Minor flooding

Posted on January 10, 2016 by Sarah Sullivan

Minor flood - 1 (1)

We arrived home in San Diego yesterday after heavy rains earlier this week. Rain had come in through the sliding doors and we had quite a puddle on the slate floor. Luke thought it was the best tasting water ever but we moved the table and chairs aside and dried it up anyway.

One of my learning goals is to do more story creation by altering what I see in front of me. I thought that drawing Luke and the dining area and recreating the puddle would make an easy story to sketch. However, my puddles looked like rugs no matter how much I tried. I finally gave in and went to the Internet to study up on puddles. It seems that the water area needs reflective glints and the rest of the floor has to have a matt finish.

Digital sketching turns out to be an awesome learning tool. I was able to keep my original sketch of Luke, the bookshelves and walls throughout the whole process of getting a convincing puddle and just keep working on the puddle area until I was satisfied.

I sketched in Procreate.

Posted in Deliberate Practice, Story Creation, Telling a Story | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Reading on a plane

Posted on January 10, 2016 by Sarah Sullivan

Reading on a plane - 1 (1)

On the two- hour flight home this morning I sat near a man who read the whole time. He was a perfect model for a quick sketch in Procreate. One of my major learning goals is to convey a story through images and I wanted to tell a story of a man making good use of the flight time by reading. My attention was caught by how relaxed he was despite the small space. This shows in his long arm that is wrapped around the book and the way he sinks back into his seat.

I sketched completely in Procreate.

 

Posted in Telling a Story | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Snowscape 4

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Sarah Sullivan

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Today’s sketch is pretty much the same view from my warm hotel room as yesterday,’s sketch, but the treatment is more abstract. When I was studying snowscapes on the internet I noticed I have a strong preference for simplified paintings. So today I grouped similar shapes together and kept the colors simple.

It has been an interesting week here in Colorado as I try to sketch snow. Funny how much difference practicing for five days can make in the way I now see snow.  It would have been fun to sketch some more on the ski slopes, since it offers so many different stories to explain through image,  but it is our last day here so I skied instead.

I began with a pencil and watercolor sketch and then brought it to Procreate for some adjustments.

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Snowscape 3

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Sarah Sullivan

 

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I continued to work today on drawing snow from my hotel room window, a much warmer place for sketching than the ski slope. I began with six 5-minute sketches with a goal of letting my hand and eye work together to build my intuition. I studied the results, puzzling through how to give depth and dimension without strong light and shadow. Google came to my rescue by showing me the snowscapes of many artists across the world and centuries. I drew several more sketches and eventually became more comfortable with the muted, blurred lighting by using a softer line, grayer colors, and more vegetation for contrast.

I sketched in pencil and watercolor and then imported a photo of it into Procreate where I added layers, luminescence, and three figures.

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Ski slope 2

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Sarah Sullivan

 

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My main goal for this blog is to learn to convey a message by using image. I came closer in today’s sketch to expressing the feeling of skiing but drawing snow continues to challenge me. The cloudy skies don’t cast much shadow which makes it hard to show shape and distance. I made some progress when I noticed that what I thought was flat white actually has shape that is defined by subtle variation in color. In today’s sketch I used flat washes to show the way the snow mounds. To show distance I included the line of lift towers and to show motion I blurred the skiers.

This sketch began with a quick sketch on the ski slope. Later I transferred it to watercolor paper and added color. Finally I used Procreate to make adjustments.

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Ski slope

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Sarah Sullivan

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Yesterday I tried to sketch skiers on snowy slopes and then put it aside in frustration. Today I completed four more sketches and became even more puzzled about how to convey both snow and skiers. I know that the issue is I am drawing what I think I see rather than what I actually see, but getting past this mind block takes persistence.  With three more days here in Aspen I plan to practice capturing the basic shape of a skier and a snowscape.

I sketched in ink in a small sketchbook and then later transferred the sketch to larger paper and added watercolor.

 

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Redo of a view

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Sarah Sullivan

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One of my major learning goals for this blog is to learn to use image to tell a story. Although I liked yesterday’s sketch well enough to post, I was bothered by it. I felt that it confused the story of what can be seen from a window seat by implying that the view is easy to see rather than suggesting the effort it takes to shift around in a cramped spot.

Today I broke up yesterday’s sketch into three sections, wondering if that might better reflect the physical effort that it takes to look out the window on a plane and to study the people in front of me. I reassembled and distorted the parts trying to suggest how I had to crain my neck to get each part of the sketch. I am not confident that this version tells the story of the view from my window seat any better, but I enjoyed thinking about what bothered me and experimenting with solutions.

I drew in ink and watercolor and then finished the source sketches yesterday. Today I imported the sketches into Procreate where I did the final work.

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