New Project: Swimmer

In the spirit of summer, I'm doing this.

I saw this ESPN ad of Jim Fiscus in one of my magazines and had one of those "lightning-strike" moments of "I need to draw this." So here it is so far. I'm chin-deep in my least favorite part of the whole thing, which is always the first third of any project. It's a time full of self-doubt and indecision. I'm hoping it passes soon.

Fairy Forest from the Fairy Series

Medium: Prismacolor Colored Pencils on Canson drawing paper

Trying to stretch the brain a bit by veering from the photo-realism technique and trying something more illustrative.

"First Round" finished!

Actually finished this a few months ago; I just haven't had time to post it. But here it is. I think it's okay. Slight morphing here and there, and the colors aren't as bright as they are in the photo, but trying different techniques and tools to combat the dulling wax "bloom" that often accompanies colored pencil projects.

I showed my boss the piece and she liked it, but she was most impressed with the fact that I filled the ice to the brim of the glass. Ahhhh, corporate mind washing.....

"First Round" week 1

Just finished this week's work. Pretty happy with the results so far. A little nervous about starting the water glass.

"First Round" sketch

The sketch, which is usually the hardest part, went pretty well. It's a direct size transfer so i didn't have to mess around too much with magnification.

New Project: "First Round"

Took this photo one day during my lunch break. I was struck by the awesomely beautiful colors of the wood grain, the reflective play of lights in the water glass and the eerie ghost of the rolled up napkin. I knew I had to draw it.

I'm DONE!

Just completed my second intensive colored pencil drawing last week. It took about six months of off-and-on working, but it's finally done. Again, not thrilled with my composition for this piece either. Need to put more thought into the reference photos for future works.


Here's the soundtrack for this piece:

Lush Life: A Novel by Richard Price
The Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K. Lee
A Mercy by Toni Morrison
"One Cell in the Sea" by A Fine Frenzy