Christina
Forum Replies Created
Viewing 19 posts - 1 through 19 (of 19 total)
-
Here's a little Indian Palm squirrel I just painted from a photo... Going to practice daily! -
Beautiful sketch, Julia! I've always wanted to try watercolor pencils... have a set here at home, but am nervous about adding water to spoil what I've done! I totally understand! But I might try this exercise again with the pencils to see what happens...
-
Beautiful color work, Jeyda! And you really captured the textures of his feathers!
-
This class made all the difference! Yellow Fellow looks dimensional.
I got here by learning about the use of short, sketchy lines to rough out a shape, and using, in this example, the bird's head to estimate the size of the body. I learned to draw and paint what I see, and not what I know, or assume...
The watercolor instruction has been particularly helpful. I always wanted to learn to use watercolors, and I finally understand the techniques I need: glazing, blending, dry bush, wet on dry... layering... and going over things with a wet brush to blend areas I've already painted.
Still need to paint Yellow Fellow's branch and the leaves, am chickening out on the background, but did learn about applying a wash of color... Really happy with the results!
-
Beautiful! Kingfishers are marvelous birds, have such agility and alertness and you captured him beautifully! I love the spark in his eye!
-
Here's how I refined my 1 minute gesture drawing of the wren!
-
Proof! I really did draw the song sparrow, upside down! This was a challenge, since I like to rough out my subject using basic shapes, and then add detail and proportions as I go. Not this time! I started at the tail feathers and worked my way around...
Thanks goodness for erasers... I'll have to go back to this one to finish the markings on the breast and underparts of the bird, but I cheated and turned my page around... am pleased that the little guy isn't wonky-looking!
I really wanted to look at the subject as an overall shape, but I forced myself to see it as a bunch of smaller shapes connected to each other... this has been the most challenging exercise yet!
-
Oh that poor bird!! Yikes! I admit I freaked out a little and drew that one too fast... Better try that one again...
That felt better!
I do like my bird of paradise, though...
Springbok got kind of a spare tire... something weird happened with his hind foot... that one ear looks like a third horn... If you can't laugh at yourself, you're not having fun.
-
(it WAS sunny earlier today!
By the time I finished work, and cooking dinner, it was dark, so I used the acorn and Halesia seed I had collected a few weeks ago. The side by side comparison appeals to me, and urged me on to research the trees further. Didn't realized that Halesia seeds aren't a food source for wildlife, but did know that acorns are an important food source for turkeys and deer.
Have found no explanation for the wings of the Halesia's seed pods, made a note of my question for further research.
-
Challenging! 30 seconds to draw an - Elk? - but wow, loads of fun! Then trying to capture the pintail making all those elegant preening motions!
Had to force myself away from drawing what I know and drawing what I see.. I think this is almost like stop-action photography and captures the life, the movement of a bird or animal, with such simple lines... thought I'd share my scribbles to encourage others - if I can do it, anybody can do it!
-
-
Ooooh what a handsome dragonfly! Might try drawing him later... those gossamer wings will be a challenge!
-
A Franklinia! Plant Geek heart skips a beat!! The blossoms are stunning! Thanks for reminding me of a very special plant! Beautiful drawing!
-
I can smell the seaweed in the air! Such an intoxicating smell to a former West Virginia gal who never saw the ocean until after college! I feel like I'm tagging along with you!
-
No problem to sit quietly for 15 minutes and soak in the sounds and smells and tactile sensations of my sit spot... am practicing insight meditation, so am used to sitting still for a bit...
Wish I had a good way to suggest wind in a drawing. Nice gusts from time to time, maybe will try this again tomorrow and draw my Fountain Grass with all the blades leaning one direction. The doves were fun to sketch but had to work fast and sort of lost the shapes of the birds facing me while sitting on the power line. The two with their backs to me were having a tough time staying upright in the wind!
-
Drawing from the photo was easy-peasy - that little guy isn't going anywhere, so I can take my time! Challenging? How to know where to stop adding detail? I could sit all day and detail the primary and secondary wing feathers, the shading of his/her neck and delicate legs and nails...
Might not have noticed the shape of the warbler's beak, sort of an "underbite", where the lower part of the beak is larger than the upper part... wouldn't have noticed how the little claws worked as they clamped around the twig... and how the feathers are tight around the head and softer and "fluffier" near the back and vent..
There's drawing from seeing and drawing from "knowing", and the first is probably going to give me the lifelike, dynamic, captured-in-motion look that I'm after, even if I think I'm seeing it wrong... the restatements help make it look like stop-action photography...
-
@Barbara T. I loved spending time with Ezra and Big Red and watching the "nest-orations"! Stunning drawing! Thanks for sharing!
-
@Nancy I do love Claire Walker Leslie's book! "Nature Drawing" is on my bookshelf in my workspace, and I've had it since 1984, bought at the Cornell University bookstore just before graduating... I always told myself I was going to find a time in my life to keep a nature journal... Dreams do come true if you give them enough time!
