Tag: pencil

Research & Reflection1 Comment

Atelier drawings, portrait 2 -Los Infantes II

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

The original by Irvin Rodriguez (2016) is in ink on Hahnemuhle Copperplate paper, mine is in pencil and conte on the page in the book and I really struggled with this. The angle of the head, the ‘baby’ features (mine looks a little older, less chubby) and the expression. Every correction brought another problem and eventually I came close to running out of road trying to erase where there was little leeway to do so. What I’ve learned though is that despite all these difficulties and a few oddities of proportion, if the original were not to hand – and … Continue reading Atelier drawings, portrait 2 -Los Infantes II

Research & Reflection1 Comment

Atelier drawings – portrait 1, ‘Jamaal’

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

This felt very much like jumping in at the deep end despite completing the run-up exercises. I find blocking-in quite tricky with the examples hard to transfer to new material; too many lines seem to scramble my brain and I lose the ends of them and their position in space. Maybe practice will improve that but for now I have used some of the guiding instructions alongside my own more intuitive grasp of shape and position. The result is a portrait of a passable woman who should actually be a young man. In my defence, the small drawing above mine, … Continue reading Atelier drawings – portrait 1, ‘Jamaal’

Research & Reflection7 Comments

Aristides atelier drawings continued

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I noticed that many of the drawings to copy are made with graphite the nature of which, until now, I hadn’t really questioned, imagining it was maybe another word for ‘pencil’. But looking at the way this medium seemed to work, I was struck by how much smoother the result was and so I investigated further. Of course, graphite really is not pencil although it does come in sticks. I bought some of each, the powder arrived first and my goodness is this a tricky substance. I had no idea (still don’t) how to make it stay where I want … Continue reading Aristides atelier drawings continued

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Part 3 project 5 exercise 2 townscape

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Another dreaded attempt at forcing buildings into a proper line on a page. This time I’ve used a soft 7B pencil so I don’t get too involved in sharp corners and points. It’s a little childlike but better than I’d expected, particularly as one of my cats settled on my knee while I was drawing. This is our car park, conveniently empty of vehicles. This may not be strictly ‘line’ but I think it may be close enough. There are many points of variance from real perspective but I’m relatively confident that anyone local would recognise it so that’s a … Continue reading Part 3 project 5 exercise 2 townscape

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Part 3 project 5 exercise 1 townscape

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I’m using my own photos for these as standing still or sitting in unsuitable seating is problematic due to a back injury, and keeping hold of items such as drawing implements and sketchbook tricky due to Dupuytren’s contractures in both hands. I also need glasses to see the page and sunglasses in bright light which is an incompatible combination. These are largely inconveniences most of the time but, in these circumstances, comprise an impediment to on-the-hoof sketching. Luckily, I often take photos and I have quite a few suitable ones. This first sketch though, is from a paused dashcam video … Continue reading Part 3 project 5 exercise 1 townscape