Visual Scanner

A Nod to Nature

2016-08-21T10:18:00.001-04:00

Completed: 20 Aug 2016
Time Spent: 5 days
Materials: Prismacolor Illustration Markers: 005, 01, 03, 05, 08
Paper: 9in x 9in

Reference Image: None

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Be Still and Know that I am God

2014-08-04T17:49:00.000-04:00

"Be still and know that I am God." PSALM 46:10

Completed: August 4, 2014
Materials: Sharpie black markers, Koh-I-Noor Progresso Woodless Color Pencils
Paper: Canson Bristol, 11in x 11in

Inspired by the current events in the Middle East, especially the Christian persecution in Mosul, Iraq.

'N', or ن in Arabic, is the symbol used by the Islamic State (IS or ISIS) to identify who is a Nazarene - a Christian. It has been drawn on doorways and in front of houses in captured Iraqi cities, allowing militants to quickly assert where the loyalties of the inhabitants lie.
—Read more about it here.

The style is inspired by stained glass windows.

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Beetangled

2014-07-07T08:36:00.000-04:00

Completed: July 7, 2014
Materials: Sharpie fine point pen, Foray permanent marker
Paper: Canson Bristol, 11in x 14in

Reference Image:

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Flowers & Butterflies Zentangle

2014-07-06T11:41:00.000-04:00

The butterfly is a flying flower,
The flower a tethered butterfly.

-- Ponce Denis Ecouchard Le Brun

Completed: July 6, 2014
Time Spent: 6 hours
Materials: HB pencil, eraser, Sharpie Ultra Fine Point
Paper: Bristol, 11in x 14in

Reference Image:

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Inuyasha on Sandpaper

2014-06-11T01:52:00.000-04:00

Completed: June 11, 2014
Time Spent: ?
Materials: Street chalk
Paper: Sandpaper, 18in x 22in

Reference Image:

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Asian Girl in Oil Pastel

2014-06-11T01:34:00.000-04:00

Completed: June 11, 2014
Time Spent: ?
Materials: Oil pastels, chalk pastels, street chalk
Paper: Sandpaper, 18in x 22in

Reference Image:

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Hooded Kingfisher

2014-01-28T01:22:00.000-05:00

Completed: January 28, 2014
Time Spent: ?
Materials: Soft pastels, street chalk
Paper: Sandpaper, 18in x 22in

Reference Image:

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A Daisy in Graphite

2013-09-08T01:11:00.000-04:00

Completed: September 8, 2013
Time Spent: ?
Materials: Different pencil grades, tortillons, regular eraser, kneaded eraser,
Paper: Strathmore recycled sketch paper, 9in x 12in

Reference Image:

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Sunflower in Chalk Pastel

2013-08-26T00:59:00.000-04:00

Completed: August 26, 2013
Time Spent: ?
Materials: Chalk pastels, street chalks
Paper: sandpaper , 18in x 22in

Reference Image:

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Butterfly on Tulip

2013-08-14T00:57:00.000-04:00

Completed: August 14, 2013
Time Spent: ?
Materials: Chalk pastels, street chalks
Paper: Sandpaper, 18in x 22in

Reference Image:

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Kingfisher in Crayons

2013-08-09T12:01:00.002-04:00

My latest joy.

I loved the colors on the kingfisher. I was also wanting to try something with crayons and sandpaper again, so I thought I'd give the kingfisher a crack. I got excited, too, when I saw how bright the crayons were on the sandpaper.

I had a lot of fun working on this one. I felt very comfortable with the crayons. I didn't feel too constrained with getting the lines and shapes right. I actually enjoyed just playing with the colors. I wasn't so keen on studying the color wheel, so this was a good, fun alternative.

I will have to look at the colorwheel and study it, eventually, but it just wouldn't be me if I don't spend a lot of time screwin' around first. Hah!

In hindsight, probably should have used more black on the wing.

Completed: 8 August 2013
Time spent: Approx. 8 hours
Materials: Crayola and one-dollar crayons
Paper: Sandpaper, 8.5in x 8.5in

Reference Image:

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Brown Hawk

2013-08-09T11:51:00.001-04:00

I used a workable fixative on a colored drawing for the first time with this one. It was interesting to see how it darkens the colors, and I was actually surprised to discover that the dark brown colors almost got lost in the black background. The feathers on the back of the hawk's head was quite bright before I applied the fixative. They became dull and flat with the fixative. However, I was able to make corrections as well, which was a lifesaver.

I'm quite unmethodical when applying colors. By that I mean, I don't think about how colors blend or how they affect each other when they're side by side. I just try to match, as much as possible, the colors I see on my reference image with the color pencils I have available to me.

At this stage, I just draw what I see. That is to say, there is no method in my madness, just intuition and desire to complete a drawing.

