Almost a Smile

'Almost a Smile' 

7 x 9 inches

graphite on paper - not for sale

This is a beautiful little girl that lives in my neighborhood. Last fall I started asking some fellow moms I knew to see if there were any willing models nearby. And I had a pretty big response which made me SO happy! Then the holidays came and well, I am just now getting around to working on the photos I took of this darling little girl.

When I ask someone to model for me I give them the option of either me paying them for their time, or giving them a sketch. Her mother chose the sketch. I want my models to know how much I appreciate their time, so I always try to compensate them in some way.

Except for my children and my nieces and nephew who are exempt from this rule. They work for free, and occasionally cupcakes! :)))) Mwa ha ha!!!

With this sketch I wanted the emphasis to clearly be on her eyes, so that's where I kept my darkest values and the most detail too. I am really happy with how it turned out. But let's face it, having such a beautiful model makes my job pretty easy right? Happy weekend everyone!

Without Wings, Andalusian horse drawing SOLD

'Without Wings' SOLD

5" x 10" graphite on paper

 

 'Horse thou art truly a creature without equal, for thou fliest without wings, and conquerest without sword.'

 

It's been too long since I did a more detailed drawing. I forgot how much I enjoyed that. I had this quote on a poster of a beautiful horse painting by equine artist Kim McElroy when I was a girl. I loved it so much and it's one of the things that made me want to be an artist when I grew up. I think I still have it somewhere. I need to go find it and look at it again. :) Have a great weekend all! Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by.

 

Hugs,

Crystal

 

 

Reference photo by venomxbaby on DeviantArt, thank you!

Isabelle Lightwood

Isabelle Lightwood

character study from the book City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

graphite on Strathmore 400 11 x 14"

I'm working on having some giclee prints made up of this drawing. They should be available in my etsy shop by the end of next week. An 8 x 10" will be $30. Smaller sizes will be coming soon as well.

 'Shadowhunters: Looking Better in Black Than the Widows of our Enemies Since 1234' - City of Bones   

The other day I had the strongest urge to just draw something. I have been neglecting my sketchbook lately and if I do that for too long I start to feel very unhappy. So I started this drawing from a non-copyrighted photo I found of a young woman with a hefty dose of attitude while I was waiting in the car to pick my kids up from school.

After about fifteen minutes of drawing I realized that she reminded me of someone. A character (Isabelle Lightwood) from one of my favorite books, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Once I realized that, the drawing started to take on a life of its own, and it was SO much fun.

No, wait fun's not the right word to describe it, it was just enjoyable and satisfying to put on paper an image I had held in my head since I had first read these books nearly four years ago.

Drawing characters from books is something that would not have occured to me if I had not found and became friends with Kim Kincaid. She is an amazing artist who draws character studies from books she loves (a fellow bookaholic just like me!). Click here to see some more of the characters she created from this same book.

Sometimes I really feel like drawing is as close to real live magic as I can possibly get. And it is awesome.

Have a great week everyone! See you on Tuesday. :)))

Sketchbook Saturday and Link Love

I've been neglecting my sketchbook lately. I've kept with my goal to draw from life once a week (this week it was my dog's bone, last week the guy speaking in church), but haven't been doing much else, so I thought it was time to dive in and sharpen up my skills a little.

This sketch is of my middle child from a photo I took about two years ago. I really love to look through older pictures of my kids and see how much they've grown. But then it makes me sad to see that they've left certain stages behind and the only thing I have to remind me of that time is a photo and a memory that grows fainter every day.

But then when I draw or paint them I feel all those same emotions again and the memory is a little more fresh in my mind. I love that. :) That's one of the main reasons I paint, to celebrate my beautiful life with my family. Especially when I'm experiencing one of those not so beautiful moments. Like trying to get permanent marker off the wall.

Don't even ask. Seriously.

This week I have some really awesome links to share with you guys. Some beautiful, inspiring work and some great posts too.

Dave Malan posted this amazing sketch of his daughter and this was actually what inspired me to sketch my son this morning. All of his work is incredible, prepare to spend some time at his site. Wowee!

Ali Cavanaugh is an artist that I go completely fan girl for. Her work (and her story of how she became an artist) is SO inspiring. I never fail to leave her site without being completely in awe. Double wowee.

Ann Buckner posted this amazing watercolor of an older man that I just completely love. Ann's work is always loose and fresh but also gives the feeling that a lot of thought went into the planning behind the finished work.

Vinayak Deshmuk paints some beautiful work. I especially love his boats. There's an old-world-masterish feeling too them that I really, really like.

Karen Martin Sampson is a figure artist that I really admire. Her work is full of sensitivity and insanely good technical skill. I've linked to her full blog so you can look through all her posts of the current painting she's working on. I love to see her work in progress.

Enjoy! If you need inspiration I've just given you a ton of places to go and look for it. :) Next week there will be more link love! It could be you. . .

Sketchbook Monday

graphite sketch 8"x10"

I hope everyone had a great holiday! Ours was the best, I couldn't have asked for anything better than two full days of just being at home and playing with my little family. I just wish it would have lasted longer.

But, now I'm dying to get out and go running again, to offset all the Christmas candy I've eaten. :)

This sketch is one of the studies for my portrait giveaway winner, Catie. I love her peaceful expression and the soft lighting on her face and hair. I also really like that smile she has, kind of like she has a secret about something.

I may be hit and miss around the blogosphere for the next week as I soak up all the time at home with my family.

Also, I have a large (and I mean LARGE) painting that I'm working on for a cool new exhibit that I must finish up right away! So, stay tuned for that.

It's different from what I've done before. It's a watercolor and it's a portrait, but it's on an entirely new surface for me (it's not watercolor paper).

This has got me thinking about trying new things, and also that I need to do that more.

So, here's a question for you: How often do you shake up your artistic routine? When was the last time you tried something new?

Have a great day everyone!

Sketchbook Wednesday

graphite on bristol

     My sketchbook posts are mostly just for practice and my own enjoyment. The photo references I use sometimes come from magazines and books for no other reason than I was drawn to that particular image. This sketch comes from the cover of a horse magazine I got when I was about twelve. Yes I have kept it for seventeen years.  At least the cover, I ripped it off and stuck it in a folder to use as a reference one day. And today is that day.

     The appeal for me here is the horse's face. It's beautiful and I like beautiful things. :) I love the delicate curves in her jaw and her big dark eyes. And maybe part of the appeal comes from the fact that horses were a huge part of my life when I was twelve and I'm feeling a little bit nostalgic about this photo, and the memories it triggers for me of all the hours I spent pouring over every single bit of horse related knowledge I could find.

     *sigh* Life was a lot more simple back then.

     But now I'm curious about the rest of you. What was your childhood passion? And do you use that in any of your art today?

     Books and horses. Those were mine. Put them together and I was in heaven. For real. :)

     See you guys later. I hope you're all having a fantastic day and staying out of your kids Halloween candy stash. I am proud to say that this year I have. But only because I bought my own stash the day before Halloween. Mwahaha!!