Day 4 :: Following impulses...
(click photos to enlarge)

This morning before work, I randomly clicked on recent post by an artist that I follow on LJ. I find her inspiring. However, I don't tend to open her posts very often. Because she is so dedicated to her art that it makes me feel sometimes like I'm a slacker (which I am of course, but that doesn't mean I wanted to be reminded of it!)

Anyhoo....

She had linked to two other sites. One of a 17-year-old Norwegian girl (thanks

bflyw !) who drew this amazing comic strip of a young girl who ... well ... go here to see for yourself. The strip made me both smile and also threatened to bring on tears for me.

She also linked to a blog entry by Roger Ebert who wrote about his love for drawing. Go here to read. I loved the whole article. But this excerpt reminded me of myself.

"I began to haunt art supply stores, as if somehow one could purchase what one needed to be an artist. I loved the smell of the paints and papers, the chalks and wooden easels."

Ebert wrote about drawing...just drawing. Whenever. Without self criticism. Made me want to stay home and break out my pencils. I had thought to try to remember to doodle sometime during my work day. But, alas, I get so absorbed at work that I didn't even remember.

Ebert mentioned his friend advising him to draw in pen. So I snapped a sketch I did a few weeks ago. I had an impulse to draw from a screen shot I had. I couldn't find my pencils. All I had handy were my ink pens. So I drew this in ink in about 30ish mins.

So today I am grateful for following the impulse that lead me to those two items on being an artist. And I'm grateful for when I can remember to draw...just for the sake of drawing....

Oh...and added bonus....

....as I was getting into my shiney rental this morning,
I looked up.
Man I so love the trees surrounding our house.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: cic

17 degrees for a low last night! Probably a record of some sort for us, but I don't want to turn on the news just to find out.

Looking forward to a lazy day of sitting back with a warm blanket and the InterWebs.

Or perhaps drawing some.

I did this sketch a couple of days ago. From a MBV screencap by

raloria . For a relatively quick sketch I'm rather happy with it. Even if his chin/jaw is somewhat off.

Current Mood: chilly
Current Location: cic

Posting a few drawings I've done in the past couple of weeks.

I'm kinda focused on eyes for some reason.

The last two of these drawings are doodles. From the last 3 days of training at work. I had to force myself to stay focused on the training and I'm so used to multi-tasking at work that I took the training worksheet where we were writing down record keys we were creating and started to doodle. Using two bic pens--one black, one blue. I filled up the first page on day one and on day two was going nuts so I turned it over and started to doodle something I kinda dreamed about the previous night. That doodle took me two days of class.

None of these are scanned. They are quick photos and so are not crisp--they are more blurry than the originals.

I'm kinda proud of all of these.

art

above: the original is much crisper.

art

above: Day 1 of training.

art

above: Days 2 & 3 of training. Here's the original.

art

above: I photoshopped it to see what it would look like with the animal face a slightly different color. I only had two colors of pens in class.

.

Current Mood: creative
Current Location: cic

I'm compiling a list of favorite photos and stories from the con. I'll make one post later about all that. But I wanted to post this one photo of wolfpup2000 (from here).

I got lots of full-on laughing Jared during the LA Con 2009, but not so much at this con because whenever Jared moved too much the photos were too blurry.

This is the Jared I love to see.

Above: And because I can't leave well enough alone and I seem to have a thing for digitalizing Jared...

Credit to

wolfpup2000

ETA Oh! and also credit to

animotus for the cropping idea.

Current Mood: smiling
Current Location: cic

....I seriously need to get a job. These here are literally me just dorking around in Photoshop--no point, no target, no end result in mind. Decided to see just how weird I could be. I even called the folder I stored these in "weirdness." Maybe I should have called it "boredom."

These are all from either my LA 2009 or Chicago 2008 photos.

( under the cut... )

Current Mood: weird
Current Location: cic

Man I love my drawing pad and Photoshop. And today I went ahead and ordered Illustrator as well (I had a huge discount coming to me from previous purchases--so I took advantage of that plus a sale that I couldn't resist.)

I used my drawing pad today and made a "cartoon" version of one of my Jared photos from LA Con 2009. It's so fun what you can do in just a short time with the right tools.

( bigger version under the cut... )

Current Mood: creative
Current Location: cic

Hi all!

I briefly mentioned yesterday, buried in another post, that I signed up to do art for a Big Bang story! First time for me!