Completed: 26 July 2013
Time Spent: 8 hours
Materials: Blick Studio color pencils, regular eraser, Krylon workable fixative
Paper: Strathmore 400 black drawing paper, 9x12

Reference Image:

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NatGeo Turtle

2013-08-09T10:08:00.000-04:00

I started this drawing in October 2012. This one took almost nine months from start to completion. It proved to be a huge challenge for me. I'd be lying if I said I had a lot of fun working on it, because I often felt overwhelmed and frustrated. I really didn't know what I was doing. I could draw shapes. Shading, I could figure out, although I did struggle with it a lot. It was figuring out how to draw the different textures that really kicked my ass, so much so that I had to walk away from the drawing so many times—sometimes for weeks at a time.

Of course, all the frustration and fear (yes, fear) was all worth it when I finally completed the drawing. I'm quite happy about how the turtle turned out. It's perfect in my eyes. :) I did my best with the seaweeds and the seafloor, and I know they could be done a lot better, but that's the whole point, isn't it? Take a challenge, not to achieve perfection, but to see how far you can go and where you need to improve on.

Nota bene:
Although shading is also still a weakness, I was able to cope with it relatively well. I knew I still had a long way to go in terms of seeing the interplay of light and shadow and rendering that on paper, so trying to get that right on this drawing was an enjoyable learning process for me.

Completed: 7 July 2013
Time Spent: Not sure. Lots of hours.
Materials: Different pencil grades, tortillons, regular eraser, kneaded eraser, workable fixative
Paper: Strathmore 300 Series Drawing Paper, 18in x 24in

Reference Image:

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Girl on Sandpaper

2013-08-04T11:09:00.000-04:00

An author of a book on painting with pastels listed fine sandpaper as one of the types of paper she's used in the past, and I thought that was pretty cool. The use of an unconventional material intrigued me, so I wanted to give it a try. I chose to use oil pastels, because I didn't have a workspace that's suitable for working with dry pastels. Working with dry pastels produces a lot of dust.

I found out pretty quickly that it wasn't easy to add little details with the wide tip, cylindrical oil pastels, especially on sandpaper! It's a good lesson on how your materials dictate how much detail you can put on your painting. If I only painted one element, like the girl or the flower or the butterfly, I may have been able to create a more detailed rendition of each. Live and learn.

Completed: 11 December 2012
Time Spent: 3 hours
Materials: Crayola oil pastels
Paper: Fine sandpaper, 9in x 11in

Reference Image:

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CP: Bird, Flowers, Leaves

2013-08-04T07:43:00.000-04:00

CP for Coloring Pages.

I got the idea of coloring an existing drawing, because I was still excited about using my color pencils—too excited to draw first, then color. I just wanted to color. I used photos as reference for the colors I used here. I'm not sure I still have them in my computer, but I'll look out for them.

Completed: 30 November 2012
Time Spent: 2 hours
Materials: Artist's Loft and Crayola color pencils
Paper: Multipurpose bond paper, 8.5in x 11in

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Butterfly Doodle

2013-08-04T07:31:00.001-04:00

Completed: 20 November 2012
Time Spent: 3 hours
Materials: Artist's Loft and Crayola color pencils
Paper: Strathmore recycled sketch paper, 9in x 12in

Reference Image:

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Major Kusanagi Doodle

2013-08-04T07:27:00.001-04:00

Completed: 18 November 2012
Time Spent: 2 hours
Materials: Artist's Loft and Crayola color pencils
Paper: Strathmore recycled sketch paper, 9in x 12in

Reference Image:

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Hellsing: Alucard

2013-07-28T07:37:00.001-04:00

Who doesn't want to draw Alucard? Who doesn't?!

I needed to practice shading to render light and shadow in my drawings, and I thought this was a perfect drawing to practice with. I also liked the challenge of drawing the gun. Drawing the straight lines was going to be easy with a ruler, but I knew getting the angle right was a different story. I had to redo them a few times, which also required a lot of erasing and re-shading.

I struggled quite a bit with the top left corner section of the drawing. Making dark marks on white paper was so much easier that the other way around. Perhaps would have done better with a larger drawing, but then again, I just didn't know what I was doing. (The saliva dripping on the creature's mouth in my version makes that quite obvious!)

There are no techniques in my drawings in the sense that I just draw with my intuition. I'm a trial and error kind of learner. (That's formally known as a tactile-kinesthetic learner, isn't it?) I've read books and articles online, so I'm familiar with drawing terminologies mentally, but they're not sinking in. They will eventually but not until I get to a point where I'm able to "see". At this time, I'm just exploring and indulging my eagerness to create finished drawings. I'm just playing, in other words. That should let you know why I'm not being articulate—that is, not using drawing terminologies—to write about my process.

Completed: 8 November 2012 6:26P
Time Spent: 10 hours
Materials: Different pencil grades, vine charcoal, tortillons, regular eraser, kneaded eraser, Faber-Castell pencil eraser, Pentel Ain Clic Knock Triangular Eraser, red marker, ruler
Paper: Canson Bristol, 11in x 14in

Reference Image:

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Marker Sheepie

2013-07-28T06:44:00.001-04:00

The idea of drawing a sheep came to mind when a religious holiday, celebrated by some friends, came up. I wanted to draw with markers as well since I've already played around with color pencils. I used watercolor paper, thinking the ink will just bleed through the other types of paper I had around. I didn't have paper for marker drawings then. The texture of the watercolor paper was a bit unpleasant to work on with markers with thin tips. I don't know why I didn't think about using the smoother side of the paper, but there you go.

