Sketchbook Challenge for May, and other stuff.

The topic for the May Challenge is Fruit and Vegetables. I lined up a banana, pear, mandarin and tomato to make a nice contrast in colours. This is in watercolour pencil, a medium that I have had very little practice with, so I've got a lot to learn. I took the photo below so I could make some improvements to my sketch without having to leave the fruit on my desk, or go and find it again when I wanted to work on the picture.

An artist friend has offered to set me a challenge, and have a look at my work when I've done it. She said to paint someone in one colour acrylics, using light and heavy applications of paint to create shade and depth. This is my husband asleep on the sofa last night. I had a lamp behind me, otherwise the room was in darkness, so it was pretty hard to see his features. But White Feather thought it was great! The cat was curled up beside me on the couch, so I painted him as well, but that was not successful at all.

I invited another artist friend to come over so I could paint her portrait - also in acrylics. It was great having someone who is an experienced portrait artist, to critique my work. She offered points for improvement as I went along, and while my husband says it still doesn't look like her, I'm still pleased with the result. I had planned to leave it as black and white, but G. suggested bringing one colour into it, and as she has auburn hair, I chose that to use.

Sketching in charcoal.

The more I use charcoal pencils to sketch, the more I like the results.  Here are some sketches that I've done over the past month.  The first one of the open door was my contribution for the theme 'open' for Sketchbook Challenge's April challenge.

This is a tree stump in our back yard.  When I showed the MOTH, he stared at it and said 'what is it?'  I replied  "never mind"....

The old trestle bridge in Eltham.  I'd done a water colour of this bridge last month, and was disappointed in my efforts.  I think this is a bit better, but when I compared it to the photo I took from the same spot on the day we were sketching, I realise I still have lots to learn about perspective!

The MOTH and I went to a Native American workshop recently, and one of the activities was learning to dance Apache style.  Ken and I sat that one out!  So I took the chance to do a quick sketch of some of the others dancing, with the Indian in his regalia standing with his back to us.  It is very difficult to draw people when they are moving around - all the books say you need to practice constantly to get it right.  They are not exaggerating!