Woman in Black

Did another drawing this afternoon using my Staedtler glasochrom pencil. While I dream about different types of inks and nibs and their various uses, traditional dry media still holds my attention. What I like about doing sketches with that pencil is the moody feel they have to them in the end. Working with toned paper might make things more dramatic. Strathmore just started making them in sketchbook form, though I'm sure other companies do as well. Now all I need is a representative from there to send me a sample to test it out ;) Hey, it's worth a shot but I know I'll probably just go out and get my own.

A Saturday Sketch

Its been nearly two weeks since I've thought about updating. Time is still abundant but drawing is a bit slow. I've been otherwise engaged in those things you do when you're establishing yourself in a new place. Some of my tasks don't seem to want to go away and so amidst occasional setback, you spend the rest of your time mulling them over or otherwise ignoring them completely. Today, though, I managed to use a quiet Saturday to do a (fairly) quick drawing. 

Some time back in my search for artistic inspiration, I found myself attracted to the drawings of Georges Seurat, who is typically known for his pointillistic paintings. In his studies, Seurat employed a unique style of drawing, which consisted of using conté crayon and highly textured paper to create a certain type of image. His subject matter was depicted mainly in value and tone instead of relying on lines.

Georges Seurat, The Black Bow

I wanted to imitate his style so I used what I had on hand which was some sketchbook paper and a wax crayon that's really supposed to be used for writing on glass surfaces. I used a photo for reference purposes.

In this first attempt I didn't spend too much time building up dramatic contrasts or fussing over technique. The point was just to do something. Eventually, I'll buy some conté crayons and try this exercise again.