Saw a video of somebody sketching people using a mechanical pencil recently and it reminded me I used to be ok at drawing but got a bit bored. I used to get annoyed at using pencils as you have to keep sharpening them and stuff but the thought I'd using a mechanical was appealing, so I went and bought a metal one and some technical drawing pens as I used to like pen drawing too. Thought it might make a good mindless activity in the evening which I can do on the sofa so I didn't have to be anti social playing guitar.
It's only for me (and people who I give them to do I don't end up with loads of sketches nothing to do with them) but thought I'd post them here, for any tips or feedback and for others to do the same if you're into it.
Here are the ones I've done so far, in time order
My mom's dog
Nymans House in Sussex, slightly cartoon style
Me and the Mrs
Mom and her dog but I couldn't get her face right so still haven't finished it!
An attempt at Van Gogh's starry night with my pens and only a few kids pencil crayons (weren't even the right colours haha
Jeff Buckley, but couldn't get his nose right sadly so just looks like a random dude playing guitar
Johnny Depp for the mother in law, she's a fan. Happy with his face and shoulders but not sure why I ended up giving him a little pigmy arm and a Simon Cowell waistline!
Still a lot of work to do but hoping to get adequate again over the next few months, like I used to be
Let's see yours
Comments
I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me.
That's a problem to some people, because there's no real output. My other half prefers making cards and crafts because she enjoys the outputs and giving them to people, but I personally find the reduced pressure of just doing something for the sake of it that nobody else will see most the time. Maybe your wife was the same as my other half in that respect?
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youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
I got a pad and a few nice pens and pencils a while back and did a few simple superhero drawings for my son but have forgot about it again now.
Think you need to do it all the time to get any good.
I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me.
I used to do commissions back in the 90s, mostly oils or watercolours, but if I can find it I'll post a picture of a pencil sketch I did of someone's recently deceased father (a lot of commissions were for dead relatives or pets). IIRC the chap who asked me was the son in law of the man and thought it might be a gift for his wife, then thought better of it.
I kept it because I was quite pleased with it . . . for two reasons. It was a passable likeness for what was a fairly quick sketch, and because when I drew it I'd only just got in from the pub and was pretty hammered
I console myself by recognising that some of the business plans and reports I have come up with over the years are works of art.
I can't draw - I am scientific, not creative sadly.
I'll tell you who is amazing at sketching - Nick Beggs. He draws with a pen so that he can't rub out and correct anything, and he releases sped up videos of him doing them. There are loads on Facebook and instagram, but here's one that found it's way to YouTube
Something a bit more worked up:
And some more technical stuff that I did at work in the 80s:
and nice work too, @thecolourbox some good stuff there.
my dad was an exceptional pencil artist and truly terrible in colour. He once did an oil painting which he had framed and then got us all into the hallway to see it unveiled. (I think I was about 13 or 14.) my mum said “why on earth have you had that done? I thought you hated that painting.” “I do,” he replied. “It’s to make sure I never do it again.”
I’ve inherited a little bit of his pencil skills, and all of his colour skills. I can do a passable sketch but am completely hopeless with colour. My father in law was a hugely talented water colourist and I’d love to be as good at something like that, but I am utterly useless. I’ve night half a dozen colour pencil sets or pastel sets and only done one thing worth keeping, let alone showing, in nearly 40 years.
Then again, I only try once every six months so that might have something to do with it.
I had no idea that Nick Beggs could draw so well. Almost forgives his crimes against music and hair in the eighties (does also remind me of a Take Hart exert).
Particularly pleased with tonight's effort, not because it's that good, but because I'd tried two other portraits before this and they went wrong, but I did not give up, just decided to do something else. Boom
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
Got back into it briefly a few years ago when an idea popped into my drunken head.
Not sure if this will post or not, but here goes
https://i.imgur.com/5HWlHqX.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/2Y0Q364.jpg
And I used to cover my school folders in metal sketches...
https://i.imgur.com/WalqjoL.jpg