A Pink Elephant

I decided to do a little painting of an elephant of a different color to finish up our last sketching challenge. I drew over, corrected and refined one of my gesture sketches with tracing paper. When I was satisfied with it, I transferred it to my Arches 140lb. cold press watercolor paper and finished it off with some color.

More Two Minute Gesture Drawings

I worked on this week's elephant sketching challenge today and produced several two minute 1/4 turn gesture drawing attempts. I tried several different approaches. I drew from the computer and from life. I even pulled out my old easel and set up the elephant on a ladder with a presentation board behind it on a table to isolate it from the background. I dug out my old Conte' Crayons from college and did one series with a reddish colored iron oxide one. They are a soft, waxy pastel type stick. They are very messy, so I don't think I'll be doing more of them in my sketchbook. I have some other paper I want to try them on though. The drawings in this photo were done in my bigger 11" x 17" sketch pad using a soft 5B drawing pencil while standing at the easel with the object at about eye level.

Drawing Exercises for Improving Your Skills

There are several easy exercises that are very beneficial to developing the skill of drawing. Today I did a blind contour drawing from life. I used one of my potted flowers as a model.

Drawing elephants is fun and easy too! Because of their unique shapes, seeing them seems easier to do. I've used my figurine elephant collection on numerous occasions in my workshops as models. One of my favorite exercises is to do 2 minute gesture drawings with them. We turn the object 1/4 turn after each two minutes is up. In just eight minutes, you should have four different views. It's a great exercise to get you loosened up and really makes you see shapes instead of things! I've taken four different shots of our red elephant here and I hope you will try this exercise for our next sketching challenge. Even if you have no intention of turning it in, just do it OK? Eight minutes is all you need. And all you industrious people, please feel free to finish and add some details to your favorite pose. You will have to use your imagination and some artistic license as this elephant is not very detailed.


See more information about doing these exercises on your own here. 

Elephant Sketch

My friend, Lee Gates, is a real elephant lover. It's her birthday today, so this drawing was done for her. Happy Birthday Lee and Happy Birthday Week!

Elephants Are Fun To Sketch

Thursday, February 26, 2009 - Frustration Remedy Sketches Ahh, Elephants!

From my Spirit Art Blog: "Seems like every simple task this week has turned into a major ordeal. Staying positive is hard when you keep banging your head against the wall. Putting all fragmented projects aside, I decided to do some therapeutic sketching to adjust my attitude. While I was drawing from photos posted online by my friend, Sally Vennel, simultaneously another FB friend, Abbey Brooke, IM'd me from Kenya. We chatted about elephants and cheetahs. I think my remedy is starting to work! Switching to something you love in situations like this can calm your nerves and heal your heart." Here's steps 1 and 2 of my sketching technique.



Thursday, March 5, 2009 - Finished Elephant Sketches

I'm gearing up for a drawing and watercolor workshop here on Saturday and Sunday. Part of what I will be covering is drawing techniques, including this pencil and watercolor approach. I drew and painted these elephants with permission from my photographer friend, Sally Vennel. Taken on one of her many trips to Africa, these particular elephants live in Botswana. Find links to all my sites on www.sandysandy.com.

All Down Hill - Baby Elephant

Today's elephant silhouette reminds me that life is what you make it. Our attitude and belief system can determine whether we see things as being an uphill battle or all down hill.

Elephant Silhouette

This one's for you, Michelle!

An Elephant for Lee