Olive - Grid Drawing

My granddaughter "Olive" 8 1/2 x 11 graphite

 

This one is in my handmade sketchbook - the kind where you can't really tear out pages.

I did a grid drawing, both to make it easier on myself, and to share a little about the grid drawing process.

I printed off a copy of the photo at the same size as my paper. The grid I drew in white gel pen on the photocopy is the same size as the one I drew (very lightly in graphite) on my sketchbook page. Then it's a matter of copying what you see inside each individual square. 

Here's the beginning. I erase the grid as I go. Remember to draw the grid as lightly as possible to make this step easy on yourself.

I am the most comfortable with my simple mechanical pencil which is a medium graphite, halfway between the soft, very dark graphite (like 6B or 8B) and the hard graphite which doesn't make marks beyond a soft gray color (like 6H). I do, however, switch back and forth between harder and softer graphite pencils as needed. You can see at the top of the photo. 

Notice that my drawing hand is resting on a piece of scrap paper. This prevents my hand from picking up graphite and smearing it around, making a mess on my hand and the paper. It also keeps any of the oils from my skin off the paper.

You also see a couple types of erasers, including the very important kneadable eraser just at the top of the photo, and a brush to wipe the surface after erasing (again keeping my hands off the paper as much as possible).

Lastly, the blending stomps! I don't know what I would do without them for those soft gradations. They hold a lot of graphite from blending the darker areas, and then become a drawing instrument themselves.

Information on blending stomps, erasers, and varying degrees of graphite hardness can be picked up in nearly any beginner's drawing book. I just wanted to share my workspace with you.

A closer look

These next two photos are simply progression shots that I take at the end of a setting. I usually work about an hour at a time. This isn't a commission so I go at a leisurely pace for the joy of it.

One more supply to mention - black colored pencil!

A book passed through my hands recently, and I learned that you can get the really dark blacks that make a drawing pop by switching to black colored pencil for the heavy shadowed areas and places like the eyes. It goes smoothly over the graphite. I use Prismacolor colored pencils.

You can also see that rich black in her hair at the top of the page.

Thanks for stopping by!

House in Watercolor

This is a project I did as a wedding gift for my best friend's daughter. It's approximately 8 1/2 x 11.

She lives around the corner from me, so I was able to stroll over and take photos when I knew they were at work. (Didn't want to spoil the surprise.) 

The evening shot was a little trickier because I didn't want them to see me out there. But, I wanted the painting to look as closely as possible to the moment they were to get married, and I like the colors of the sunset on the house.

Below is just a quick watercolor study I did in a 5 x 7 watercolor sketchbook.

Then, I started on the big one. 

First, I drew a light pencil drawing on watercolor board.

This is what it looked like after the first layer of watercolor. I takes me a few layers to build up rich colors. Once the layer dries, it's lighter than what you expect.

 

Second session

Third session

Almost there. Just need the details

As the piece was going to be a surprise, I couldn't get a photo of their dogs outside, and I'm not skilled enough to just paint them in. I really wanted to include their "kids" so I took an extra photo on a different occasion, hoping they wouldn't alert Mom and Dad to my presence.

You can see a couple guidelines I drew on the photo. I usually do this step by just eyeballing it, but I wanted to share a bit of a trick that could help you at some point. It's a step away from a grid drawing. I'll share a drawing, later in January, that I did using a grid. 

Step one - graphite

Step two

Step 3 - I incorporated some colored pencil as well.

I had both pieces framed to match and hang together if they would choose to do so. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy New Year 2025!

This is "January" from my 5th calendar! 

It's a combination of Spellbinders die-cuts and digital artwork in the Procreate App.

I'll share one of the calendar pages on the first of every month this year. They all begin with die-cut designs, so the calendar has a nice cohesive design. It was a fun project to work on!

I've already started brainstorming and taking photos for the 2026 calendar. It won't be with die-cuts, but there is a theme I'm going to try to stick to.

As always, thanks for stopping by!