sketcharoo 5

seventh of thirty.

yep, i tried to draw penelope cruz. the nerve right? but there's no harm in trying.

i didn't think i did her justice. but hey, it's still a product of my own hands (dirty, charcoal-smeared hands) and i'm kinda happy about it. i experimented with the hair, drawing each strand painfully. i did not rely too much on shading on the hair. i used different pencils drawing strands one by one. i kinda like the effect, but it makes the hair look dead. oh so dead. this one here needs a hair spa treatment.

delicious ambiguity.

sketcharoo 4

the last few days have been overwhelming. the books i read, the letters i wrote, the friends i met, the conversations i've had. at one point i really just wanted to crawl into a corner and wait for all of it to pass. but i don't because i don't have the luxury to do so. life goes on even if you want a few seconds of standstill.

i'm pushing through with my 30-faces sketching project. after that, i might try and re-explore colored pencils and watercolor. found this set on the internet and it has the best reviews. costs a fortune too. but i'll cross the expensive bridge when i get there.

so here is my sixth drawing for the project.

i was going to draw nicole kidman but she's just too pretty. i was afraid i wouldn't do her justice. maybe she can be my 30th drawing.

i always have a hard time with noses. i never seem to get the shape or the shading right. i wanted to highlight the T-zone but that would entail shading the whole face. i'm just not ready to mess things up that much yet.

i'm not too ecstatic about the result but for now this will do. next time, i'll try not to draw with a heavy heart. it shows.

delicious ambiguity.

sketcharoo 3

it's been a rough day at work today. it wasn't about the work though. it's complicated. completely shocked me. and there will be repercussions in the days to come.

there are only three things that take my mind off things. music, books and art. so when i dive into these three things all at the same time, reality must have pinned me to the ground. so when i got home this morning from work, i skipped breakfast and immediately set down to work.

in my earlier posts, i said i needed to work on drawing hands. i've drawn fingers on one recent drawing but it was like an anime cut out. so a big X mark on that. so today, i tried again.

i drew in the eyes first. i went back to my old routine, i wasn't comfortable starting with anything else aside from the eyes. i drew the hand last. i had to erase a gazillion times because it never looked right. there was always something wrong about the bone structure or the curve of the finger, the length of each finger, etc etc. but it was just a rough sketch anyway, i said i'd fix it along the way.

my obssession with eyes. enough said.

i had to start with the hand eventually. and it was a total disaster. LOL.

look at that. it's like a big bad tumor that grew fingers. hahaha. too bad the pretty face is stuck with it. i tried, really. i guess that just means i'm going to have to draw more hands from now on.

delicious ambiguity.

sketcharoo 2

i'm not fully equipped to record my drawing sessions on video so i decided to take step-by-step (well, almost) pictures of the process. i set down to work as soon as i got up from bed, i felt so guilty for staying up so late into the morning finishing "the hunger games." it was a decision that just happened: one moment i was blogging and checking facebook, the next moment i was down to 30 pages of the book. gah, i love escapism.

well anyway, here's what happened:

for the first time, i decided to draw a rough sketch of the whole picture first. normally, i'd start drawing an eye and then work from there. but lately, i realized that i never get the face shape right. so this time, i'm focusing on the hair and the shape of the face. although the eyes are still my favorite part. we'll compromise in the days to come.

first i drew in the eyes. i like to draw the soul of the picture first. and then not completely sure about what to do with the nose, i decide to start on the hair. drawing hair is my other weakness. and that's a problem because i love my hair. wait whaaat. hahaha. but see, hair is my next favorite thing to the eyes. and whenever i draw hair, i want it to look real. but lately i haven't been able to achieve that. so i kept my fingers crossed this time. well, not really.

rough shading. heavy lines. i make sure to highlight the waves of the hair. first, i filled in the dark areas with a 7B pencil. and then later on i realized charcoal would work much better. so on this drawing i used both pencil and charcoal. collaboration, baby.

