13636 – Whoops, Timeout for Art – Simply Drawing

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drawing sea shells, PENCIL DRAWINGS, Timeout for Art

If many of you are suffering from cabin fever in below-freezing weather, why not pass some of your time with pencil and paper? Drawing can be very relaxing, if you can endure the first five or ten minutes of frustrations and keep working, you might be very pleased with your results.

Go ahead; pick one up and have fun!

While staying at my friends’ home, I gave a drawing lesson, and after a few warm-up exercises, we drew sea shells. I worked earlier in the day on a study to lllustrate the stages of the drawing. Sometimes a simple line drawing needs few details after the dark background is added.

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Timeout for Art: Pencil Practice!

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drawing trees, PENCIL DRAWINGS, things to do when bored, Timeout for Art

Go ahead; pick up a pencil and have fun!

“To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.” Kurt Vonnegut

The ritual of sharpening pencils preps me with anticipation for drawing. Those of you who feel as if the talent fairy passed over you – stop long enough to sharpen a pencil and practice for half an hour per week, and most likely you will spend much more time in communication with your pencil and paper!  An extra benefit is blocking out distractions and getting in touch with your true self!

Shading the background made the bamboo come forward (Lapiz – Pencil Punta- Point

Choose a forgiving subject and sketch the main areas, make very light notations for dark and medium shading, and be very careful around those light areas! Let the bare paper represent the lightest lights. For those of you who are celebrating holidays, try sketching an ear of corn or a wad of firecrackers, then shade the negative space that surrounds them! (Are firecrackers still allowed in the USA?)

The absence of erasers (while drawing) disciplines me to be careful and to think ahead, and the drawing stays fresh. I also use a second sheet of paper to cover my work. If there’s no available sheet around, I’ll use a paper napkin or a thin board – anything to avoid smudges!   Students often spend as much time erasing as they do drawing; learning to sketch without the crutch of an eraser will reward you with drawings that are not overworked.

Someone requested a pencil drawing of a ceibo tree, so i’m having fun with a series of small drawings!

Pencil drawing allows you to stop at any time and resume later. Little by little, the sketch evolves into a stronger work of art. Trees are my favorite subject to sketch, and after working from life, I can complete the drawing days or weeks or months or even years later! Many times my preliminary sketch is filled with notations so that I remember where the lights, darks and middle values are located.

Timeout for Art: In Tune

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Pen, PENCIL DRAWINGS, Sand Dollars, Timeout for Art:In Tune

“Drawing is one of the best ways to meditate, while staying connected to the world around us.”  (Elsha Leventis)

After 48-hours of travel, I was happy to reach my friends’ home, sleep until 9 (!) and awaken to enjoy an unhurried visit with them.  As we walked part of their property, several woodland scenes held my attention; these trees would make great subjects for pencil studies!

A plan incubated!

Timeout for Art: Both Sides Of The Line

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Drawing Negative Space, Learning how to see, PENCIL DRAWINGS, Timeout for Art

“Draw on both sides of the line, not just what you’re enclosing.  The shape you’re making on the outside is as important as the one you’re making on the inside.”  (Leon Polk Smith)

From Quito Ecuador –

Tonight I’m taking a timeout from art for a timeout for art!  A full day of painting leaves me tired, yet when I switch to pencil, I quickly float away in a meditative trance!  It’s as if I am asleep with my eyes wide open!  I could draw all night!

Rough sketch of center area

This pencil study is in Alastair’s behalf;  last month he tackled a complex design, which challenged me to break part of it down in an analytical method.

Timeout: Leonardo

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Art Quotes, Bamboo Art, Drawing, Drawing Quotes, PENCIL DRAWINGS

Lapiz – Pencil Punta- Point

Sharpening my Ebony pencil, I present the first of a series of drawings paired with quotes pertaining to  the importance of drawing and art.   This will discipline me to take a timeout each week for the joy of drawing and share those drawings with you!    Here’s the first quote of the series:

Sunday Post: SILENCE (Shhhhhh!)

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costa rica, Guayaquil Botanical Garden, Guayaquill Malacon, Howler Monkeys, Jake's Sunday Post Challenge Silence, Lisa Brunetti, NATURE, PENCIL DRAWINGS, Playa San Miguel Costa Rica, Silence, Solitude

Guayaquil (Ecuador) Botanical Gardens/Malecon

Ah! To bask in silence!     A serene setting wraps its loving arms around us and cocoons us in delicious silence!  Libraries offer comforting slices of silence, as do museums; parks and botanical gardens provide visual balms for the soul and reconnect us with nature.  Silence allows our minds to grow quiet, and our senses awaken.   

For Jake’s Sunday Post Challenge of “Silence,”  here is an essay that I wrote when I lived “immersed in nature” in Costa Rica.