Date: 16/6/22
Comment: Charcoal – Skull No. 7 – 16 mins
I actually stopped after 16 mins because I realised I got the proportions totally wrong and as a result, the values would end up being weird. Failing to get the points right is a recurring theme (or to do it properly because I sort of tried with this one) and when I stopped I said I would try this image again.
Date: 14/6 and 15/6/22
Comment: Digital – Building No. 12 – total time: 64 mins
I abandoned this drawing because trying to finish it became intimidating and as a result I stopped drawing.
When I started it, I tried to use cross-hatching and started with the rocks. However, I made one big mistake – the brush settings (the ink pen) was set too fine. This meant that it took ages to do anything.
Date: 13/6/22
Comment:Charcoal – Skull No. 5 – 30 mins
This was difficult for the horns and I got it wrong and didn’t spend enough time establishing the points of reference. Also I think this may have been better in pencil but topped off with charcoal for some of the darker values.
Date: 12/6/22
Comment: Digital – Building No. 11 – 36 mins
One thing I am getting better as is using the tools to spin the drawing around so that I can get a better angle. I am also getting better at telling my left hard to rest on the short keys on the pen display to undo and get the spin tool.
Pen pressure still a bummer though and getting inconsistent lines as a result.
Date: 12/6/22
Comment: Charcoal – Skull No. 4 – 24 mins
Another change in sketchbook – A3 now. That was a good change. I also used for the first time willow charcoal to draw an outline of the skull before going in with compressed charcoal to get some values. That second bit didn’t work so well because if you blend with tissue or cotton bud, it tends to soak up the charcoal it goes lighter. I got better definition around the teeth because the charcoal pencil wasn’t being blunted by the paper.
Date: 8/6/22
Comment: Charcoal – Skull No 3 – 20 mins
I actually changed sketchbooks as I got fed up with the main one. This is a smoother not that it made too much of a difference. This is meant to be a skull of a cat which I did learn more about. I also tried to do it quickly and not spend time on it. It did not come out well.
Date: 8/6/22
Comment: Digital – Building No 10 – 48 mins
I tried to do something different with this one and in particular the foilage by creating a second layer and then adding some colour. I felt the building needed to stand out from the foilage. All it told me is that colour is going to be tough!
Date: 7/6/22
Comment: Digital – Building No 9 – 14 mins
Not quite a building but the inside of one. I didn’t really think that much about which lines should be thicker or lighter, I just screwed it up really.
Date: 7/6/22
Comment: Charcoal Skill No. 2 – 24 mins
This is apparently a sabre tooth tiger skull. The tricky part with charcoal is getting finer details. You would think a charcoal pencil would do it, wouldn’t you? It may do except with this paper, keeping an edge was very hard plus when I kept trying to sharpen it either with a knife or sharpener, it kept breaking!
Date:5/6/22
Comment: Digital – Building No 8 – 33 mins
I intuitively erred towards cross-hatching to get some of the contours on the landscape but then added it the rock formation at the base of the catsle. I think overall it came out quite well.
I also reduced the diameter of the pencil and kept the pressure the same. This meant that I was just going over and over the same spot to get a darker line rather than using pressure.
For the first time, it felt like I was using an actual pencil rather than digital pen.
Date: 5/6/22
Comment: Charcoal – Skull No 1 – 33 mins
This time, I only used one type of charcoal, the charcoal pencil and spent a bit of time doing a bit of blocking-in. A bit better than the previous one but still struggling with the medium and the really rough paper. You can see in the eyes where the texture of the paper is making it hard to get a proper black.
Date: 3/6/22
Comment: Charcoal – Skull No 6 – 16 mins
As I want to learn to use charcoal, my first skull (the No 6 just refers to the number in the list). I actually used two types of charcoal – a charcoal pencil and also a stick of charcoal. The primary purpose was only to get a feel for those rather than any thing more detailed.
Date: 3/6/22
Comment: Digital – Building No 7 -28 mins
The first drawing that I did over two layers – the first was the building and the second was the flowers. I struggled how best to do the flowers and general foilage covering the entire building. And I don’t think I did it well at all. I also think using a different brush and some colour would have gone a long well.
Date: 1/6/22
Comment: Digital – Building No 6 – 30 mins
Two big issues with this one – I had no real idea what should be a thicker line and what should be a thinner line. The other big issue was trying to identify what to include and what not to include.