smb's struggle!

[smb]

At the tender young age of 47 years ( :yawinkle: ), I've finally decided to have another go at making some art...

I was never any good at drawing but, at around age 14, I did once produce what I considered to be a pretty good oil painting of an A4 Pacific- (steam locomotive) hauled train, speeding down the tracks (supposedly! ) on its world record-breaking 126mph run.

Having spoken to a few artist friends, I have come to the conclusion that I need to brush-up on my drawing and sketching skills before I can take my art any further. I was touched by Hermes Alegre's story of how, when he was a boy, his mother had to fork out on a blackboard and some chalks for him when he got into a fight with one of his friends. Apparently, his family didn't have enough money to buy paper and pencils so he used to draw by scratching his sketches into the earth. The fight started when his friend erased one of his drawings - as kids do!! :roll:

I've bought a couple of books on drawing and I'll be giving you my reviews on these - together with some pretty awful "before" and, hopefully, slightly less awful "after" examples of my attempts at drawing and sketching - when I have finished reading these books and (tried!) to put some of what I have learned into practice.

Watch this space!

If any one else would like to share their story, tips, suggestions - or comments on mine or others attempts at making art, please feel free to post your comments here or, if you prefer, you can also start your own thread in this forum.

I will be collating all the top tips that we get at:

http://artfreaks.com/have_a_go/top_tips.html

So let's be having them!!

[smb]

Ok... Now I have exposed myself to ridicule!!!

The first batch of drawings can be seen at:

http://www.artfreaks.com/forums/index.php?...um&album=11

It's about 33 years since I last attempted to make any of my own art so these are very much the "Before" drawings. Hopefully, the "After" (reading a few books and a lot of practise) ones will be a little better...

Learning to draw is an exciting challenge for me. And although the standard of my work is a bit of a joke at the moment, I have to say that I am NOT in the least bit disappointed with it. Far from it! I just feel chuffed that I've finally managed to pluck up the courage and have a go at doing something that I have always admired in others - drawing life-like images.

I am currently working my way through an excellent book called "Drawing on the Right side of the Brain." I'm well impressed with it so far and I'm planning to do a review of it, once I have finished it. What I can say already, though, is that far from being a big heap of technical instructions, it is an excellent tool in breaking the psychological barriers that can prevent people from drawing.

Right...! Time for a beer to celebrate!!!!

[smb]

So now, after about 2 weeks of practice - and with the aid of the most excellent book:

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

I have come from this...

To this...

This is reputed to be Faye, from Boston, Massachusetts. It was copied from a picture that appeared in the July, 2005 edition of "Newcummers," (one of my favorite magazines!!)

*****

Ok, I know that the second one is not perfect (her left shoulder is a bit too pointed and I overdone her eyelashes a bit) but I am well pleased with my drawing!!

Life doesn't have to be perfect and neither do my attempts at art...

The main thing is that I am happy with what I produced. Not bad, eh?!!

When I made the second drawing, I seemed to have gone into some kind of a "state of "flow." I completely lost all sense of time and the drawing just seemed to flow from my pencil. (Well, Faye is extremely pretty and, I suppose, it helps when you are drawing your favorite subject!!)

I have tried to repeat this experience but, without that level of success. I guess that it depends on how you are feeling at the time and various other circumstances? Even my other drawings of Faye haven't come out quite so well. Anyway, this drawing has given me the encouragement that I need to keep trying... And I hope that one day, I will be able to produce great drawings at will!

Time for another beer!!!

[smb]

I've been getting a bit carried away with my pastels lately.

Here's a fairly recent painting that I was quite proud of:

More of my recent pastels at:

http://www.artfreaks.com/forums/index.php?...bum&album=4

[smb]

Rembrandts are a soft pastel?

I don't think so!!!!!

Depending on the color, they range from hard to rock hard. You can keep them!

And where did this all come about from? I've just wasted a PHP250.00 sheet of 300gsm watercolor paper and God only knows how much fixative and poxy Rembrandts - on a painting that I have just burned. Sorry... I should have taken a picture first, in order to show you how bad it was?

In all fairness to the makers of Rembrandt Pastels, I can't blame them for my failure. But, to be honest, I DON'T enjoy painting with them. They are too Damned HARD!

They are, however, about the least hard of all the pastels that you can buy in the Philippines - which is the only reason that I use the things!

But Soft, they Ain't!

Post Scipt Edit - dated November 18, 2007:

Having just re-read the above entry, I think it was actually a little unfair! I have say this, because I have, in fact, been using Rembrandts, (usually in conjunction with Schmingke and Unison pastels,) ever since I wrote that - over a year ago!!!!!!!

OK. The Rembrandts are certainly NOT as soft as Schmingke. However, now that I have developed my technique a little, I find that quite useful in certain circumstances - like, for instance, when I specifically don't want to apply too much color. I also use them as blending sticks. (I never did get on with those rolled-paper stick things - whatever they call them?)

One other area that I use Rembrandt a lot, is in the initial stages of a pastel on heavy watercolor painting. These are usually landscapes. Because the paper is invariably white or off-white, I tend to block in large swathes of background color with my Rembrandts - then turn these into very rough watercolor washes by going over them with a large "mop" type watercolor brush with plenty of clean water. That way, I create my own multi-color tinted paper before I start the painting.

So, whilst what I wrote in the original post above was what I found to be true at the time of writing, I have now revised my opinion of Rembrandt pastels. I DO find them very useful and I sincerely apologize to the makers of Rembrandt pastels for my previous, hasty, and not very accurate comments!

[smb]

Oh, Here's one that I didn't burn...

I know that most people will think it is a pretty corny painting but, who gives a damn?! I enjoyed doing it, and I like it!

And, I have to admit, it was done mostly in Rembrandts...

So why am I getting hot under the collar about Rembrandts? Because I have completely run out of my Schmingke SOFT pastels, I can't afford to order any more over the internet, at the moment - and I couldn't have done this...

without them! ...Reason being that the above painting uses a lot of acrylic modeling paste, mixed with sand, in order to get the textures for the grass and the rocks. If you try to use anything other than a really soft pastel for this, when you try to cover up the sanded modeling paste, most of the pastel ends up as dust on the floor. And, if you are not careful, you can wear your fingers down to the bone!!