Drawing Upside Down

This was actually my first upside down attempt, which I definitely liked, although again, the woman was MUCH more attractive. I prefer this look, though--something more interesting about her, I think. And I should probably clarify that by "upside down" I mean that the photo I used was upside down. I, on the other hand, was definitely right side up.

This is drawn from a photo. He actually made a pretty good looking woman, although I'm sure there are those who would wonder why I did the drawing in the first place. I liked the strength of his face emerging from the feathers.  

So the weird black thing hanging down from the woman's leg is supposed to be a piece of her outfit, but then I drew the line where it ends up too high, so it just looks like some bizarre horn growing from her thigh. Not to mention her strangely shaped legs. I do like how her mouth turned out, and the curve of her upper body. Must take pride in the small things.

The model for this one was actually a quite beautiful woman from an old photo. She came out decidedly simian, however. 

I'm asking for "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" for my birthday. In the meantime, I'm amusing myself this afternoon by attempting to do some upside down drawings. I actually like them in a way--more interesting somehow than when I try to do it right side up. Not exactly masterpieces though. 

I'm clearly on a quotation roll tonight.  

Illustration Friday--Dreams

This was actually a blind contour drawing that I did of an old collage, thus combining two challenges in one. It turned out far better than I would have imagined. I admit that I DID look when I applied the pastels.

I LOVE this quote--so much what I needed to see right now. I also took the advice of Lisa and Carla and tried scratching the pastels, which gives more dimension I think. Tonight I'm really digging the pastels over the water colors. I'm able to achieve much more vibrant color and I like the visceral feeling of rubbing the pastels into the paper--somehow puts me more in touch with the materials.

I moved more than I wanted to as a kid--the first day was always terrible. I felt completely alone and awful. Glad I don't have to do that anymore. 

Peace

Sometimes I just start drawing--no rhyme or reason. Last night I was wanting to play around with pastels a bit, rather than my watercolors. Somehow these chairs emerged. And then I was looking at one of my favorite blogs this morning and found this quote, which seemed somehow fitting to me.

What?

This began as a screwed up drawing. Fortunately I start out with very light strokes, so I was able to build over the top of it. I had written "What" before I tried to reclaim this as I was annoyed that I could produce such crap. As it turns out, I liked this finished product and the crap I drew just added another layer to the piece. The woman and the girl are drawings from collages I've done.

Playing digitally and not sure if I like this one. I'll put it up for now.

Another ink/water color combo in the negative. This is a quote that captures something that Darvin and I have often discussed about what happens when we try to protect our kids, something I've always wanted to do since no one ever protected me. But sometimes it's a good thing to have to take care of yourself. 

A negative of an ink sketch, watercolored and then cropped. I'm really liking how it turned out.  

Beggars of Chisineu

A better day today, although I'm hoping it won't end in insomnia. These were kind of fun to do, combining collage with drawing. I've been missing my little bits of paper and it felt good to have that glue stick out again.

I was inspired by Katherine Streeter and Claudine Hellmuth's Poppets

The flesh is willing, but the spirit isn't. Hours of bad art. And I don't care how much I'm supposed to enjoy the "process" right now. Sometimes you want a little product. So a re-work of something older. . .  

The original of the negative image below. I cropped it and altered it in my paint program with a little chalking along the ages. Gives it a different feel.  

This is a negative of a watercolor I did tonight. The woman's face turned out accidentally both different than I intended, as well as better than I thought. I like how the way the paper sort of wrinkled looks almost like fog across her face.  

This is how I'm feeling today--mentally and emotionally in the fetal position. The really annoying thing is that I can't point to any particular reason for it--or at least no reason that is rational. Then again, emotions aren't particularly rational, are they? I've been dreaming a lot lately . . . something's up but it hasn't swum to the surface yet.  

Darvin and I love Gustav Klimt, so a little homage to him. It began as a try at reproducing The Kiss" but there's no WAY I'm ready for that. So at least a little something. . .  

Clearly I have no particular style at this point--playing around with a million things. I do dig the gel pens, even when they run. I'm clearly not about doing meticulously detailed work.  

We call this one simply "Sharpie Madness." It speaks for itself. 

The girls and I have talked about a particular quality of light and air that we feel when we're in San Francisco. This captures a little of that.  

I've gone a little drawing crazy. My collage work was feeling stale and so I've spent the past several days playing around with gel pen, pastels and watercolors. It's forcing me to rely on my own head more, to pay attention to details, rather than just slapping acrylics paper and glue into my journal. It's good to change it up. 

OK, so she looks like she has a skin disease, but I'm rather pleased with the rest of her.