Ballpoint Pen Sketch

 

I recently came across this in one of my older sketchbooks.

Robotic Buffalo

This last month I have been lucky to have time to work on a variety of personal projects, one of which is The Sketchbook Project. On the website they describe it as ..."like a concert tour, but with sketchbooks." 28834 artists from 94 countries around the world are participating. The tour starts February, 2011. They will end up in the permanent collection at The Brooklyn Art Library.

Ballpoint doodle

I began this sketch yesterday and was pleasantly surprised by how it evolved. I tend to use multiple sources of reference imagery when I draw and paint to capture subtle lighting effects and maintain accurate body structure; but this time I just flowed. It was quite relaxing. I probably have mentioned this before, but I love using ballpoint. Not the fancy ones that spew black ink effortlessly, but the cheap ones that really make you push hard to get a deep solid line. It reminds me of drawing in my intaglio classes at Baylor, where you etch relief lines into a sheet of metal using a sharp tool and then you rub ink on it and run it through a press to print it. The ability to create both soft delicate lines and bold thunderous lines based on pressure, and the inability to erase really adds to the texture of the drawing. If you build up slowly your hatching and avoid the urge to apply a lot of pressure from the get go, you can maintain a lot of control and there isn't really any mistakes... just more texture and movement. Give it a try sometime and send me your pictures if you do. I'd love to post them.

Halloween Monster Sketch

Little girl

Inspired by aliveinbagdad.com

For those reading this who don't live in Texas, these last couple weeks have been icey cold and wet. Not good conditions for painting my mural outside, which is quite frustrating since I really wanted to be done by this time. The good thing is that it has given me some time to hangout down in waco at Harts N Crafts, my wife's giftshop, and I've been able to focus more on my personal work and direction after the mural. I know I want to work on at least one other big mural this year, but in the meantime I'm developing a concept for a new art show and also in talks with a friend of mine over ideas for a cool graphic novel.
This unfinished pencil drawing (5"x7") shows the early development that my paintings develop out of. You can see that a heavy emphasis that I put on the eyes. In them, you catch about 80% of a persons likeness, character and vitality, or "life". I establish the directional planes of the face through parallel lines, and add depth through hatching and blending. It's a good idea to determine early on where the sides, top and bottom of the head will be placed to keep the over all image in perspective. Then add in the rest of the features and establish the larger overall shadows, while keeping in mind always the direction that the light is falling across the three-dimensional surface.
Check back soon to see how it develops.