-
1. I grew up in southern West Virginia surrounded by the forests of Appalachia, and that's where I spent most of my free time - soaking it all in. Now I live just north of Manhattan (after graduating from Cornell - ILR '84!) and I became a Master Gardener with Cornell Cooperative Extension. I love the outdoors. I think plants and birds and insects have stories to tell us, if we just observe... I tried starting a nature journal on a trip to South Africa - I was so disappointed with my childish drawings that I stopped and spent the rest of the trip with my camera by my side. I love making images, and I particularly live the dynamism and sense of life and movement that a drawing gives you. And to tell the truth, I'm dying to learn how to use watercolors, too! 2. The journals in the video are incredible! It's stunning to see how the artists' styles develop over time, and how the image-making and notes created an indelible memory, organizing one's thinking about a plant or a bird or about the clouds on a given day... I like the use of "boxes" or frames around some elements of a drawing or text to make them "pop", and like the quick, gestural drawings of birds to capture the movement of them - almost like a video in pencil or watercolor! Very cool to record the time and date and weather... I think I want to do that, too. 3. I am working through how I want my journal to look - all of the journals in the video had wonderful ideas to incorporate. I like to write as much as I enjoy drawing so I can imagine a lot of notes in my journal. As a garden designer professionally, I'm probably going to focus on color combinations I find in nature as a source of inspiration, so will probably include little palettes of color as notes...
Here are a couple of doodles I made after I signed up for the course - had to try out the new materials!
Here's a little Indian Palm squirrel I just painted from a photo... Going to practice daily! 
This class made all the difference! Yellow Fellow looks dimensional.
I got here by learning about the use of short, sketchy lines to rough out a shape, and using, in this example, the bird's head to estimate the size of the body. I learned to draw and paint what I see, and not what I know, or assume...
The watercolor instruction has been particularly helpful. I always wanted to learn to use watercolors, and I finally understand the techniques I need: glazing, blending, dry bush, wet on dry... layering... and going over things with a wet brush to blend areas I've already painted.
Still need to paint Yellow Fellow's branch and the leaves, am chickening out on the background, but did learn about applying a wash of color... Really happy with the results! 
Here's how I refined my 1 minute gesture drawing of the wren! 
Proof! I really did draw the song sparrow, upside down! This was a challenge, since I like to rough out my subject using basic shapes, and then add detail and proportions as I go. Not this time! I started at the tail feathers and worked my way around...
Thanks goodness for erasers... I'll have to go back to this one to finish the markings on the breast and underparts of the bird, but I cheated and turned my page around... am pleased that the little guy isn't wonky-looking!
I really wanted to look at the subject as an overall shape, but I forced myself to see it as a bunch of smaller shapes connected to each other... this has been the most challenging exercise yet! 
Oh that poor bird!! Yikes! I admit I freaked out a little and drew that one too fast... Better try that one again...
That felt better!
I do like my bird of paradise, though...
Springbok got kind of a spare tire... something weird happened with his hind foot... that one ear looks like a third horn... If you can't laugh at yourself, you're not having fun. 
(it WAS sunny earlier today!
By the time I finished work, and cooking dinner, it was dark, so I used the acorn and Halesia seed I had collected a few weeks ago. The side by side comparison appeals to me, and urged me on to research the trees further. Didn't realized that Halesia seeds aren't a food source for wildlife, but did know that acorns are an important food source for turkeys and deer.
Have found no explanation for the wings of the Halesia's seed pods, made a note of my question for further research. 
Challenging! 30 seconds to draw an - Elk? - but wow, loads of fun! Then trying to capture the pintail making all those elegant preening motions!
Had to force myself away from drawing what I know and drawing what I see.. I think this is almost like stop-action photography and captures the life, the movement of a bird or animal, with such simple lines... thought I'd share my scribbles to encourage others - if I can do it, anybody can do it! 
No problem to sit quietly for 15 minutes and soak in the sounds and smells and tactile sensations of my sit spot... am practicing insight meditation, so am used to sitting still for a bit...
Wish I had a good way to suggest wind in a drawing. Nice gusts from time to time, maybe will try this again tomorrow and draw my Fountain Grass with all the blades leaning one direction. The doves were fun to sketch but had to work fast and sort of lost the shapes of the birds facing me while sitting on the power line. The two with their backs to me were having a tough time staying upright in the wind! 
Drawing from the photo was easy-peasy - that little guy isn't going anywhere, so I can take my time! Challenging? How to know where to stop adding detail? I could sit all day and detail the primary and secondary wing feathers, the shading of his/her neck and delicate legs and nails...
Might not have noticed the shape of the warbler's beak, sort of an "underbite", where the lower part of the beak is larger than the upper part... wouldn't have noticed how the little claws worked as they clamped around the twig... and how the feathers are tight around the head and softer and "fluffier" near the back and vent..
There's drawing from seeing and drawing from "knowing", and the first is probably going to give me the lifelike, dynamic, captured-in-motion look that I'm after, even if I think I'm seeing it wrong... the restatements help make it look like stop-action photography...
Here are a couple of doodles I made after I signed up for the course - had to try out the new materials! Viewing 19 posts - 1 through 19 (of 19 total)