Back to painting plus some sketching

It is easy to get side tracked because I love doing so many different things - watercolor - oil - sketching - photography.  (notice I didn't say housework)  I've put my pencil and charcoal aside for a little bit and have gotten my paints out again.  Here are a few examples of what I am working on.  None are finished so look for future postings.

These charcoal sketches were done a week ago during a figure drawing workshop.

More sketching

Rather than do 18x24" sketches while in my studio, I kept my family company today and sat in the family room and sketched in a 9" x 9" sketchbook from various images I found on the internet.  I usually paint or draw from my own photos unless invited by a friend to use theirs but today I have to admit I wanted the challenge of sketching quickly from photos taken by someone else.  On some, I went for speed and did each of these in just a few minutes.  All in all I did about a dozen sketches today.

Practice, practice, practice

Many of my art friends are talking of the need to sketch each day and I couldn't agree more.  I'm trying to feel more comfortable with quick sketches done in watercolor rather than use graphite and my trusty eraser.  

Quick Sketch

Thursday night I had an opportunity to do some quick sketches from a live, undraped model here at our local art center.  We started out with a few 5 minute poses and then moved on to the "long" poses of 20 minutes each.  It is always a little intimidating for me to sketch people quickly especially if I'm with a group of really good artists.  They always seem to get into the flow right away while I often feel like a sputter a bit before I find my groove.  Most of the artists I was with had art degrees and years of experience and I, as you probably know, am mainly self taught with a few classes or workshops along the way.   I ended up having a fun evening and today decided that rather than doing a full painting in oil,  I'd practice with some quick watercolor sketches.

Disclaimer - Unlike many artists, I post my successful paintings as well as my not-so-successful ones.  These sketches are by no means masterpieces, but they were fun.

I usually begin by getting the shape of the head in then move on to placing features.  I wondered what it would be like to begin by painting eyes, the build out from there.  What a strange feeling it is to have a face staring out at me while I'm trying to paint.  I think you'll see what I mean.