April 12, 2010 sketch

April 12, 2010 sketch - ink, 4" x 6"

ink, 4" x 6" *SOLD*

There is always something very compelling to me about horses greeting each other, be it total strangers or the two who know each other well. For some reason, this pair got a bit of “rabbit ear” going on. Certainly didn’t aim for that, but there is no going back with ink.

April 8, 2010 sketch

April 8, 2010 sketch - 4 x 6, colored pencil

colored pencil, 4″ x 6″ *SOLD*

Yesterday I visited a Japanese store that sells slightly defective ceramics for cheap (we ran out of small bowls again, and I refuse to buy real stuff when it gets destroyed so quickly). They had a lot of new designs with pale colors, not all of them even looked like traditional Japanese ware. This is a loose collective impression of what I saw but had absolutely no reason to buy. Yes, I wanted to. I behaved.

March 5, 2010 sketch

March 5, 2010 sketch - 4x6, ink

4″ x 6″, ink *SOLD*

This is a quick study for a horse head that will be done in pastel pencil. I like the shape of the head in the reference photo, but it lacks contrast terribly. And the horse is milky-gray which does not help 🙂 The sketch is my attempt to place the darks where I believe they should be.

January 6, 2010 sketch

Trees (or something like that) - 4 x 6 - pastel pencil, China marker

4″ x 6″, pastel pencil, China marker *SOLD*

Today’s small discovery: China marker works way better as a highlight preserver than white charcoal or pastel (I made trunks and branches with it). Also, some Dervent pastel pencils of earthy variety act more like colored pencils then pastel. Since this sketch was done mainly by blending colors with a dry brush, the second discovery was not pleasant. Moral: test on scrap paper first (yeah, fresh idea, I know).

January 5, 2010 sketch

January 5, 2010 sketch - 6x4, charcoal

6″ x 4″, charcoal *SOLD*

I wanted to see how Prismacolor charcoal pencils will play with the mysterious cardstock that I got at Michaels long time ago. I say”mysterious” because the package is long gone, and I have no idea what the brand is. It turned out better than I expected – apparently, the paper is quite durable and allows for many layers of blending and crosshatching.