Problems with pressure sensitivity is quite evident here, and as of the time of this writing, it still is! (Note to self: practice, practice, practice.)

I found out quickly that correcting errors was not an easy task. (Is it possible to do it cleanly?) Inattention caused me to shade the top of the right ear. Ooops. I didn't know how else to correct it, so I used a correcting fluid. It did the job although not very well.

It's not all bad. The colors are bright and fun, and at least, the sheepie looks like a sheepie. Okay, sheep.

Completed: 27 October 2012 4:02P
Time Spent: 1 hour
Materials: Artist's Loft Markers, White-Out correction fluid
Paper: Strathmore 300 Series Watercolor paper, 11in x 15in

Reference Image:

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Black Rose

2013-07-26T21:16:00.000-04:00

My success with the cat drawing and having another image to draw at the ready encouraged me to work on another drawing right away. I was quite happy how this turned out as well. I didn't realize that I drew the fingers much longer than they should be, but I thought it's a lucky mistake. Considering the black rose, a skeletal hand seemed apropos.

Completed: 22 October 2012
Time Spent: 6+ hours
Materials: Artist's Loft and Crayola color pencils
Paper: Strathmore 400 black drawing paper, 9x12

Reference Image:

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Curious Cat

2013-07-26T20:57:00.001-04:00

This is one of my favorite drawings. It's the only drawing that I've done with genuine excitement and focus. I drew the cat as I saw it on paper, and I'm really happy how it turned out.

Dare I say, I think it looks more adorable than the original!

I'm not really sure how long I worked on this drawing, but I think three hours is an accurate guess. An experienced artist would've completed this drawing in five minutes, but this is just my second drawing with color pencils.

Completed: 21 October 2012
Time Spent: 3 hours
Materials: Artist's Loft and Crayola color pencils
Paper: Strathmore 400 black drawing paper, 9x12

Reference Image:

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Pink Lotus

2013-07-23T06:40:00.000-04:00

This is my first colored drawing.

I wanted very much to draw in color after seeing so many beautiful photos with vibrant colors. I became even more eager after looking at exquisite artworks in color pencils and pastels. Who wouldn't be, right?

I chose a photo that I thought was beautiful but also doable. There were clear lines I could follow, and the number of colors were minimal.

I worked on this piece with attention to detail and a careful attempt at reproducing the colors accurately as much as possible. However, typical of my work at this stage, I was more interested in finishing it and seeing the result of my efforts than using the exercise to learn techniques and applying what I learned from my readings.

I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I do continue to read books on art and drawing tutorials online. I also watch video demos and tutorials. At this point, however, I'm a lot more interested in exploring what I can do and how far I can go with whatever natural talent I have for art. I know I need to get that out of my system first before I will be ready for a more disciplined learning.

Completed: 19 October 2012
Time Spent: 12+ hours
Paper: Canson Bristol, 11in x 14in
Materials: Artist's Loft and Crayola color pencils, rubber eraser, tortillons, ruler

Reference Image:

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My Smurf

2013-07-21T22:51:00.000-04:00

I started working on this before the Smiling Korean Girl drawing. This is the final version. I first "released" the version below.

Completed: 30 July 2012
Time Spent: 6 hours
Paper: Strathmore 300 Series Drawing Paper, 18in x 24in
Materials: Different pencil grades, vine charcoal, tortillons, regular eraser,
kneaded eraser

___________________________

I couldn't believe that I was actually able to draw something that looked like my photo reference, so in my excitement to show it to my friends, I convinced myself that the drawing was complete. My little Smurf was received well, rough as he was.

I used vine charcoal for the first time here, and used what I know now as charcoal erasure drawing. I love Smurfs.

Completed: 7 July 2012
Time Spent: 20 hours

Reference Image:

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Pretty Korean Smile

2013-07-21T21:42:00.000-04:00

This was a huge challenge for me. I'd be lying if I told you I had a lot of fun with it, especially because I never attempted to draw a human face before. However, I loved the original work so much, I just couldn't resist trying my hand at copying it. I'm glad I didn't give up on it. It's one of my favorite pieces now.

Completed: 7 July 2012
Time Spent: 20+ hours
Paper: Strathmore 300 Series Drawing Paper, 18in x 24in
Materials: Different pencil grades, tortillons, regular eraser, kneaded eraser,

Reference Image:

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First Flower Drawing

2013-07-21T11:06:00.002-04:00

This was my first attempt at drawing from a photograph. The flower is beautiful and it had clear lines that I could follow. Through this exercise, I discovered how useful tortillons could be in making light, subtle shades.

Completed: 2 July 2012
Time Spent: 8+ hours
Paper: Multipurpose paper, 8.5in x 11in
Materials: Different pencil grades, pink eraser, tortillons

Reference Image:

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