David and I recently launched the redesigned version of our web site, Artistic Realism. We have been working on and off on the new design for the past several months. It was a lot of fun to do but I am very relieved that it’s now finally finished and that we can actually see it work “live” . Apologies for blogging about it so late — there were some things which were not working properly with both the web site and the blog that we had to fix first.

One of the major changes in the web site is the new color theme. After testing it using many different color combinations, we eventually settled for lighter and softer colors which we hope helps focus more on the artwork.

Another change is that close-ups of the artworks now come in two sizes. We’ve added a medium-sized close-up so it will be easier to view the entire drawing at once without having to scroll. The larger images are still available though and may be viewed by clicking on the medium-sized ones.

In addition, we updated the site with some new drawings and paintings: 4 drawings in David’s gallery, 2 portraits in my pencil gallery, 2 in my pastels gallery, and 2 original artworks in the Art Store. I’ve made step-by-step demonstrations of two of my earlier works for the Drawing Board as well. They are: Portrait 2 and Portrait of Ron.

If you come across any broken links, links that point to the wrong pages, or grammar and spelling errors, we’d appreciate it very much if you let us know by sending us an e-mail. Also, if you have any suggestions on how to make the web site (or this blog!) more user-friendly, please let us know. We will seriously consider all your suggestions.

Thank you for looking. We hope you enjoy the new design! And we hope all of you have a great 2009 !

PS: To those who accessed the blog and found it gone the other day, we apologize for the inconvenience as we had to do a much-needed update on the blog software.

Faith

• Web Site: Artistic Realism Pencil Drawings

From Me to You
Medium: Graphite Pencil
Paper: Canson Grain
Size: 18 × 13 cm (7″ × 5″)

For the past two years, Faith had created the Christmas artworks for our site. But this year, I decided to produce one. The drawing is called “From Me to You” and it was drawn using graphite pencils. It features an angel figurine with a harp, ball ornaments, a gift, a greeting card and a bell, all of which are only some of the traditional things associated with the Christmas season.

I got the theme for the drawing from a thought I have about a “traditional Christmas” in which everybody is being merry and having a wonderful time.

I managed to save a few progress scans of the drawing and I have included them below.

From Faith and I, we wish you a joyful Christmas and may all your wishes come true for the coming year!

David

• Website: Artistic Realism Drawings

Coffee, Anyone?
Medium: Graphite Pencil
Paper: Canson Grain
Size: 25 × 20 cm (10″ × 8″)

I just uploaded a video in slideshow format of the above drawing on YouTube earlier this week. Here is the link: Coffee Anyone Slideshow.

Faith took the step-by-step stages from the “Coffee, Anyone?” progress page on the Drawing Board and turned it into a moving series of pictures. It’s the first “movie” we have ever done, so please let us know if you have any suggestions for improvement. We will try to make more slideshows of our drawings in the future and post them on YouTube as well.

The drawing “Coffee, Anyone?”, by the way, is the first piece in the “Coffee” series. The other two are called “Afternoon Break” and “Coffee and Table Napkin”. If you are interested in purchasing the original drawing, please let me know by sending me an e-mail: david@artisticrealism.com .

Have a great weekend!

David

• Website: Artistic Realism Drawings
• My YouTube channel: DavidTePencilArtist

Coffee and Table Napkin - Stage 5

To make the coffee more realistic and also to give the impression that it is hot, I added some steam. For this purpose, I made coffee in the steel cup (which has been serving as a model for this drawing) to observe the rising steam and blackness of the coffee. The steam was done by lightly dragging a kneaded eraser across the coffee and the inside of the cup.

Also started working on the handle using mostly mechanical pencil and continued on the table napkin.

Coffee and Table Napkin - Stage 6

Here, I applied graphite powder for the shadow of the cup. With a kneaded eraser and a 0.5 mm 2B mechanical pencil, the seam of the table napkin is drawn.

David

• Website: Artistic Realism Drawings
• View other stages: Coffee and Table Napkin Stages

Portrait of Baby Mary Rose - Stage 6

Quite a big jump from the previous stage. Here, I’ve done most of the “underpainting” for the fabric she’s sitting on. Plus, her legs are almost finished — just a little more fine-tuning to be done in those areas.

DETAIL 1 - THE CHANGES:

• I have done some more work on her hair. The part I haven’t done yet is quite “messy” so I left that for later
• Finished drawing the other ear (viewer’s right)
• Viewer’s right eyebrow is now in place

I left the head area for a while and continued working on the arm down…

DETAIL 2
Finally finished her hand so I am posting a close-up of that area as well.

The fabric underneath her fingers is showing the start of the furry texture. I practiced on how to create believable and realistic fur before I even started the portrait. I tried a few different ways and tools but decided on using a stick eraser. I hope it does the effect I am trying to achieve.

Faith

• Website: Artistic Realism Drawings
• View other stages: Portrait of Baby Mary Rose Stages

Portrait of Baby Mary Rose - Stage 5

Some more update on her hair. Also, more work on the nose, mouth and eye (viewer’s right). I really like how her cute little nose and mouth are coming along .

Faith

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• Website: Artistic Realism Drawings
• View other stages: Portrait of Baby Mary Rose Stages

Coffee and Table Napkin - Stage 4

Darkened the inside of the cup especially the left side careful not to make the highlights as dark as the rest. I also began putting in the black coffee. The left side was adjusted because it was a bit uneven with the right. At this point, I also started laying graphite powder on the table napkin and its reflection on the cup.

David

• Website: Artistic Realism Drawings
• View other stages: Coffee and Table Napkin Stages