Staying Creative Can Be A Challenge ..
I try to doodle, draw or paint something quick once (or more) a week. It helps keep me in a creative mood and sometimes inspire a larger or more detailed piece. Generally these drawings go into a drawer or box never to be seen from again. They are NOT meant to be show or sale worthy pieces (not that I do shows or sell much)but rather are for the practice and as stated above..to keep the creative juices flowing.
Today's Practice Creation ..
Is a glass of wine. It's black and white, so you choose the type of wine in your own mind. Whatever it is that floats your boat. For me its a nice Cab. I didn't post any of my last drawings. I didn't start taking to many progress picks until lately. It was probably a tree of some sort since that seems to be a thing for me. I like to draw them. I should really broaden my horizon, but hey..I'm content for now.
The Start of This Piece ..
I cut a piece of my watercolor paper into four pieces which now measure roughly 5" x 7". I have mysubject, the wine glass, set up. I have my watercolor pencils, water, and brush out and ready to go. I'm going to just work off the floor today. The puppies enjoy lending a hand .. and sometimes tail hair.
I Lay Down A Rough Sketch ..
Using the black watercolor pencil. I gently outline the idea of what I want this piece to look like. I don't go crazy with too much shading. Just an outline is what I'm after right now.
At This Point ..
I use a small tapered brush to cut in the lines that I just penciled in. I'm going to let you in on a little secret..this is not a brush I bout at the art supply store. Nope! It's a makeup brush. BAM! There you have it. I like the tapered edge and the right amount of coarseness in the bristles. They are soft and I find them perfect for this type of watercolor painting.
Now I Move On To ..
Laying in some darker lines. At this point I am really looking at my subject and trying (emphasis on 'Trying') to portray the areas of light and dark. This is harder than it looks .. for me at least .. and usually where I make the most of my mistakes or flaws. This is why I am practicing. I am trying to get a grasp on light and the reflection of it off glass.
Now For Some Shading ..
I want to put a background and foreground into this painting. I don't want it to be to distracting so just a bit of shading here and there to represent the idea of a table and wall or something like that. I am working in layers here. It doesn't take too long for the water to dry, so I can add an additional layer fairly quickly. You can always use a hair dryer to speed the process up a little.
Oh Great! I Notice A BooBoo ..
I see that the opening at the top of the glass (the rim) is angled too much toward me. I am seeing too much of the opening. This is going to bug me so I correct it by first redrawing the opening to the way I want it. Then I re-dampen the area I don't want and blot it with a clean dry paper towel. Repeat this several times and it drastically lightens out what you don't want. Works for me at least.
I added in the idea of wine in the glass. I didn't pour wine to get a good representation to work from .. I know, dumb. What was I thinking?? lol .. Anyhow, you'll see that here as well as the new line sketched at the top of the glass just above the old rim line.
Just About There ..
I am finished up with my shading. At this point I have to be careful that the paper is given time enough to dry or I risk it pealing up on me.
A Bit of a Quick Stretch ..
And I am ready for the final touches. I pencil in some sharper black lines and use an eraser (applying very, very, very gentle pressure) in order to remove and diffuse some of the more rough areas. If I run into a situation where I need to lighten things up a bit more and can't use the water and blot technique, I will sometimes break out a little titanium white acrylic paint. I'll apply this very sparsely to the areas in need.
Just For The Heck Of It ..
I want to show it to you in a white frame and dark frame. I'm most likely not going to put this up for sale (unless you like it and make me an offer), but I always like to see things in a frame..for the heck of it.
Voila ...
I Hope You ENJOYED This ..
Rather lengthy explanation of a practice drawing. It officially took me longer to put this post together than it took me to paint it. Oh well..It was worth it. Now I am going to go have a glass of wine..Cabernet I suppose. Just to summarize, see the following picture ...
AS ALWAYS, If Your Interested In Purchasing Any Of My Work:
Some of my other works can be found for sale in my Facebook Shop: https://www.facebook.com/pg/BDMillerGallery/shop
OR
Make me an offer (in SBD) in the comments section of this post. I will consider all offers but please, please try not to insult me ;-). I do value my time and ability and hope you would do the same.
If we agree on a price, you can transfer the SBD to my wallet. I will then ship the painting to you. (shipping costs will be determined by your location and also payable in SBD).
Thank you for swinging by my blog and checking out the post. Have a great day!
;-)