Campfire 2

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Sarah Sullivan

Despite my intention of improving my sketch, ‘Let’s Sing Another One,” I somehow have switched the story of the sketch from a group singing to six individuals sitting around a single campfire seemingly lost in their own thoughts. I wanted to add variation to the campers so I had a child stand on a rock instead of sit in a chair and I put the fire off to the right side and toward the mid-ground of the sketch. I find the end result of these modifications confusing. I did not include the night sky that we see from the campfire but instead used one similar to the second ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ sketch, which I do not regard as an improvement over the night sky from yesterday. After experimenting with color on another sheet, I did include a greater range of values on the figures and think this helps define the figures against the dark background. Perhaps if I had shown each figure with an open mouth this would be a more successful sketch.

CAmpfire 2

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Let’s Sing Another One!

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Sarah Sullivan

There is something timeless about the fire ring as a place for families to gather, talk and sing and I intend to capture this. Over the last several days I sketched in the near dark as we sat and sang around the fire. The sketches are a cross between gesture and contour drawings as it is hard to see the paper in the dark. The circle of people is challenging as the fire casts shadows and highlights and I had trouble painting these in. In the end I opted for using a light wash on the people instead of the shadows and highlights because I wanted to do this sketch even if I do not yet know how. Using dark values on the faces and clothing is something I need to explore further, perhaps tomorrow. I did not do thumbnails before sketching as it was so dark I would not be able to consider these and still stay at the fire. However, I think I will try ‘after sketching’ thumbnails when I go back to improve this sketch. I like the way I caught the night sky behind the forest and the darkness, I think the practice on the night sky from last week’s Midsummer’s Night Dream helped.

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Having Fun

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Sarah Sullivan

My big goal is to tell a story through image and today I had a great opportunity to do so. This afternoon we repainted some outside art here at my brother’s property. Here is a sketch of my two sisters working outside on the same piece, from opposite sides of a table! Their position and harmony reminded me of the Escher piece where the hands are drawing themselves. That they could manage this while enjoying themselves says a lot about who they are. I come close to capturing the congenial interaction and the maneuvering needed to paint around each others arms by the awkward position of their painting arms. I partially showed their pleasure in the work and the enjoyment each was taking in being there with the other through the facial expression of the sister on the left. Their focus on the work in spite of all the commotion is shown somewhat by the expression of the sister on the right. I did not capture their ongoing chatter and may try this sketch again with their mouths in a talking position. I drew the sketch in ink and finished most of the watercolor in the field with my sisters.

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Is This a True Story Uncle Joe?

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Sarah Sullivan

Today I did several quick sketches of my nephews. They are on the move and hard to catch but they did stay put to listen to a story told by their uncle. I was struck by the differences in apparent credulity on their faces as they listened to the tall tale. The oldest clearly enjoyed the story, the middle seemed believing and the youngest very concerned. The way the youngest holds on to his cousin’s chair conveys some of his concern and the relaxed posture and slight smile of the oldest shows his enjoyment. The middle nephew was sitting tall with attention, and kept looking at the rest of us to gauge our take on the story but I did not capture his uncertainty today. This scene was a great opportunity for me as it has many elements of a visual story that I want to be able to communicate through image.

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More Waiting

Posted on July 25, 2015 by Sarah Sullivan

I got to looking at the sketch I posted yesterday. I used several thumbnail sketches to compose the final sketch and somehow in the process I developed two different perspectives in the same sketch. I was sitting in a chair looking down at Luke. In each thumbnail the background is limited to the dirt, rocks and shrubbery around him. There is no way I could have also seen the forest background that fills the sketch. Here is a new sketch of Luke waiting. This time the background is more consistent with what a viewer could see; dirt, grass, a stone wall and shrubbery. Some of Luke’s desire for me to get up and walk with him is also visible in this sketch, but still I do not know how to fully capture it.

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Waiting

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Sarah Sullivan

My focus this week is planning before starting major sketches. I am using thumbnail sketches as a planning tool and it is having a big impact on my work. Thumbnails provide such an explicit and speedy way to gauge the choices I need to make. Today I did 7 thumbnails of our dog Luke and then used parts of several to make the sketch below. I wanted to communicate Luke’s expertise in letting me know he is waiting for his walk, but this will take more practice before I can clearly capture his body language. I do feel more confident with showing the depth of the landscape, in part because I now see how the color and distinctiveness of the trees fade as they recede across the slope, and am able to use color value to support this fact. I am glad to be getting away from my reliance on outline, which possibly came about from all the drawings I did in meetings over my schooling and career.

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A Little Talk

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Sarah Sullivan

The other day while at the park I did several thumbnail sketches at a park. My overall goal is to use image to tell a story and I really liked the interaction between these two women, talking intently while calling to their nearby picnicking families that they would be right over. I went back and forth between wanting to crop this large, double page sketch down to just the women and the tree on the left. I finally decided to share all of it as the picnicking group possibly gives the context for the intent discussion. Although I restrained the use of line as I am working on showing depth through value and perspective, I am tempted to go back in and define the two faces since I want to be sure viewers can see the expression of the two women. I am getting into the thumbnail sketches, it is a way to sketch rapidly and capture far more than I was catching before.

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