IF: Instinct

Some say that artistic talent is instinctive, others say all art can be taught.

Sally doesn't really care. All she know is she loves to dance!

This is the other half of my ballet dancer drawings. (This was actually the "daydream" of the ballerina in the previous post).

I really like this one. This is the first one that I have done that I personally feel could be found in a childrens book. I still have a ways to go, but I am excited about what's ahead! Below is the original sketch.

Ballerina

I did this ballerina quickly this afternoon mostly to practice, and try another outlining technique. Used a Micron .30 pen to outline this time. One thing I learned is I have to be more confident when laying down the colors, otherwise I end up with mottled color due to too many layers of color tearing up the paper fibers.

Jack and the Giant colored

Here is my Jack and the Giant illustration finally colored. The bottom of the table top needs to be darker, and more shadow for the giant's foot, but overall I like the way it turned out. I outlined the background with a Prismacolor 70% Warm Gray, and the rest of the scene with a 90% Warm Gray. I struggled with this a bit when I started, making one line as I went around, but then I decided to go back and sketch it up a bit, varying the line weights, and I like it a lot better. But, is the dark line too much? Should I use a lighter line, especially on the lighter colors? Don't want my illustrations to look like pages from a coloring book! :P

Would love to know your thoughts!

Works in progress

This is an idea I was going to submit to Once Upon a Time magazine, but I see now they have used something similar already in the current issue (not suggesting that mine would have been on the cover, mind you).

Anyway, I will color it... eventually! And as I write this, I have the Jack and the Giant sketch on my lightbox for transfer to watercolor paper.

Also, I bought a set of Liquitex BASICS acrylic paint, so I may do the above with that to see how I like that medium.

Revised Jack and the Giant sketch

Here is a revised version of my Jack and the Giant illustration. Moved the giant's left hand as was suggested in one comment, and after my "head" sketching last week, decided to give Jack a new head as well. Overall it looks better, but I lost the perspective the giant's left foot had in the original. Will have to revisit that.

Any further suggestions welcome.

Heads, heads, heads.

Decided to take a detour this week to hone my skills at drawing heads. Most of'em came out ok, some not like I wanted, but it's all good! I want to practice more on varying the shape of the head, and work on some more adult heads. Figured I better practice a bit more on character development before I start throwing them in to scenes.

Another thing I gained during this exercise is the ability to let go and draw a bit more loosely, thus preventing too many thoughts or "rules" hinder my drawing. Something that helped was drawing with my non-photo blue pencil (Col-Erase Non-Photo Blue pencil). I has a very hard lead, so I was able to start lightly, and build the heads without really worrying about erasing. Unfortunately, that was my last non-photo blue pencil, and I could not find them anywhere in town. I did finally find them online at Utrecht Art Supply. Never heard of Utrecht before now. Always went to Dick Blick. Prices are pretty comparable. Anyway, I have 5 on the way!

So before I bore you any further, I'll stop.

Thanks for your comments and suggestions on the Jack and the giant illo. They are appreciated and very helpful. And thanks for visiting!

Happy drawing!