Learning New Things

Here is something that you probably don't know about me... I have never learned how to draw realistically.  I have great fun drawing whimsical imaginary critters and I can recreate faces in fabric - but I have never learned how to actually "draw" what I see.

So I am taking an on-line class.  And it is great.  My brain practically hurts from stretching but I am loving it.  I figure that anything new that I learn about art will add to my own fabric creations.  And it will certainly add to my art journals.

The class is called "Draw and See" and this first drawing is leaves (I know - obviously!).  But here is the thing that I learned:  It uses charcoal.  I never did that before and it is a whole different experience.  And it uses a technique of measuring distances and angles with a bamboo skewer.  Really!  Strange but surprisingly effective.

This is the second one.  Flowers (obviously!) but the technique starts with watercolor blobs in the general shape of the flower first - then charcoal.  And I was amazed that they actually do look like flowers.  Some more than others of course - but a good start.

And then a Bird.  Again using the bamboo skewer to be sure the drawing is accurate.  You would be amazed at the Ugly Stage this went through.  I truly did not think it would ever look like anything resembling a real bird.  But I am feeling more confident.


Obviously the teacher is excellent.  To lead someone like me with basically no experience to a point where I feel pleased with what I am learning and also looking forward to not only the rest of the lessons but also to making up my own challenges and seeing what I can draw is a real accomplishment.

This lesson was very strange - but my eyes are learning so much.  This is an eraser drawing.  Yup.  You start with a smeared charcoal background and start erasing to find the shape of the Moths.  Then add charcoal and white pastel and white ink.  Again using that goofy bamboo skewer to make the size and angles accurate.

I am especially amused by how different each of the lessons is - but how they all flow together and build on simple techniques and new combinations of different media. 

The next class is Pears.  Hmmm..... can't wait!

Fall

The latest in the EarthWise series.  Scroll down to find Mother Earth, Spring and Summer.

I hate to play favorites .... but this IS my favorite in this series.  I especially like the details of the eyes.  The design is not what I thought it would be when I started.

It was pretty obvious that if I made a quilt called Fall that it would include falling leaves.  Uh huh.  But in my head, there were four times as many leaves falling in the background.  And I really had no idea how to add interest to the head.

Funny how quilts just "tell you" what they want to be sometimes.  And I have learned that if I simply pay attention and do what the quilt wants to do - it works better than trying to force it into submitting to my original design idea.

Anyway I absolutely DO like the final quilt.  The Scan 'n Cut was essential to the success of this quilt because I could not have cut the leaf shapes without it.  I was rather challenged when it came time to figure out the quilting lines.  Go around the sharp angles of each leaf?  Nope.  Find a way to imply the motion of falling leaves?  Yes.  And the tiny beads and light colored thread really helps that motion become visible.

So Winter is next.  I am still unsure of the colors.... sparkly white? Or silver? Or blue?  We'll see........