Yoga Girl….Colorized

Posted this picture back in January with my Yoga Girl One post.



Brought in color.  I thought it would be cool to have a more batik looking outfit with a lot of color movement.    Watercolors can pull this off rather easily



I thought I’d balance the red in her outfit with the opposite color….Green.  But it did not turn out well.  Much too dark.



I pulled up a lot of that green with a brush and water.  A unique element of working in this medium.



I like the mat better here, a lighter shade of green.



I stalled on this project for about a month because it was hair time.  I tend to do that a lot.  But what I really need to remember….is to keep the crown of the head’s hair darker, by putting many more lines (strands) in.



Last thing to do before completion is this hand.  It’s not watercolored yet, just showing the w/c pencil stippling now.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to blend this better for a more realistic impression.



My kitchen table!!  Soon to be cleared off…. close to completion…..   

The making of a Diver…..Wrap Up

The making of a DIVER….drawing style.  This only took me one year to complete!  First post here back in Feb 2014.



I started out having the diver in a blue suit.



Then in March after my daughters college Swim & Dive championship….I decided to make the suit fit her team colors.  Wasn’t sure where I was going with that choice, but it seemed the right one at the time.



After putting the drawing aside for a few months….I’d pull it out for a day or two and darken the colors.



Then I’d forget about it for awhile.



I think I figured out why I slacked off so much…..I was only working with 2 colors….Skin-tone and Green.  And boredom set in.



I even pulled out my anthropologie swim glass to keep my motivation up!  It seemed to help



Since these babies can start taking over a room fast, at 22x30 inches.  I kept the framing simple.  Purchased a premade frame during the half off sale and framed it without the mat. She’s not my proudest piece…but I’m glad that she is done.  I must say, if I drew a diver that I knew then I’d feel differently about this piece.  But I gotta practice somewhere and my photography skills are a bit weak

Wild Hair

Staying consistent with the Sunglass Series…..I had a wild hare to doodle up some hair.



I found the picture of this woman on pinterest and I let my freak flag fly with the hair here.



I started out using watercolors.



But I had to give them up because I couldn’t coordinate the colors as well with w/c as I can with markers.



Just pretend you can’t see the ear….totally botched it.



Besides that though……I like how she turned out.  Colorful and Crazy!! Haha

Portable Project in Paisley

I’ve been enjoying my Sunglass Series where I can color pencil the people and marker doodle on something they are wearing. When I spotted this woman wearing her hat I thought I’d draw her next.  That wonderful hat gave me a lot of space for doodling.



I wasn’t sure how I wanted to approach this.  At first I thought of doing black and white doodles in the hat with the hat-band and the suit in color.



But then I changed my mind.



I didn’t want the band to compete with the hat, so black/white stripes worked well.



Since the underside of the hat doesn’t get as much light, I applied a light brown-gray in watercolor.



This skin took more time than I thought it should, but there are a lot of little variations to the colors thru the neck and the bust that I didn’t realize until I tried to sketch it.

If I would use smooth paper then we wouldn’t see all that grain coming thru the colored pencil portions.  But I like watercolor paper cuz it’s thick and can take all kinds of abuse!

Sunglass Series Two

Since I have two big drawings pending (dancer & diver) and I seem to be stuck on the hair in both…..



I needed to complete a smaller drawing to boost my confidence.  I thought these sunglass girls might help.



This sunglass series was the first time I combined my marker-doodle-love with my color sketches.



I wasn’t sure how well they’d play together.  But they seemed to get along just fine.



I’m not one to sketch a practice piece, because I know I won’t put the focus into it like I should if it “counted”.  And I need hair help.



What I found out by my limited research on drawing hair….is to keep the line directions in the way that the hair should go.  Even though there are many shadows.  Also to use at least 4 different colors…..Highlight….a bunch of mid-tones…then bring in your darkest color to really help things take shape. 



This is drawn from a picture of my daughter taken a few years ago.  I was not pleased with my previous Warhol-style drawing of her so I’m glad I can now replace it.

Happy Easter Everyone

Sunglass Series One

I got inspired to draw girls in sunglasses last week….probably because I went south and knew I’d need mine.



Drew her in, and did a light watercolor wash.  Then proceeded to color pencil sketch the rest of the face.



Bringing my two favorite things together (markers and colored pencils) I experimented with using the markers only for the sunglasses. 



Just doodled the heck out of them.



Then the fun began with my markers.



Kind of a different look.  A Pretty wild look to pull off and not for the timid. Too bad I can’t do this to my own sunglasses, haha!

The Fly….Fears

Time for the background build.  The white in the sketch has been protected by rubber cement so that I can keep it white.



Had to keep increasing the amount of color in the water.



Got home and rubbed that rubber cement off.  Also, since the background was darker, I had to enhance the figure.  It’s such a balance!



I really have no idea what I’m doing here.  I purchased some turquoise colored pencils because there is a lot of turquoise in that water.  This may be over my head deciding to do colored pencils on top of the watercolor.  My nature goes toward the details…(you know… like I see the trees not the forest).  But I think the only way for me to make this work is to i.m.p.l.y.  Imply the shapes and the color!  Oh Boy!