Forum Role: Participant
Active Since: November 4, 2019
Topics Started: 0
Replies Created: 16

Forum Replies Created

Viewing 16 posts - 1 through 16 (of 16 total)
  • Giuliana
    Participant
    This was my little project of sketching and painting a photo of this Brazilian toucan. For the first time I was super proud of something 'artistic' that I made, since I was never one to consider myself capable of drawing something good. I only appreciate Liz's work of teaching us how to succeed, and her delightful notes on having fun made this quarantine so. much. more. worth. it. Thank you Liz! WhatsApp Image 2020-05-23 at 11.03.26
  • Giuliana
    Participant
    It looks like two different people made it. It's almost unbelievable - indeed it would be if I wasn't myself the person behind both the drawings - that I managed to do it in just two months. Liz wasn't kidding when she said she had taught students that knew nothing of drawing. I'm truly impressed with her work. And even knowing I still need to get better at wet-on-wet, proportions, and negative space, I'm proud of mine! WhatsApp Image 2020-05-26 at 16.48.33
  • Giuliana
    Participant
    I haven't taken them yet to the field, because you know... the whole situation right now. But I got really happy with the results on putting all the skills together to draw animals. I mostly used wet on dry, given the paper I'm using is not as sturdy as I would like to hold lots of water. I wished Liz would go a bit more in detail on good paper to use for different sorts of works, since I know paper in watercolours is even more important than the paints. On and all I really appreciated this module and I'm only sad that the course is ending! WhatsApp Image 2020-05-23 at 11.03.26
  • Giuliana
    Participant
    It is not my first time with watercolours, but it wouldn't be also the first time I get frustrated trying to convey something on the paper and not happening like I wanted. The bird was actually not that hard, but I was tired and lack of patience made it worse than it should be. However I'm hopeful I'll improve through the next lessons as I improved with my drawings! WhatsApp Image 2020-05-09 at 08.55.46
  • Giuliana
    Participant
    I think one of the best skills is the use of negative space, combined with proportions; it has helped me see so much details! I'm quite happy with the way I'm developing the skills, I know practice and time leads to improvement but it makes me quite satisfied that in just a few weeks, Liz was able to teach me so much! gesture drawing class on the left, with the lizard sketch refined on the right WhatsApp Image 2020-05-06 at 17.10.10
  • Giuliana
    Participant
    Once or twice I almost flipped the page and had to catch myself. It took me more than an hour but once I was done I flipped and got so satisfied with the result! It also taught me the value of patience (the tail, the last bit, was definitively a little bit raggedy since I was getting tired at that point), and the benefits of negative space and proportions to keep the bird in the right size. A great exercise! WhatsApp Image 2020-05-01 at 17.43.16
  • Giuliana
    Participant
    It was quite challenging to draw the negative space, because I kept wanting to draw the shape of the flamingo and had to check myself to return to the negative space. But on and all was an interesting exercise WhatsApp Image 2020-04-28 at 16.23.53
  • Giuliana
    Participant
    I honestly think that's why this lesson was so surprisingly fun! Once I was obliged to just keep drawing, and had 30 / 60 seconds to make my marks, there was no time to use an eraser. So I had to keep going, and once I started relaxing I discovered I was enjoying it a lot. I also have this issue of becoming tense so it's nice to see a change ^^
  • Giuliana
    Participant
    It was insightful to realise small bits of details that maybe would be captured in slow-paced sketches, maybe not: the angle of the tail or the arched back of the fox; the elongated hands and arms of the frog; the bulkiness of the elk. And although with the video gesture drawings sometimes I was frustrated from having to abandon the just-begun sketches with new poses, it was actually quite fun to capture those basic characteristics WhatsApp Image 2020-04-24 at 16.58.29
  • Giuliana
    Participant
    It was almost fun! I discovered if I fail at nature drawing I could at least draw some really abstract pictures! Jokes aside, I think its a great exercise to help focus attentively on a subject, since your eyes need to do a serious job of tracing the edges of the subject
  • Giuliana
    Participant
    It was quite fun to do a comparison study. Especially once you realise there's so many details you don't take in unless you are actively looking for diferences. As a field biologist I have no problems balancing drawing, writing and numbers and actually wonder how did it take me so long to start sketching the things I was seeing!   WhatsApp Image 2020-04-21 at 16.23.57
  • Giuliana
    Participant
    WhatsApp Image 2020-04-17 at 16.14.24The first day (left) I went to the garden surrounding my building to do a sit spot. I don't have many options around given the current virus situation, and to make it a bit worse, children were screaming and running around, making the whole 'silent' thing of the activity quite useless. But I persevered and in the second day (right) I decided to go back quite early, when no one was around. It helped, and I was able to admire the flight of two large bees, and realise that two different flower species were actually probably the same one, given they are exactly the same in shape and leaf type, only one was white and the other pink. A nice day!
  • Giuliana
    Participant
    As a field biologist, most of my work consisted of looking out for specific behaviours. So much that sometimes I forget I don't know everything and some themes are foreign to my scientific comprehension. This class has taught me again the value of asking questions, and the beauty behind it, instead of simply 'knowing' the answer.
  • Giuliana
    Participant
    I'm definitely starting to feel more comfortable, but I'm working hard on chiaroscuro because I still feel that is quite hard to distinguish the lights and darks on an object or composition
  • Giuliana
    Participant
    Nothing came 'easy', as I was suddenly overcomed with a sense of 'this's stupid, I can't draw'. But in a few seconds this sensation dissipated, and I realised I was quite enjoying just paying attention to the details. Photos can take instant recordings of details, but it takes a sketching eye to pay attention to those. Looking forward to the next moments of flow!
    in reply to: Jump Right in! #675972
  • Giuliana
    Participant
    I'm a biologist, a frequent fieldworker and have always loved to be outside in nature. Would love to explore and learn how to merge my love for watercolours with my love for observing the poetry of every-day tropical life. I'm interested in sketching from landscapes to the animals I see and work with, to be able to have treasured memories for the years to come
Viewing 16 posts - 1 through 16 (of 16 total)