June | 2012 | sketchbookfactory

Archive for June, 2012

Fancy Steps

June 21, 2012

So I recently got to stay in a condo that had this charming little spiral staircase. It was so cool, I could not stop looking at it.

Here is my attempt to draw the staircase. It was quite a challenge with all the angles and things. I made a lot of mistakes. For one thing there were eleven steps but I could only make it work with ten. Also that railing at the top is way too short. Especially in relation to the light fixture on the wall. It took a loooong time to do. Basically all of Sherlock Homes, and about half of Star Trek (the 2010 movie).

Posted in Ink & Wash, Objects, Travels | Tagged Spiral Staircase | Leave a Comment »

Pub Sketching

June 8, 2012

I’m not big into music. I mean, I like it and all, but I don’t seem to appreciate it as much as everyone else does.

That said, about eight years ago I was walking back from Octoberfest and there was this band playing and they were so awesome that I stopped to watch. The next thing I knew, two hours had gone by and I hadn’t even realized it.

The band is called Traveler and they play all kinds of music inspired by the music of other countries. Gypsy, Celtic, Middle Eastern…stuff like that. When they play outdoors there are usually some belly dancers around. The lead singer, Scott Jeffers, plays the fiddle like nobody’s business, and sometimes he plays other some other cool-looking, instruments too.

The other night we caught them playing at the Dubliner and I did my best to document the experience…

I sketched these out in pencil first, then went back over with a pen. Then I used a couple different grey markers for a quick and dirty wash effect.

I always have a tough time drawing musicians because instruments are pretty intricate looking and if the person moves, even just a little bit, the angle of the instrument completely changes, so I either have to start over, or just fake it.

These guys are especially tough to draw because they have a lot of energy and they move around a lot. I was happy I managed to get anything down at all.

After I got home, I decided to add some color in order to better capture the mood of the evening. So I scanned a couple in and painted them with Corel…

See those fancy stars in the background? I spent a lot of time trying to create something like that in Photoshop. Then, after failing miserably, I discovered that Painter actually has a brush called “sparkly stars” or something like that, which created the exact effect I was looking for.

After I painted this second one, I started to think that it might actually make a better composition if I cropped the lead singer out and left just the guitar players.

Does that bass player look cool as hell or what? I had a lot fun trying to capture his chill posture and the serious expression on his face. I also spent a lot of time on the position of his hands.

Anyway, I still can’t decide which version looks better. But check it out! You can make polls on this blog. Please take my poll and vote for the one you think looks best.

Posted in Color, Ink & Wash, People & Places | Tagged Dubliner, Scott Jeffers, Traveler | 1 Comment »

RJM

June 3, 2012

Of all the people in the world, my very very favorite person to draw happens to be my husband Richard. I suppose you’d expect everyone to say that about their spouse, because they love them oh-so-much, but in my case it is just a coincidence. Don’t get me wrong, I do love him oh-so-much, but if I was married to someone else I think Richard would still be my favorite person to draw.

Aside from the fact that he is a very handsome guy (I mean seriously, just look at him) he also has this face that is really fun to draw…

His eyes and his eyebrows are pretty expressive and he’s got this awesome nose that is kinda big and rounded, and which I usually get wrong (see below).

Also, he wears a goatee, which makes him easier draw.

When it comes to faces, I say the more features the better. Beards, wrinkles, glasses, scars…all of that stuff helps map out the face. It’s a lot easier to judge the distance from this to that when you’ve got a lot of anchor points.

Another thing that’s cool is that as long as we’re together, I never get bored. If we run out of stuff to talk about, I just draw him. Which often happens at restaurants when we’re waiting to order.

Luckily his favorite hobby is “thinking”. So he thinks and I draw, and he usually comes out looking pretty thoughtful…

Richard is really good at sitting still, and he doesn’t seem to mind me following him around the house…

This one (below) I did at the bar at the Biltmore while I was very intoxicated. Not bad huh? Check out that hair. I usually have a tough time with hair, but that is some damn good sketchy hair right there.

I did this one when we went to see that movie The Artist and we were in the theater waiting for the movie to start. He looks really bored in this picture, which incidentally was something of a premonition because he thought the movie was really boring. (For the record, I loved it.)