Monday, June 23, 2014 at 11:21AM My dear friend Joan DeMartin has kindly posted this on her blog Bocci's beefs advertising my new paper craft book Paper Birds: 25+ projects to Copy, Cut and Fold. There are two autographed copies giveaway.
Monday, June 23, 2014 at 12:05AM It took me about 4 days to finish the flower. This was another part, as well as the background, that I decided not to use watercolor for and I am glad I continued on with graphite. All and all I am pleased with what I got so far. Now the only part that hasn't been worked on is the fabric directly behind the flower. This will take a few more hours. Then I am going to refine the whole piece making minor adjustments. I have been working at a steady pace of approximately 6 hours a day. I am keeping a log so that this information will come in handy when I estimate the time I will need to work on other pieces.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014 at 10:34AM Rendering of the fabric and the background took me a little over a week, and it's pretty much done. I am ready to work on the flower next. When I started working on this piece, I was thinking about mixing graphite and watercolor, but have changed my mind not to do so. I was not too happy about the way the transition from one medium to the other looked and couldn't figure out how to make it smoother and more seamless. So this piece is going to be all in graphite, I think. I might revisit the mixed media idea later.
Sunday, June 8, 2014 at 11:26PM I finished rendering the hair today. It is kind of embarrassing to say this, but I am really learning for the first time how to use my graphite pencils effectively. Graphite has never been my go-to medium and I haven't had a chance to spend enough time exploring its potentials until now. I am truly amazed by the difference of the leads, how they behave differently to the paper surface. Even only one step move from 2B to 3B gives surprisingly different results. I am using wide range of leads working on this piece from 3H to 6B and every lead in between. I am also using powdered graphite, blending it with a stump to lay down a "wash". Powdered graphite gives my drawing a slightly different tone from the tones you get from pencils which is also exciting.
Friday, June 6, 2014 at 08:33PM I have been working on this drawing for a week now. Today is day 7. The figure part is pretty much done except for the hair. The paper I am using is heavy-weight Strathmore Mixed Media. It has a subtle surface texture and allows me to make this paper mimic the texture of the human skin which is very nice. But the trade-off is that this texture also magnifies any slight manufacturing imperfections. In order to eliminate any surface blemishes, you have to work with the grain of the paper so that you can blend them seamlessly into the surface, which requires an extra care.
While I was working on this piece today, I started wondering why I love drawing so much. I am attracted to the fact that the act of working a drawing medium itself is so simple (the movement of the arm, hand and fingers, with controlled pressure to the drawing tool), and yet it allows so much freedom and flexibility that help you achieve your own unique style of expressions. The physical aspect of the process gives you a strong sense of direct connection between what you see, what you use and what you get as a result. The major part of this craft is still deeply rooted in the good-old tradition of discipline which often times gives you a great sense of achievement and satisfaction. But above all, what really fascinates me is that drawing to me is so much about clarity of vision, mental processing and execution. It demonstrates eloquently how you see the world, how you understand it, and how you interpret it. It doesn't matter how realistic or how loose your drawing is, every single line or mark you make counts in the course of communicating your ideas and affects the outcome. This precision is somewhat akin to that of photography although the way in which precision manifests itself is very different between the two. Maybe that's why I am drawn to these 2 expressions.