A new drawing and a new old drawing

A quick drawing this week for a magazine article. In one section the writer mentions #2 pencils and wonders what the European equivalent is. I spotted the glass on the editor's desk and took a quick photo of it then added the different pencils later. I loved the beautiful orangey red and found just the thing in my Polychromos pencils called Vermilion. I'm getting more familiar with the colour pencils now and I tend to use the Faber Castell Polychromos over the Cretacolor and Faber Castell Albrecht Durer. I also like that they are not water soluble like the other two as using those feels like tempting fate - not that I have ever got water on a drawing but there is always a first time!

Speaking of fate, it does seem to be playing funny tricks on me at the moment. Nothing I've done relating to my art in the last few weeks has gone smoothly. Scanning shops having technical problems then giving me the wrong scans, my printer breaking down, e-mails disappearing when I press the send button after agonising over wording- even on one day when I had to get to an office that day, they told me they were closing early and my feet were so blistered from an old comfy pair of sandals the day before it nearly killed me to get there! It's been bizarre but it's no use, it will have to try harder, I'm feeling too positive to let it get me down! I don't even mind if it all comes to nothing, I'm learning from the experience and I know I can use that in the future and do better.




















I was asked for this drawing for a 'health and well-being' issue and it may possibly go on the cover. Unfortunately it was too pale and no amount of enhancing was improving it so I set about making the skin tones warmer and more saturated and hopefully it has improved it.




















I couldn't find a reference photo with the same angle (surprisingly) but also it was a little difficult because of the lighting in the life class. In nearly all the sessions the light comes from two angles - cool from the window and warm from a light which I'm not particularly fond of. So I couldn't really remember how the light played on the muscles and skin of her back and may have lost a little definition in places. Since it was going to be re-worked anyway, I changed out that nasty pink colour that was clashing with her skin tones for a more complimentary purple.

I'm off to London next week for a short visit so I'm not sure if I'll have time to draw and blog before I go. But we did extend the trip by a few days when Paul discovered a motor show was on, so maybe I'll have time for drawing when I'm there!