New drawings coming soon

I took the reference photo for my next drawing. I didn't expect to get it so soon, but I have it. I also found a reference photo for lilacs. I'm going to start working on that drawing tomorrow. It's going to be a small 7" x 5" colored pencil drawing. Also in taking photos for my next big drawing I came up with a reference photo that I like but just won't work for my concept and I might try to do a smaller drawing of it before I start working on the larger one. It might help me to do a successful self portrait with glasses before starting on this big one. Anyway I'd really like to get the flower drawing done before Easter. I'd like to make it a gift to my grandmother. If not I can always save it for Mother's day. I still have to decide which drawings I'm entering in which competitions. I know I want to enter "Polynesian Slumber" and "Beautiful Dreamer" though I'm not sure if I want to enter both into both competitions or just submit one to each. Or maybe if I should submit "Angelic" into the new competition. I might just do both into both, if I can afford it. I have until the end of this month to figure it out. I plan to start painting after I finish this next big drawing. I may get some canvases to start out with, since I won't have to order them online. I can just get them at the store. I do want to try hard board though. It may just have to wait. I'll also have to get an easel and I'll be set. I need to focus on this big drawing first though, and of course this little flower one. Timing and how I feel will dictate whether I do that smaller self-portrait first or not.

Polynesian Slumber

*Edit*
I'm really happy with how this turned out. I've posted this on my website. My next drawing is going to be in graphite but I will be revisiting colored pencil soon. I really enjoyed working on this and want to work with the media again.

Dress Update

I've done more work on the dress, once again it's not seeming as bad as I thought now that I look at with the separation. Though I still think it needs some tweaks. It's definitely filled in but I need to do some more work on it to make it right. I'll definitely be ready to move onto the chair tomorrow or the day after. I'm only putting it off because I want to put away most of the red pencils that I won't be needing for the chair. I already have a lot of pencils out that I'm working with. I think I need to up a few of the shadows in the white part of that bottom pattern it's looking a little washed out compared to the big flower on the chest.

Dress Progress

I was starting to worry about the bottom portion of the dress a bit, so I went against a personal goal. I didn't want to do another post until I finished the dress. I think the bottom portron of the dress doesn't look as bad as I thought it did. I think the red needs a little more work but once I fill in the rest of the red and the white it will look fine. I thought it was a disaster but it's fine. Once I'm finished with the dress I'll work on the background. I may come back and try to finish the dress today, it all depends on what else I end up doing. I'd like to have this finished by next week, but we'll see if anything pops up.

Drawing Progress

I took a few days off from my drawing to update my website a bit. I reworked some of the elements of my site. I'm much happier with it now. Anyway I did some more work in the dress this morning, I plan to do a bit more work tonight. I'm really happy with this for the most part so far. I laid in a bit of the beginning layers of the chair in the background. Right now it doesn't look quite right but I think it will work out better in later layers. I'm going to finish the dress before I continue work on the chair.

More drawing updates

Nothing really major done. I mostly took this photo to be able to look at it with some disconnection. I'm thinking the fabric is starting to look better, but that one new shadow I put in bothers me a little bit. Also I think I may have to lighten up that last shadow that I was worried about. I think the red doesn't look as bad as I though it did, and the overall texture of the dress is looking good. I'm really starting to pick up on the subtle hills and wrinkles in the fabric. Also I'm happy that her dress is really starting to pop more. My dress was taking over before but I'm happy that it's not going to be that way in the end. Despite being in the foreground it should be more of an after thought to the viewer.

Dress Dilemma

I'm a bit worried about how the dress is looking, I'm worried that the pattern is not connecting as one piece of fabric and I'm worried that I'm getting dark too quickly. I'm taking a step back and I'll work on it more later after I calm down a bit about it.

Work on dress

I started filling in her dress, I think mine is just about where it needs to be. I also did some extra work on her face, I tried to up the color in some places and some of the shadows. I think it worked out pretty well. I figured out the weave of the wicker in the background. It looks true to the patter of the chair, as I can see it in other photos. I also rounded out her chin a bit more. I think the shadow under my dress needs a bit more work, looking at in the photo. I have to look at that later.