It just got posted to

spn_j2_bigbang

The Last Smile I Fake
Fic title: The Last Smile I Fake
Author name:

quantrail
Artist name:

growyourwings
Genre: RPF
Pairing: Jared/Sandy, eventual Jared/Jensen
Rating: PG-13 for language and references to sex
Word count: ~23,000

Summary: Jensen and Jared have been friends since they were five years old. Jensen made the mistake of falling in love with an oblivious Jared during high school while Jared only had eyes for the popular Sandy McCoy. It's been five years since high school ended and Sandy has recently moved back to town from Dallas. After sacrificing all of his dreams to stay in town with Jared, Jensen finds that three's a crowd when Sandy takes an interest in Jared. Jensen must now decide between staying in Texas with Jared or at long last following his dreams to New York.

You can find it here at

spn_j2_bigbang : Link

And here's a link to my Art Master Post.

Current Mood: excited
Current Location: cic

...I swear that boy is really something. I feel a little obsessed with him lately.

I ended up doing this drawing of him just 2 days ago. It's from one of my photos of him in LA. This is a quick snap from my little camera. Blurry and it doesn't show the contrast or detail well. But I can't stop staring at him.

ETA 10/27/09: I was able to enhance the drawing a little to compensate for my lack of a scanner. The detail is a little clearer in this image:

(click a few times to enlarge a bit)

(and why, yes, I am fickle even in my fleetingness of boredom. which lasted all of, oh, 2 minutes.)

Current Mood: not so bored
Current Location: cic

Notes on Big Bang...

I've never before drawn anything to a deadline. Nor have I had to draw anything other than for myself. I've taken 2 or 3 drawing workshops over the past *cough* 40 *cough* years, but the subject matter was almost always up to me and there were no grades or deadilnes involved. If I didn't finish--no biggie.

And that's just one of the things that was good about participating in this. I couldn't quit if I got frustrated. The art was for someone else who was depending on me. It made me work through frustrations that I would have quit from in the past.

Plus I am officially in love with my new Wacom drawing tablet. I bought one a couple months ago. Wanted one for years, but could never justify spending money on it. Then I just said what the heck, and bought one. While I don't get the same high I get from drawing with graphite, charcoal, or colored pencil--the tablet freed me from some of my angst over "making a mistake" *gasp* oh noes! While I know that you can recover from mistakes with graphite, I don't think I could have totally replaced Jensen's hair in a matter of minutes, the way I did with the tablet. It's amazing what I was willing to attempt once my fears went away of "starting all over again" after spending hours on a drawing.

Some things I learned while doing this:

Drawing Jensen is REALLY hard! I mean REALLY, REALLY HARD! He's features are so PERFECT...I mean millimeter perfect...that if you are off by even a hair's width it either does not look like Jensen or he looks like a total girl. Sheesh! I've drawn him a couple of times before and found the same thing. But this time the idea was cemented in my head. I cannot TELL you the number of times I re-did (ha! bad pun!) that man! One time I thought I really had him down and then the next day I realized a few things were "off", spent an untold amount of time reworking him; and he ended up looking TOTALLY different. Better, much better. But honestly, I still don't think I have him down.

Whereas Jared? I LOVE drawing Jared! Maybe it's because his features are so unusual and perhaps forgiving. I'm betting I have proportions off on him as well--but it still really looks like Jared. I wouldn't link to other drawings I've done of Jensen, because...um...so not proud of those. But here's two I've done before of Jared that I really like. He's so much fun to draw. Here are two of my past favorite Jared drawings here and here.

Less is more. The closer I got to deadline the more "controlled" I got. Which means I got tighter and I started paying attention to too much detail. My favorite pieces are all those I did earlier on and in which I wasn't concerned about deadlines or the outcome. So I was free and easy and I like that style a whole lot better. My favorites are specifically this and this. The kid drawing is really my #1 favorite and it was one that I considered a "throwaway" when I started. As in, it didn't matter if it didn't work, because it wasn't a necessary piece--it was extra.

There's always more than one time in which I hate any particular drawing I'm working on. In the past, I would have given up at those times. As I said above, because of this commitment, I couldn't give up. What that taught me is that I can always work through the parts I'm struggling with and come out at the end with something I like. Not always that I love. But I can always get past the, "This drawing sucks." feelings if I just push through them. This, above everything else, is especially while I'm so glad I participated in this process.

----------

Link to fic master post: Here
Link to art master post: Here

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: cic

BIG BANG
ART MASTER POST
I? Am insane! Ha!

At least that's what I told myself a few times over the past several weeks when I was grumbling under my breath at some particularly difficult aspect of one of these drawings.

The other line I found myself paraphrasing is the one from The Prophet Chuck. He said, "Writing is hard!" I found myself grumbling, "Drawing is hard too!"

HOWEVER...

