Light, mid, dark

It was all so difficult until Team Bradley taught to work with only 3 values. What pleasant surprise how deep this simple tip affect the painting.

Practice

To gauge proportion, it helps to focus on what’s around the object (negative space) rather than the object itself to get a good start; like how the sky frames the mountain and vice versa.

Practice

It’s like Pac-Man, there‘s no going back – keep drawing even on days when we don’t feel like moving the pencil. Think of it like work, we do it even on our crappiest morning to pay the bills. With art, we do it fill the void because there are always days we wish we could

Practice practice practice

George Bridgman is another great teacher. Combined with practice one can learn just about anything. What a time to be alive.

Value in Values

After all these years, should have paid closer attention to lightness and darkness. Having recently practiced and giving values careful consideration, sketches have added depth and perspective. What was really surprising was how quickly a scene can be rendered with less labour by simply blocking out the major light and dark areas. These are 15

J.h. Vanderpoel studies

Surfaces of dark

Flower Power

Rhododendron, charcoal & pen, 24×36 Spring is here and there’s something magical, awe inspiring about blooming flowers that makes me want to do art.  I was fixing my deck,  exhausted but when I saw these flowers and I was completely mesmerized by their light and shadow.  Charcoal seem the appropriate medium for nothing last forever.

Elizabeth Warren

A hero of mine.  She’s able to take a complex concept and make it simple. A quick pencil study to paint portraits.