After the last class

Our last drawing class for this session is over and I hope people enjoyed it as much as I did. The last 4 classes featured drawing demonstrations and lessons by guest artists, Bonny Baker, Peter Smith, Ray Sanford and Cluny Maher. Each of these accomplished artists has a style and approach to drawing that is unique to them. I hope that students are encouraged to seek there own style and develop an approach to drawing that suits their own personality and artistic goals.

I have been inspired by examining the work of other artists (including my students!) and here are some  recent examples from my sketch book.

 These first 2 are little compositional sketches. They are 4 x 4 inches. These are a little larger than my normal thumbnails so they give me more room to experiment within the format.
this is a great way to improve your painting and drawing. It is not about accurate shapes so much as it is about design on a 2 dimensional surface,
Thanks Andi for inadvertently leaving your book behind - I love new art books.

These next 2  are the same drawing at different stages. After watching Cluny's demonstration, I decided to work on this drawing a bit more

 Evans farm 1 ( 5 x 10 inches)

 Evans farm 2 (5 x 10 inches)
 I added a lot more value and detail and used a blending pen to do some of the shading. I had never seen these pens before and they give some interesting results. I think the pen has a mixture of glycerin and rubbing alcohol in it. It makes the graphite act like water soluble pencil. It also "fixes" the graphite so you can't erase but you can add more on top. Thanks for the pens Sheila.

Here are 4 more just for fun - Happy drawing everyone

 Pine (7 x 10 inches)

 Aylesford Farm (7 x 10 inches)

 Stone barn (6 x 10 inches)

2hr parking (7 x 8 inches)

The Eyes Have It

 As part of my own drawing practice I have been working on facial features - the eyes.

 I have drawn pages of eyes

 and more pages of eyes

Here's looking at you