How I Made This Sketch...
In a drawing class I took recently the instructor urged us not to be too self-critical... to be accepting of whatever we might produce as we went through the process of developing our drawing skills.I certainly don't expect perfection from myself... I learned long ago that perfection is a counterproductive expectation. In my early career I was a draftsman, then a mechanical engineer and a CAD software developer. Those life experiences, and perhaps my naturalsense of spacial reasoning seems to make it very difficult for me to let go of my need for accurate proportions... not "perfect", but reasonably accurate. So I resolved to concoct a process by which I could use a photo to provide a simple framework upon which I could hang a sketch. I realize some people may think of my "process" as "cheating"... Still I find it satisfying... So I am going to share the process with you, perhaps you will find it to be something you enjoy as well.
I started with this photo...
Then, in Photoshop I used the brush tool in a contrasting color to outline some of the main features on a separate layer...
Next I removed the underlying photo and converted my outline to black and white...
Then I printed the outline in a barely visible faded version...
Finally, I drew the sketch by hand with a pencil on paper over the top of the faintly printed outline...
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If this web page were made of paper ...
I'd "dog-ear" it and come back to it many times.
Most works of art are created in isolation by the artists who make them; the process does not need to be witnessed by the viewer to be appreciated.
No such thing as "cheating."
Tha
WOW... there is something really wacky going on with the comment editor... I wrote about a half a page and all it saved was "Tha"... HELLO... ANYBODY HOME???
Anyway, here's the short version...
Thanks AMac!!! I appreciate all the support and encouragement you have given me in my artistic endeavors. You have been a very positive influence in my life.
I'm going to agree with Mac. I paint andsketchand I think that anything that is a useful tool isn't cheating. This is a great how to article and I agree that it's a great reference piece.
Also, I have a question about programming. You know how to lay out a page. At the very top of your article is writing that goes around your sketch. How do you do that?
BTW very nice sketch! Are you going to head into painting?
Thanks Perrie!
The image at the top is 300 px wide. The effective space for the article text is roughly 737 px wide. When the image is inserted I gave it right justification (nothing special, just the NING Insert Image process dialog)... so the text just automatically wraps the image.
Painting... maybe... There is a technique I used many years ago, where I used Photoshop to derive the edge outline of an image, then printed it... used the print as an underlay to some velum, on which I painted colors in watercolor... then I scanned the colors... brought them back into photoshop and put them underneath the edge outline. This produced an image that was part photograph, part Photoshop effect, and part watercolor painting... The painted subject in the image below is a bronze statue of a "Boy and Dog" that stands in a tiny little downtown Langley park.
Wow! That is so cool! I love it! That was a very cleave method you used.
Well I think you did an awesome job!
Very cool. I like the boy and his dog by the river. That's kind of intriguing. There is a lot you could do with that technique. When I used to draw and paint, I used a pantograph and I never even felt like I was cheating. I was just getting things in the right place and would change the perspective and other aspects to make it my own. So your technique isn't cheating, either, to my way of thinking.
Good explanation on how you made a cool drawing. And, no and alas, I don't draw and paint any more.
Thanks Grump! Why don't you take up drawing and painting again... It's lots of fun... as I'm sure you know...
BTW- You don't seem very grumpy to Mal...
Hi. I have been working with wood rather than paper or canvas. I have a wood shop and I enjoy it very much. It's therapeutic and useful both. I am starting up a new project in the near future and will document it to make an article.
No, I'm not really grumpy at all.