blending here and there with a cotton ball. because im obssessive-compulsive and i don't want dirty hands to dirty the whole sheet. i blend in the eyes with a cotton bud. something that came to me in a wonderful epiphany.

and then here comes the lips. it's always fascinating to draw lips and shade them in. always light strokes, never too heavy. and make sure to emphasize the line that separates the upper lip from the lower lip. also never forget to avoid the areas where light hits the lip gloss. works wonders: makes it look a step to closer to the real thing.

i shade in the shadows on the face and finish off with the hair. and voila!

i'm still not convinced by the hair so i need to improve on that. there's more work to do! but for now, it's time for me to eat and go back to sleep. i've got work later tonight. i'll try to squeeze in another drawing tomorrow morning.

delicious ambiguity.

which came first: the book or the pencil?

i am hooked. my friend lent me this book a few days ago and now i can't stop reading it. see, that's the problem with me. you give me a book or a game or pencils or paint, and i won't stop. i read during mealtimes. at breakfast, lunch, dinner. i read on the bus. this afternoon i got to work all woozy and nauseous because i was reading the whole time on the bus. i read at work. at the hospital today, i managed to read a few pages in between checking my patients and carrying out doctor's orders. i can't stop. i really can't. a book is something that is beyond my self-control. i'm an addict, what else can i say?

well anyway, i have no intention whatsoever of curing this addiction. for one thing, it's not crippling me or my patients in any way. but now the dilemma is: what do i do first: draw or read? i was thinking about this on the bus on my way home (it was too dark for me to read). but of course, i did not come to any significant conclusion. so i'm still thinking about it and i'm wasting time blogging about it. hahaha. typical me. i have to share my misery with the internet.

on a slightly related note, i'm thinking about starting a 30-day project. a 30-day drawing project. to make sure i retrain my hands and i do not let go of art ever again. plus, there's a new 7B staedtler pencil i haven't used yet. so yeah, i'd probably draw tonight. i'm just not sure whether the book comes first.

book or pencil?

book or pencil?

book or pencil?

book or pencil?

book or pencil?

book or pencil?

book or pencil?

book or pencil?

book or pencil?

book or pencil?

book or pencil?

book or pencil?

delicious ambiguity.

sketcharoo

in keeping up with my resurrected enthusiasm for drawing, i've been drawing for two nights straight. right after i got back from hospital duty last sunday night, i set down to work.

i actually finished her whole face and her hair but i didn't quite like the result. i'm still having trouble with drawing face shapes. she turned out pretty chubby. :(

today, i went on a pencil shopping spree again. decided to try out charcoal pencils for the first time. after my brother's birthday dinner (which was omfg gastronimically satisfying), i set down to work with my brand new charcoals.

the result was a very, VERY messy drawing. charcoal powder was all over the sheet and whenever i tried to blend them in, it just doesn't come out right. it's hard to work with charcoal. plus i can't use charcoal on areas i've shaded with pencil already. although i love its dark shade. but it's my first time anyway. looking forward to more charcoal sketches. and i probably need to watch youtube videos on charcoal tutorials. LOL.

delicious ambiguity.

4B, 3B, 2B, BCBG

i bought a new set of pencils yesterday. i wanted to get all B and H shades but singapore kept nagging at the back of my mind. so i got a 4B, a 3B, a 2B and 2F's. I*#^@#*!! i thought i got myself an HB, and then when i opened the package at home, i found 2 F's. AKML.

but anyway, i set down to work. so i leafed through old magazines and picked a picture. i picked a cozy spot on the floor (yes, i draw on the floor) and tried to see if i still had it in me.

so far, so good. my brother was playing with his ipod and he took this picture while i was examining the drawing. god, i missed using a pencil right. plus, the Maped eraser was heaven sent.

i couldn't get the shape of her face right. i seriously considered leaving it like this. chinless, fat girl.

but i drew her a chin in the end. and though she doesn't look exactly like the girl on the picture, i'm pretty proud of this. after n years, i finally drew again. i'd forever be grateful for this pair of hands.

i'll be drawing at least once a week now. huzzah!

delicious ambiguity.