Problems worthy of attack

Posted on December 20, 2015 by Sarah Sullivan

Solving it - 1 (1)

Problems worthy of attack
prove their worth by hitting back.

This small poem from the Danish mathematician, scientist, inventor, and poet, Piet Hein (1905- 1996) goes a long way to explain why people want to figure things out. It feels so good to get it right, to ask the right question, to solve a problem. Yes, it takes hard work, attention, and focus but the reason many people persist at problem solving is it is personally gratifying and emotionally fulfilling to interact with elusive ideas. I was lucky this evening to capture the body language of someone who is totally bitten by a good problem. I noticed how still he held his body, as though he were conserving his energy for the idea. His gaze was intense and focused. His pen, papers and computers were lined up. It was very late but he was happy to be working, you could see it in his face, posture and hands. This is the story I wanted to convey through this sketch.

I used pen and watercolor.

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More from open studio

Posted on December 18, 2015 by Sarah Sullivan

Open Studio 3 12.15 - 1

Today was not a good day for sketching so here is a second sketch from yesterday’s open studio. As I got familiar with the model’s expressions, I was able to make some decisions about an underlying story to draw, since telling a story through image is one of my major goals and something I am always working on. I imagined that the model was appraising the truth of something said to him and possibly getting prepared to use his staff or spear. I exaggerated his look of vulnerability, brooding, hurt feeling, and resentment by having him look upward as though he were facing something threatening and putting a kind of heroic light on his face. I was probably influenced in my interpretation by being in the middle of Arthur C Clarke’s Childhood’s End.

I used pen, soluble pencil, and three watercolor pigments; yellow ochre, Prussian blue and perylene maroon. Later I used Procreate to make minor adjustments.

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Open Studio

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Sarah Sullivan

Open Studio 12.15 - 1

We had another expressive model today at open studio and so the three hours flew by. It is interesting how much difference the model makes. This model’s facial expression made it easy to draw him and to add in an interpretation of what may have been going on in his mind.  I kept seeing suspicion, hurt feeling, resentment, and perhaps planning and tried to make these come through.

My plan today was to think about the interplay of three basic colors and so I worked in pencil, marker, yellow ochre, Prussian blue and perylene maroon. I usually stay away from staining watercolor but the perylene maroon is so beautiful that it won me over. Later I scanned in my sketches and used Procreate to make minor adjustments.

 

 

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One more from SDSU

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Sarah Sullivan

Version 2

It was another cold day with students studying intently up at the college. This young woman in the foreground seemed to be writing a paper and had materials and books all across the table. But what caught my eye were the three figures working away inside the building. There was glare on the windows and the inside students were somewhat obscured. I wanted the outside figure to be clear and the inside figures to be hazy. The contrast between outside and inside was fun to work at. I am not sure I would want to look at this sketch again but it was a great learning exercise.

I drew with a marker, pencil and watercolor. Later at home I made some changes with Procreate, mostly to make the outside backpack recognizable and to make the inside room seem to have some depth.

 

 

 

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Two days left in the semester

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Sarah Sullivan

2 days left - 1 (1)

Final exams are well underway at SDSU and our weather has turned very cold. The campus is emptying out and the remaining students are scattered about the patios, cafeterias, and libraries, mostly studying alone, seeming tired but determined to use all the time left in the semester.  I thought this string of four students along a building, each studying alone among vacant tables, conveyed that end-of-semester experience of exhaustion and persistence. I drew them with their heads all bent down and supported by a hand. The cool blues and greens suggest cold weather and isolation. I left out the shrubbery and umbrellas, thinking it would better emphasize the message of studying and persistence.

I drew with a marker and watercolor. Later at home I added in a bit of gray on the right side.

 

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A quick bite and sketch

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Sarah Sullivan

A quick bite - 1

Stopping for a quick bite at a taco shop was a good idea as it gave me a chance to get a few quick sketches. I like this sketch for two reasons. First, the point of view is from behind the clerk so we get to see her view of the mid afternoon crowd, which is an interesting perspective. Second, the marks I made are relaxed but descriptive and suggest a merry mid-December mood, which is the story I wanted to convey with this sketch.

It was a cloudy and windy day and my original sketch had very bright light coming from the windows and door. After I got home I used Procreate, an iPad app, to tone down the brightness. I love being able to edit my images as well as my words.

I worked with marker and watercolor at the shop. Later I added a bit more color by hand and with Procreate.

 

 

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Spirited

Posted on December 13, 2015 by Sarah Sullivan

Alive - 1 (2)

This is one of several sketches I made on the last day of a short trip.  I like this sketch because I caught a range of expression in the eyes that indicate clarity, intelligence, unspoken thoughts, openness and a lively engagement with the world. 

After three days of sketching with an app on my iPad, it was wonderful to come back to traditional media. I am reminded that when I draw in a live situation I am better able to convey what I see and think.  Although yesterday’s sketch, ‘Concern,’ was based on the previous day’s sketch, ‘Thinking,’ I made so many changes without referring to the actual scene that the sketch wandered away from being a true representation of the individual. 

I drew in pencil and watercolor. Later I added more pencil and watercolor.

Posted in Body Language, Facial Expression | Tagged , , | 2 Comments