Suzanne
Forum Replies Created
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@DIANA My mistake--I thought one date read 2022 and the next 2023. I also go back and touch up multiple times. After the first round of sketching, I often place my sketchpad where I can see the sketch from a distance throughout the day (or week), and from this new perspective, see changes to make.
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Lori, your cardinal's feet are terrific. I'm jealous!
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Debbie, Mr. Cardinal looks like he's looking toward us, which gives him character. I like it!
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Diana, why do you have two different dates/years on your drawing. Did you go back a year later and edit? I'm also taking a while to complete my bird, but I can see progress!
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This guy already has personality. I look forward to seeing it in color too!
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Wow, Kaiah! You draw well for eleven, or for any age really. Keep up the good work!
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I found that looking at my sketch from a distance helped me recognize some flaws in proportion. Looking at photos of my sketches helped. Even after posting I see my bird's body is too short! -
Oh how I love the morning chorus! Your description is marvelous. In our neighborhood most parts of a day, a flutter of sparrows populate a particularly dense hedge. Those birds debate or celebrate in their convention center with a raucous cacophony, but as I draw abreast the shrubs, they hush into silence. After I pass, they take up their discussions all over again. I can imagine their frozen poses re-animating just where they left off.
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I love your poem and find the same true in my life.
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I loved the other students' reading suggestions. Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek captures my imagination and Lilia's Trotter's simple but exquisite water colors take my breath away. Elizabeth Goudge, a twentieth century British fiction writer first sparked my interest in her descriptions of nature. She captures not just the details but the essence of a thing, often with humor. I sense God speaking to me through creatures and beauty. Below is one such lesson.
“Chip. Chip. Teacher, teacher.”I scan branches, searching for the bird with its unmistakeable calls. Ah, there he is, so easy to spot with bright red plumage. Cardinals make me feel satisfied, because they’re the one bird I can always identify.
I call him, Mr. Cardinal, because he reminds me of a creature suitable for Downton Abbey. His crest gives him an air of importance like a top hat. The black mask he wears contrasts pleasingly with the red, and he wears it like a British gentleman lost from a masquerade party looking for his wife.
Mrs. Cardinal, likewise, fills her sophisticated, if old-fashioned, role. She fusses over the nest, responsible for its construction and tidiness. Her garb of elegant feathers blend hints of orange, rust, gray and sand. She’s not nearly as showy as her counterpart, but doesn’t need to be, which makes me respect her all the more. She tends the eggs while her husband flies away to hunt, and returns to wait upon her with his catches. In the birdbath, the pair take turns watching for predators and bathing. These two birds live respectable, monogamous lives. Each has an important job and relies on the other to do their part. They delight me and grant me a feeling of wholeness.
That is, except for one of Mr. Cardinal’s curious behaviors. He habitually taps his reflection. He pecks the window, and I caught him striking a car’s side mirror. At first, his action is humorous, but when repeated, it becomes irritating and alarming. The poor fellow will damage himself and drive us crazy in the process of exorcizing his doppelgänger. Of course, he’s defending his territory and his spouse.
I wonder what Mr. Cardinal sees? A frightening masked threat? A disgusting flirt? What in his reflection alarms or repulses him that he must attack?
Mr. Cardinal, please stop. I am grieved that you peck at something you wrongly perceive. You are an entirely satisfactory bird just as you are, but you’re wasting your efforts in this never-ending loop while your family needs you elsewhere. The only way you’re going to be rid of your reflection is to turn and fly away.
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Gerda, you are so right about taking time to allow the paint to dry. This is my stumbling block to avoid as well, but I'm still slow to finish my work. Sometimes I sit it on the piano where I will pass it several times a day. Seeing it upright instead of flat on a table and at a distance reveals things I can do to improve. BTW, my husband and I harvested acorns this year and made acorn crepes and pancakes. Delicious!
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Great job on the bird, and the branch is very realistic as well!
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I admire your crisp use of black in the feathers. Your lines are so clean and straight! Any tips for doing that?
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The contrast between my before and after drawings show the effectiveness of Liz's instructions. I used her tips on varying values to create dimension, squiggles to create the lichen, stippling in the branch, and negative space to position the bird on the branch. The proportion measuring with a pencil trick helped my poor bird's first shape improve. I am happy with my progress and look forward to gaining skill with all these tools.
