Boxer - watercolour pencils

Eiffel tower: pastel pencils

Robert Guth, Art-Is-An Bread; pastel pencils

Drawing in; bread out. It's really good sourdough!

I've also learnt that taking a photo of the drawing really helps me pinpoint little mistakes that are easy to miss when looking at the drawing itself.

Also, I love pastel pencils! I bought a box of cheap ones (Mont Marte Landscape Pastel Pencils, 24 for $15) as the Carbothello ones went back up to $119 before I could grab a second box. Sob! I will put the nice ones away until I've learnt to draw, and in the mean time the cheap ones will do just fine.

Japanese scene: pastel pencils

I bought some pastel pencils when they were on sale last week. 36 Stabilo CarbOthello pencils for $36... a bargain at 70% off!

This is the second time I've used them. They make lovely, soft colours and are fun to smudge. Also, landscapes are so much more forgiving than portraits.

Tomorrow I will swap this picture for a loaf of bread. There is a baker/art student/phd student who is doing a project where he will give you a loaf of sourdough bread in exchange for anything you think is worth a loaf of bread. Today I gave him my first pastel drawing in exchange; tomorrow I'll give him my second.

Bell and receipts: pencil

Bowl and chopsticks: pencil

I have spent a lot of my life waitressing in a Chinese restaurant.

Star Trek XI line drawing: pencil

This is my first attempt at drawing figures, not just faces. And not just one figure, but many interacting figures. I really like the way line drawings look - I think I'll do more.

I would like to get better at drawing faces with simple lines, and drawing natural and realistic poses.

Chris Pine as Kirk: pastel

Pastel sketch. Pastels are messy. It's ok for a quick sketch but I want to do more detailed photographic work.

Ben Affleck: pen

I drew this on the plane. I am away for a week and a half and only have a notebook and a pen.

Baby in Christmas Dress: pencil

This is a pencil drawing done from a photo of a friend's baby girl. I used a 2b pencil from a box that my former housemate left behind :) Thanks for all the art stuff, Brook!

I'm not very happy with this one because I think I failed to capture the baby's expression and cuteness. I do like the bow and the dress, though.

(19 January 2011)

Girl in Europe: oil pastels

This is a drawing of a picture of a friend when she was in Europe. Oil pastels. The background is all messed up and not detailed enough and sketchy and it shows bits of white and it kind of bleh. The face is ok but I need better control and coverage with the pastels. I gave her the picture though and she recognised 1) that it was of her and 2) the photo I'd used as a reference, so that's good at least.

That said, my boyfriend couldn't identify who the drawing's of, even though he's known this particular friend of mine for nearly two years now.

I might have to concede that the jury's out on the recognisability of this drawing.

(18 January 2011)

Jake Gyllenhall: oil pastels

My former housemate left behind a box of oil pastels when she moved out. I found them the other day and decided to try them out. My first attempt was amazingly bad, but then I youtubed it. You're meant to layer pastels! And blend them! Who would have thought?

I used coloured pencils to draw the eyes, because the pastels were quite chunky and it's hard doing fine detail with them. I had a look in an art store today for pastel pencils (as seen on youtube) but they were about $30 for a dozen so I passed on those. The whole box of oil pastels only cost $3.50! I'm not going to bother buying expensive art supplies until my skill level can justify it

(An aside: I drew this from a picture in a magazine. I'm terrible at recognising celebrities, and thought it was Ewan McGregor until I read the article.)

My boyfriend described this one as "ok, but he looks melty". My dad told me it looked like he had a black eye.

(16 January 2011)

Spock: pencil

I'm currently a bit of a Star Trek geek. One night we were watching late night tv, and the original series was on. It was terrible! Then over Christmas I was home and looking for things to do, so I youtubed some more of the old TOS episodes. Suddenly I was hooked! :) I now may or may not have a crush on Spock. My boyfriend often tells me I have questionable taste in men...

I did this sketch from a picture on the Internet. 2b pencil. It's not great but you can tell who it is. The angled eyebrows, pointy ears and Vulcan hand gesture really help with that! ;)

(7 January 2011)

Young boy: watercolour pencils

This is a sketch I did from a photo of a friend's son.

I am starting to figure out how to use watercolour pencils, but it's still mostly hit and miss. This is one of my better attempts.

(Mid-December 2010)

Step 1

I decided a few months ago to try to learn to draw. I took a few watercolour classes as a kid, and once went to a life drawing class (also as a kid, and without realising that 'life drawing' = 'naked people').

Apart from that, I'm internet taught. One day I'd like to be good at drawing, but for now I'm happy to just have fun with it.