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Andrews Sketchpad (1 Viewer)

Lack of anything this weekend, even the idea of landscape was put off due to the low cloud and mizzling rain....
So a little work from the dinning room table, (if it works for Nick) provided a little time to get to grips with some 'deceased wildlife' in the form of some shells i had laying around in the kitchen window ledge (why ? who knows...)
The first turned into a bit of a study rather than a sketch, the second was a fast time sketch with less detail...
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Im still desperate to get some landscaping done, A good friend of mine from Cornwall has suggested the permanent ink and colour wash, somthing Ive not tried as yet, is it easier to do.? He suggested light pencil first, then ink in the good lines, rubbing out the rest then a single or a two colour wash to add in the shadow...
 
Another scribble from the computer screen.
Everyones away on holiday, so i thought id sit down infront of the screen and have a go, try to get a grip of the colours thing, I lost the plot aroud the wing feathers, and again i think it went wrong in doing the background, even Jomo said in an eallier post here, that you have to be brave and jump in to find yer limits......mmmm methinks i might have been better sticking to the bird itself, even if it 'floats' on the page.

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Ive realised afterwards that sketching and / or painting from a photo, can be a problem in that the camera has already decided what is in or out of focus, but your eyes (when working in the field) decides that everthing is in focus.......
 
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you've found the problem of copying photos! Love the colours in this, and there is a lot of liveliness in the way you've coloured. Better than copying a photo (IMHO), if you want to use them as a start, is to have a good long look at the photo, then put it away, then draw.
 
Good to see you approaching life-drawing Andrew - working from the shells is a great discipline (very difficult things to get right) and you've made an excellent stab at them. The next step is - do them again. The more you practice from life, the lore confident you'll become. Looking back I really like the graphite stick avocet. The way you handled the shading is very good indeed and shows how well you've gotten to know these cracking little birds.
Also good to see your appraisal of your own work with the greenfinch and your assessment of the pitfalls of photography. Keep at it, it's definitely coming.
 
Another foggy and grey day, Mike and I sat most of the time in the car, till we decided to run (?) for the hide.....the sun did apear, and on the way back, this line of honking geese appeared.....
C##p photos but thought id have a go from the warmth of my study - so a few Fast lines in pencil, Watercolour Pencil for a slight colour, and a fine Ink stick to make the outline.... Im very impressed with this one....might need to develop this a bit more....

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Yes Andrew, you should be pleased with this. Smashing,lively drawing, caught the jizz perfectly and your minimal use of washed colour adds the right amount of interest. Splendid.
 
In the same style as the last, A grebe....I left out the reflection incase it got tooo complicated for me..
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Im beginning to enjoy this, even if Im copying from my stock photos....
 
A day off waiting for furniture to be delivered.....so I thought id revisit my photo collection of Avo's, but i think this first one got a bit rushed and left too much detail out....
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This idea that Tim has posted about sketching from moving things and being able to capture the detail without looking at it for too long still escapes me, Ive tried from a few photos on screen, but the're too bad to post..Still its all part of the curve.
:smoke:
 
This idea that Tim has posted about sketching from moving things and being able to capture the detail without looking at it for too long still escapes me, Ive tried from a few photos on screen, but the're too bad to post..Still its all part of the curve.
:smoke:
Andrew, if you're refering to the 'Drawing Excercises' thread I've just put up. firstly well done for having a go and, secondly, more importantly - this exercise is a perpetual one. It's like playing the guitar (or not, in my case ;) ) the more time and effort you put in, the better the results will be. Give it another shot and you'll amaze yourself. And, in a very short time, you'll be able to recall the 'set' to your memory at will. Honestly! Then it's just a case of replacing the 'fixed set' with moving images (then the real fun starts).
I'll X-post this to the other thread, too.
 
This will be the last Avo today, not going too well, maybe to much else on my mind. Wll get some late brekkie (And Coffee) and come back later.
Tim, I take on board what you say, and will try again this afternoon, if it gets better, ill post the lot - good and bad.
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I love how the ripples reflect the shapes of the birds pattern, the paper is broken up into some beautiful cryptic shapes, maybe you think it's not going too well, but there is some wonderful art happening here.
 
I love how the ripples reflect the shapes of the birds pattern, the paper is broken up into some beautiful cryptic shapes, maybe you think it's not going too well, but there is some wonderful art happening here.
Quite - don't always get hung up on getting it 'right'. There has to be room for personal interpretation or we'd all draw the same way. I like this.
 
A grumpy day waiting for a furniture delivery..One Tern to many, started of nice and calm, but soon lost direction, oh humph....
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Is the bar open..? B :)
 
Have to disagree again Andrew - I think this is a great effort of a difficult bird in an extraordinarily testing pose - fine stuff.
 
Again, sketched from the photo on the Computer screen, a Wheatear posing...... a Propelling pencil was used this time to keep the lines lite to start with
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yep, I did the light lines first, then added the detail and stronger outline afterwards...do you think its not working too well, and I should keep it light.
Its changing it from a sketch into a drawing that i find a tad difficult to keep apart....It starts off well, and I end up adding more and more to make it look better....
your thoughts ?
 
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