Michigan Sunset oil sketch

I took a lot of photos of the lake on our last annual trip to Michigan.

I may develop one or more into a finished painting, and this is an oil sketch I made on the road to that.

Oil on Arches oil paper

Plein air plant study 1

Something I found to draw in our backyard the other day

Caran d'Ache colored pencils on Canson Mi-Teintes paper

Studying Abe

(No, I haven't seen Lincoln yet.) But I have seen a lot of the photos of Abraham Lincoln popping up online here and there and he certainly does have a fascinating face.

I am working on a larger portrait of him from an Alexander Gardner photograph, and these are some of my preparatory studies (I got carried away with the one on the right). I was trying to find out which ink and pen nib I wanted to use. I very much like the combination of pen & ink and ink wash on toned paper with gouache highlights.

pen and ink & ink wash with brush on Canson Mi-Teintes paper with gouache highlights

Tortoise & Pen

Wanted to try out a new pen I bought and ended up adding brush & ink washes to it.

From a tortoise (turtle?) photo I took at a reptile show a few years ago.

Sepia Copic Drawing (fountain) Pen and Higgins brown ink & wash in sketchbook

Still life class

This is the 2nd still life I've painted in my current class at Evanston Art Center.

I have learned a lot.

oil on board

more figure drawing quickies

Some more figure drawings done from the great online tool here.

Conte crayons, pencil and marker on paper

Wilhelm Baum

I saw this tugboat in the harbor at South Haven and started a pencil sketch en plein air last August. A month ago I decided to look at the reference photo I took and finish this in (mostly) watercolors.

Watercolor, colored pencil & gouache on paper

Online Gesture (Figure) Drawings

I haven't posted anything for a while, though I've been working on many things.

One is occasionally exercising by making drawings from this online gesture drawing site (photos for gesture drawings of humans or animals).

water-soluble colored pencil and marker on paper

Vanderpoel Eyes

Along with the work I did in my figure drawing class, I decided to copy some of the great drawings of the eye in The Human Figure by John Vanderpoel.

Watersoluble colored pencil and pen, brush & ink in Holbein sketchbook

Horse

Another horse.

From a photograph I took at Springfield Stables last fall, like this other one.

oil on awful paper I will never use again

3 guys

I took some random photos of the crowd across the street from us at our last 4th of July parade (a very hot day). I was hoping I'd capture some interesting faces to paint or draw. Trying here to improve my oil painting/color skills, as well as apply some things learned in my anatomy class.

oil on paper

2 Hands

pencil on paper

MI rocks

Study of rocks along the Michigan shore

Derwent Inktense pencil & wash on paper

MI Tree

I did some drawing on our recent vacation in Michigan.

This is a tree I liked situated on the bluff overlooking the lake.

Pencil on paper

Figure Studies

Charcoal on newsprint

Had what felt like a productive night at my Figure Drawing class last week. Looking forward to tomorrow night.

Still Life with Peaches

Acrylic on paper

3 Ears

I have 4 unfinished paintings I am trying to wrap up.
In the meantime, here are some ears I was working on in conjunction with figure drawing class.

pencil in watercolor Moleskine sketchbook

figure drawing

I will be taking a figure drawing class at Evanston Art Center in a few weeks (my first). I am very excited about it and did a little practice here, working from Virtual Pose images, courtesy of the WetCanvas Figure section.

Derwent Inktense (Baked Earth) and Bruynzeel (White pencils) on Canson colored paper

Gull in ink

My friend Kathryn took a great photo of a gull in the British Virgin Islands. I was inspired to use it as a reference for some artwork, as it showed the feather and wing structure so beautifully.

Rapidograph pen, and ink wash with brush on watercolor paper

Coughlin copy

Copy of a pulp detective cover by John A. Coughlin.

watercolor and white gouache in Moleskine watercolor sketchbook

Still Lifes

To keep me painting, I have been doing still lifes recently.

Shell still life: acrylics on paper, Pears still life: oils on board

   

Michelangelo master copy

Master Copy Drawing of Michelangelo's study of seated male nude for the Sistine Chapel

Derwent "Terracotta" & white pencil on colored Canson paper

Landscape Color Studies, part 2

Another sheet of color studies.

After (clockwise from upper left): Sanford Robinson Gifford, John Frederick Kensett, Thomas Moran and Arthur Parton.

Acrylic on paper

Eastern Screech Owl life study

A resident at River Trail Nature Center. He/She sat this way very cooperatively today for some time, one eye open, and the other either fully- or half-closed.

Derwent Inktense pencil (Oak) in Moleskine Watercolor sketchbook

Watercolor study after Duveneck

watercolor study after Frank Duveneck's Portrait of a Man

W&N watercolors in Moleskine watercolor sketchbook

Watercolor study after Geoffroy

A watercolor study after Henri-Jules-Jean Geoffroy's Study of the Head of an Old Woman.

(I did this while the other 3/4s of my family watched a movie at our library.)

waterbrush & W&N watercolors in Moleskine watercolor sketchbook

Landscape Color Studies, part 1

I was impressed by Nathan Fowkes' post where he did a sheet of 16 color studies from Edgar Payne paintings. As I am new to painting and color mixing, this seemed like a perfect exercise for me.

I ended up using 2 Frederic Church paintings (top) and 2 John Kensett paintings (bottom).

I will be doing this kind of thing again.

Acrylic on paper

Ceratosaurus skull

Ceratosaurus skull

at Dinosaur Discovery Museum, Kenosha WI

I started this one sometime around Nov. or Dec. 2010 and finally got back to it a week or so ago.

Colored pencil (Caran d'Ache Chestnut) & graphite pencil (for lay-in) on Borden & Riley #234 paper

first oil painting

This is my first attempt with oils. It's a deer.

Blick Artists' oils on paper

(limited palette of Yellow Ochre, French Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Red Medium & White)

After Franz Xaver Messerschmidt

I drew while waiting for Henry at Cub Scouts tonight.

Franz Xaver Messerschmidt (1736-1783) created very unique "character heads" a collection of busts with extreme facial expressions. Some at Wikimedia Commons.
Also, here's a documentary that can be watched online.

Derwent water soluble colored pencil (Oak) & waterbrush in Moleskine watercolor sketchbook

charcoal portrait (& Happy New Year)

Portrait of my brother-in-law, Jon

black & white charcoal on kraft paper