow her white gel pen and I have to say, it's actually pretty cool...kind of like working with carbothellos, except more permanent and line-based.
A note about the top study: one museum visitor said that he could really "feel the wind" in the original painting. There was a particular boat in the image that really proved that point, so I did a quick study of how it seemed to be blowing a certain way due to the wind. Note to self: proof of showing rather than telling.
As for the Sunol studies, I found myself intrigued with the reflections in the water, especially with how the light cut through the trees onto the water's reflections. I found my mind constantly switching back and fourth between the light shapes from the reflections and the underwater forms that are atmospherically blurred by water and algae particles within the moving stream. I felt that I was unprepared, being only armed with that same ballpoint pen for the study (though that gel pen probably would have came in very handy, haha), but it left me even more fascinated. It is a challenge that I want to study a bit closer later on, possibly with paints.