More color filled in

I'm only posting again so soon because the lighting is pretty good in the room right now, and for the most part I think I solved the problem of the highlights on the eyelids, though I think the left lid still needs a little more work. I'm not done with my dress yet, but it's starting to come in a bit more solid now. I started working on the seat cushion as well. Also I need a bit more of a shadow on the upper lip on the left, it will help bring out the highlight. I'm probably going to finish both dresses and then get to work on the background details.

Polynesian Slumber (full color in face)

I did some more work in the drawing, aside from feeling a need to blend my highlights a bit better I'm pretty happy with it. The highlights on the eyelids are far too pronounced and need a lot more blending, also I didn't spend enough time in the forehead. The area around the mouth needs a bit more work as well. Aside from that though, I think I've done pretty well for my first real attempt at colored pencil in years. I just thought that I might try to layer in a light layer of tan. I think that might tone down the yellow of the skin tone. That and the other fixes I listed should really make this where I want it to be. Then I just have flesh in her arm and my chest. The dress and chair should be a bit easier. The wicker part of the chair still isn't completely filled in because I really don't have a full reference for that part. I'm trying to decide how much of a liberty I want to take. I may keep the pieces of wicker all in that same diagonal they are on now, or angle the last half in the opposite direction as the small amount of chair in the photo indicates. I work on fixing the highlights tomorrow, I think the lips need a second glance as well. Again maybe some more shadow is needed.

Polynesian Slumber progress

I know I'm updating on this drawing, maybe too much, but I'm really excited about it. I laid in the red of the dress because when I was trying to lay in the shadows I lost the lines I drew for the flower pattern. So rather than redraw/try to find them later, I laid in the red. I do think anything bad has come of it, I think it looks good so far. I need to lay in the first layer for my skin, and the wicker part of the chair, I started the cushion. I think the detail in this is turning out well, and since I'm not taking short cuts on any of the chair I'm going to have to include all that details in the next piece. This drawing is now cropped down to 11" x 7.5" which I think will work out fine in the end. The next one should be closer to the 10" x 13" though both will be in the same size frame, this one will have a larger mat. There are a few inconsistencies that I'm hoping to fix int he next few layers. I'm going to finish laying in the rest of the brown bottom layer and then work on the next few layers of skin tone.

Polynesian Slumber progress

I've been working for a bit this afternoon, mostly just trying to sketch in the dress and the arm. I'm a bit worried about angle of the head. Though I think I worked it out a bit, and it's looking a bit better. I'm happy with the flowers that I sketched in. I'm a bit unsure if I want to keep going with the brown as the under sketch. I think I may keep it going down into the dress, but just keep it lighter. I think it will work out fine in the shadows but I'll do better with leaving more white paper this time around down in the dress. I still need to draw in the other two borders. Because I seem to have drawn the face on an angle it's making a bit hard to me to determine where to put the bottom border. I'll figure it out. I want to sketch everything in the dress in with pencil then come back with the brown. Then I'll probably move on to the next layer in the dress, a light red layer. I may update later tonight or tomorrow with more progress.

"Polynesian Slumber" updates

I've made a good bit of progress tonight I think. At least for how I usually work. The photo is a bit skewed and it really doesn't show all of the subtle value. I'm pretty happy with it so far. I think my borders are going to be an odd size. I also decided I couldn't handle the faded, undefined borders. One big basic problem is that I don't always align my composition with the paper correct to fit. That's why sometimes I end up with bigger borders than I intended (here) or I crop the paper to fit the drawing. Anyway, I've started sketching in a bit of the dress, and I realized that it will really be my first attempt at pattern really. Usually I tend to take the easy way out and just lay in value as if it's a solid color. I've been pushing myself with more and more challenges lately and I think my drawings are more fulfilling artistically. When I frame this set of drawings I think I will put them in separate frames, but frames of the same size. I may have to do two different mat sizes but I think that will look fine. I'm thinking it might look better if this one is a bit smaller.

Colored pencil drawing updates

I may still do some more work later, but I got some work done when I got home. I have a good idea where all the features are going to be placed and I'm pretty happy with the progress. I'm thinking about doing informal borders on this drawing. I've always been intrigued by those fading edges, I think it might work out well with this drawing. I'm not sure though, I want to see how much of a border I'd need to add to make everything fit right. I may call this piece "Polynesian Slumber" mostly because of the location the photo was taken in and the dresses that are worn by both figures (that will be filled in later).