Hey folks, I know its been a little while. Have been busy on a few projects on webdesign for other people. I decided to draw a quick sketch of a Jurassic Park Velociraptor, using just a pencil and blending stump.
The drawing took about 20 minutes to complete. It was just fun and relaxing to do something different for a bit.
Here is a tidbit of information about Velociraptors. A raptor was only about 2 feet tall and maybe 6 feet long, mostly tail. The average weight would be about 30 lbs. My Eskimo Spitz weighs 35 lbs. Scientist believe that the raptors were feathered creatures. This information was derived from fossils that contained feather marks.
Let me know what you think about the sketch, feel free to comment below.
Here is a graphite drawing based upon a photo of Faith, our horse, laying down sleeping. I tried to work on as much detail as possible to attempt a realistic drawing. Total render time was about two hours.
I spent most of the time on hair, very tedious amount of work. If you are in a rush, this is not a drawing for you lol. I used a technique of layering and blending with a brush and then I would take a kneaded eraser and with a flight of the wrist, pull the highlights out for the reflected light on her hair.
I was so focused on doing the hair that I just couldn’t help myself, but to make it longer. It’s my drawing and I will draw it the way I want lol.
Anyway, I really hope you enjoy the drawing, please comment below or like and share it on Facebook.
Decided to draw a picture of our horse Faith, using color pencils and a burnishing technique. It took about 3 hours to complete. It was very difficult and time consuming, but it was relaxing. I was inspired to use the burnishing technique by another artist named Heather Rooney. If you have a moment you should google her and check out one of her drawing videos. She is very talented and each one of her portraits looks extremely real and takes about 22 hours to draw.
I will be trying this technique more often, its going to take a lot of practice.
As a bonus, I have included a youtube video of me drawing Faith. It is a time lapse to show you how I was drawing and burnishing her.
Starting the drawing
Halfway there
Live shot of me drawing while watching tv
80 percent complete
Almost done
Adding final touches
A color pencil drawing of Faith
Materials Used:
Prismacolor Pencils
300 series drawing paper
If you like this drawing or have some comments you would like to leave, then please comment below. Like or share it!
No its not the Gecko from the Geico TV ad’s I have four Leopard Gecko’s. They are small and interesting lizards. Fierce hunters of crickets and worms, but gentle when handled. They are one of a few species of Gecko’s that can actually close their eyes and lick them. Most other species have no eyelids and are kinda freaky to look at.
I will be doing more drawings and paintings of them, but for now, here is one I did using graphite pencils, charcoal and a blending stump. Took about an hour to complete.
During the Summer of 2014, my fiance then and wife now and I visited Florida. It was her first time visiting and my second time going down. We had a blast and took in some really good sights and also went to Gator Golf.
It was not your typical mini golf course. This golf course, believe it or not, had moats with Alligators swimming around. For one dollar you can actually get a fishing pole and old hot dog bits and feed the gators. It was very fun to watch the gators getting ready to receive the food from us.
While we were there, there was a exotic pets specialist working for a group called Safari Todd. Their Facebook Page is here https://www.facebook.com/safari.todd?fref=ts. Some of the exotic pets were spiders, snakes, scorpions….oh my!!!!!
Growing up I was extremely phobic towards spiders and insects. For some reason, not sure if it was the weather or the sense of adventure, I decided to face my fear(s). I asked the handler to place the Tarantula in my hands. I was nervous, but once I held the spider, my fears actually went away. I could actually feel its little feet gripping my hand. It was very gentile, and was very interesting up close. I didn’t stop there, I ended up handling scorpions, snakes and all I could get my hands on. I’m not the spider killer/handler for our house, according to my wife lol.
Playing Mini Golf with the Gators
Alligators Waiting for Food
Tarantula Spider
Drawing the spider
Holding my first spider
Spider posing for my picture
Almost Done!
Sharing a Python with my wife
Inspired by my domination of my life long fear, I went back to the hotel room and started to draw. I spent about two hours using graphite, watercolor pencils and illustration pens to make my drawing. It was so much fun and I hope that this post inspires others to combat their daily or life long fears.
I want to thank Safari Todd for allowing me to photograph their animals for art.
Final Drawing of a Buck WhitetailStep one, layout the drawing.