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Capturing stumps me. The wildlife do not hold a pose, the clouds interrupt the sun and shift shadows and tones, and as a beginner, I'm very slow in drawing. I'm discovering that I should take a photo to continue the rendering later, go back to observe at the same place multiple times if possible, and be patient with myself. If all I get is the temperature, wind, scents and sunlight, the day wins. I trust that I will improve in speed and skill the more I try, and meanwhile I'm enjoying God's good creation. Liz's instruction helps me appreciate it all the more.
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I find the proportion tool useful as well as simply going back several times after stepping away a bit to add more detail. The more values (light, medium, and dark) shades I give the drawing, the more 3D it becomes.
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Like Dorothy below, the chest markings confused me, but they ended up giving the bird some depth. I also didn't trust the length of the tail or the shape of the eye, but those turned out about right too. I used negative space often to help place the line. This exercise enlightened me!
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I'm with you, Dorothy, on confusing the chest markings!
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I watched a heron intimidate another to leave his territory. I noticed the basic shapes of the birds to capture their movement. Their legs and feet seemed to inform the sketches more than their wings, which I thought would be the other way around. Maybe if I'd been more accurate in portraying the wings, they would indicate more.
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My contour drawings resemble monsters. Second tries did not improve much. Gauging the distance of long lines throws me off. I did focus on the subject. I also took note of the "negative spaces," which might have contributed to my disappointing results. I'd love to hear tips and tricks, if anybody has some.
I found that looking at my sketch from a distance helped me recognize some flaws in proportion. Looking at photos of my sketches helped. Even after posting I see my bird's body is too short! 
“Chip. Chip. Teacher, teacher.”I scan branches, searching for the bird with its unmistakeable calls. Ah, there he is, so easy to spot with bright red plumage. Cardinals make me feel satisfied, because they’re the one bird I can always identify.
I call him, Mr. Cardinal, because he reminds me of a creature suitable for Downton Abbey. His crest gives him an air of importance like a top hat. The black mask he wears contrasts pleasingly with the red, and he wears it like a British gentleman lost from a masquerade party looking for his wife.
Mrs. Cardinal, likewise, fills her sophisticated, if old-fashioned, role. She fusses over the nest, responsible for its construction and tidiness. Her garb of elegant feathers blend hints of orange, rust, gray and sand. She’s not nearly as showy as her counterpart, but doesn’t need to be, which makes me respect her all the more. She tends the eggs while her husband flies away to hunt, and returns to wait upon her with his catches. In the birdbath, the pair take turns watching for predators and bathing. These two birds live respectable, monogamous lives. Each has an important job and relies on the other to do their part. They delight me and grant me a feeling of wholeness.
That is, except for one of Mr. Cardinal’s curious behaviors. He habitually taps his reflection. He pecks the window, and I caught him striking a car’s side mirror. At first, his action is humorous, but when repeated, it becomes irritating and alarming. The poor fellow will damage himself and drive us crazy in the process of exorcizing his doppelgänger. Of course, he’s defending his territory and his spouse.
I wonder what Mr. Cardinal sees? A frightening masked threat? A disgusting flirt? What in his reflection alarms or repulses him that he must attack?
Mr. Cardinal, please stop. I am grieved that you peck at something you wrongly perceive. You are an entirely satisfactory bird just as you are, but you’re wasting your efforts in this never-ending loop while your family needs you elsewhere. The only way you’re going to be rid of your reflection is to turn and fly away. 
Capturing stumps me. The wildlife do not hold a pose, the clouds interrupt the sun and shift shadows and tones, and as a beginner, I'm very slow in drawing. I'm discovering that I should take a photo to continue the rendering later, go back to observe at the same place multiple times if possible, and be patient with myself. If all I get is the temperature, wind, scents and sunlight, the day wins. I trust that I will improve in speed and skill the more I try, and meanwhile I'm enjoying God's good creation. Liz's instruction helps me appreciate it all the more. 
I watched a heron intimidate another to leave his territory. I noticed the basic shapes of the birds to capture their movement. Their legs and feet seemed to inform the sketches more than their wings, which I thought would be the other way around. Maybe if I'd been more accurate in portraying the wings, they would indicate more. 
My contour drawings resemble monsters. Second tries did not improve much. Gauging the distance of long lines throws me off. I did focus on the subject. I also took note of the "negative spaces," which might have contributed to my disappointing results. I'd love to hear tips and tricks, if anybody has some.