I had a BLAST doing this, despite what my husband may report about my grumbling. I'm so glad I jumped at the very last moment to sign up to do art for Big Bang. I emailed Wendy on the last day possible I believe. I had no real idea what was involved, but it wasn't like I didn't have time on my hands. Right? If you're interested in my notes about the process, click here.

I'm amazed at the ease with which Wendy (and others? forgive me in my ignorance if there are others) organizes and runs this thing. The scale of this is amazing and she does it with such grace and ease.

I was so very lucky that there was a great story still available for art at the last minute. I'm a real sucker for schmoopy, angsty, first-time J2. And quantrail's terrific story was so easy to dream up drawings for. Plus she was great to work with as well. It's her first time doing Big Bang too, so we were newbies together. Which took some self-imagined pressure off me.

Below is the summary of quantrail's wonderful story and the art I did for it. Some of the artwork is spoilery so if that bothers you, read the story first.

Title: The Last Smile I Fake
Author: quantrail
Artist: growyourwings
Pairing: Jared/Sandy, eventual Jared/Jensen
Rating: PG-13 for language and references to sex
Summary: Jensen and Jared have been friends since they were five years old. Jensen made the mistake of falling in love with an oblivious Jared during high school while Jared only had eyes for the popular Sandy McCoy. It's been five years since high school ended and Sandy has recently moved back to town from Dallas. After sacrificing all of his dreams to stay in town with Jared, Jensen finds that three's a crowd when Sandy takes an interest in Jared. Jensen must now decide between staying in Texas with Jared or at long last following his dreams to New York.
Disclaimer: The characters in the artwork all belong to their creators, not to me. No profit is being made and no harm is intended.

Link to Fic: Here

Warning: Some of the artwork in this post is spoilery for the story. Read the story first if that is of concern to you!

( all art under is the cut... )

Current Mood: proud
Current Location: cic

I got myself a present--a Wacom drawing tablet.

I swear I haven't had this much fun in a long time. It's freakin' 2am and I'm not even tired.

Boy am I going to regret this in the morning.

Anyway...

The thing was surprising easy to figure out how to use. Plug and play basically.

So I experimented with my first ever time drawing directly in Photoshop using the Wacom pen and then played around with coloring techniques.

I really do need to go to bed--so I'm stopping now.

The results of my first experiment...

Current Mood: creative
Current Location: cic

Oh man there are some amazingly awesome and creative people out there in the world aren't there?

I went looking for one measly little icon for drawing and have now lost about two hours by being mesmerized by how creative people are.

I just found the

deviantart community. Duh. I love DeviantArt so of course there would be an LJ community for it. I'm not sure when I'm going to come up for air now...

*dives back in without a look back at the book I'm supposed to be reading...*

Current Mood: amazed
Current Location: cic

Okay, so I've decided a need an icon for drawing. *puts on to-do list*

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm less than happy with my results from yesterday's class. However, the results are exactly as they should be. I just think my result looks like I was "too tight" and constrained last night.

I didn't feel exactly that way when I was actually drawing last night. I was enjoying myself. In retrospect however I do recall having more of an "intent" last night. Like I wanted to "produce" something.

That wasn't the purpose of last night's class (again)--but I think my own intent caused me to tighten up.

( photos under the cut... )

Current Mood: finally woken up
Current Location: cic

He was one of the first artists whose biography I read. I was just fascinated by his work and his life. I have three of his prints on my bedroom wall. There's always been something about his work that just speaks to me.

American painter Andrew Wyeth dies at 91 in Pa

Current Mood: sad
Current Location: cic

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Page Summary

365 Grateful - Day 4 :: Following impulses
Brrr.... (Plus a drawing)
Some artwork
One of my favorites
I have no idea what the heck I'm doing...
Jared art...
Big Bang! (the one I participated in!)
While I'm on the subject of Jared...
BB Bang Notes
Big Bang Master Art Post
I may never go to bed again...
Post: Lost in graphics & arts...
Project 365 for Feb 3, 2009 - Deep Rich Charcoal
Andrew Wyeth died...

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Entries tagged with drawing journal

365 Grateful - Day 4 :: Following impulses

"I began to haunt art supply stores, as if somehow one could purchase what one needed to be an artist. I loved the smell of the paints and papers, the chalks and wooden easels."

Brrr.... (Plus a drawing)

Some artwork

One of my favorites

I have no idea what the heck I'm doing...

Jared art...

Big Bang! (the one I participated in!)

While I'm on the subject of Jared...

BB Bang Notes

Big Bang Master Art Post

I may never go to bed again...

Post: Lost in graphics & arts...

Project 365 for Feb 3, 2009 - Deep Rich Charcoal

Andrew Wyeth died...