A Drawing of a Whitetail “Buck” Deer
I decided to use Gray Toned paper and colored charcoal and a HB Graphite pencil. Took about an hour, broken up throughout the day. I started with a standard graphite layout, I decide to use a HB pencil. Seems to work really well for preliminary sketching. I used a angled paint brush for blending purposes.
I made some mistakes along the way, but I finally was able to make it to the end.
It is important to always use lite marks, never heavy pressure. You should also have a kneaded eraser. Looks kinda like putty, but it will prevent you from damaging your drawing surface. I will try to make a tutorial later on the best materials to start with.
A portrait of Ronda Rousey Laughing. Made with charcoal.
I just did this drawing today, starting at home this morning and continued at a local Walmart while my wife was shopping for groceries. I was out in the car with a drawing book, brush and charcoal(s).
I really enjoyed drawing this picture. Mainly because it was a pretty picture of Ronda Rousey, but also I got to test out different charcoal colors. The total time on the portait was bout an hour including the home time.
I like to use a pant brush when I work with Graphite and Charcoal. I find it more gentil than using a blending stump. Blending stumps and hard paper products like that, seem to be very abrasive and will flatting and damage the tooth surface of the paper. They diffidently have their place. I do use them from time to time.
I would like to say, I know Bob Ross likes to paint happy clouds. I like to draw happy Ronda Rousy’s 🙂
I know this portrait may not look 100% like her, but I had fun making it anyway. I’m not an expert, but I like to draw and have fun.
My first attempt at drawing this beautiful deadly fighter.
What can I say, this Mix Martial Arts female champion has captured my attention. She is as good looking as she is fierce. Definitely not to be taken likely. Like quote from Rocky III – “She is very hungry”. My art education is influenced by life around me and she has influenced me to attempt to capture her may different sides.
She really seems to be a hard working person, no doubt about that. I took Karate when I was a kid, believe it or not. I was an orange belt, but nothing I learned can come close to her fighting style. If I needed a body guard that is deceptive to the eye and can get the job done, she would be it.
The drawing took about an hour, I was in Greenbelt Maryland for the week. At the hotel each night, I tried to find something to do. I saw an HBO Sports special and saw her interview. I was like “That’s my next subject!”, I began my journey into drawing her beauty and power.
I used black and white charcoal on Gray tone paper to draw her. It was my first time using these materials. Definitely trial by error.
This is a very special project and an amazing story of a horse rescue in Virginia. It’s not art, but a quick documentary of my wife’s accomplishment with restoring life and hope to a severely abandoned horse.
The horse was neglected and eventually sent to auction, where no one wanted her. Her last change destination was a slaughter house auction lot. Where if she was not bought, she would have been slaughter for meat. An organization stepped in at the last moment and purchased the horse. My wife was on a mission to find the perfect horse for her. She searched many groups, looking for the right horse. Then one day, we found Faith aka “Leap of Faith”.
She was located in Pennsylvania, not in Amish country, but the mountains. Let’s just say it was a very long and tiring journey. For just about two days of traveling, we pretty much lived in the truck. Just me Karen and our dog Jack.
We finally made it to the second change farm to pick up our new family member. She was very thin, had a lot of cold/infection coming out of her nose. Not doing so well. I have to admit, that I was very skeptical of her survival during transport back to Virginia. It was during summer, and it was very hot. However she made the trip without any problems. Matter of fact, we ended up staying at a Motel 8, because we were so tired. I told the front desk clerk that we have a horse and a dog. He was accommodating and allowed us to park on the side where the big rigs park and our dog was able to stay in the room with us. It wasn’t the best hotel but it was home for the night.
We finally got her back to Virginia. I was so tired, that I literally passed out in the passenger seat and didn’t wake up until we were like in the Salisbury MD area. I was asleep for like 400 miles. Thank God for my wonderful wife, for driving.
Anyway, for Christmas, I decided to take all the photos from my wife’s Facebook Page and compile them into this presentation. I was trying to keep a secret for a long time. Our washer was having some problems during the same time period, so I was actually compiling the video at a laundry mat in secret. The people there thought I was strange with Bose earphones on and constantly pecking away at the keyboard. I finally composed the DVD and played it for her on Christmas morning.
(Note: For some reason the music to the video is only allowed to be played on non-smartphone devices. So that means you will have to watch it on a computer for now. Something to due with the licensing of the music I used. Hopefully that changes.)
