Woodpecker - a pencil drawing

 

Today the prompt in the Sketch a Day app is 'peck' and after looking for some translations of the word I decided to draw a woodpecker. The translations were not inspiring and I am not the only one using a prompt like this.

I have gathered an 'archive' of magazine pages full of nature pictures, so after a search I found a picture of a juvenile great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) and used that one for my drawing.

At first I planned to use water soluble pencils, use water on the bird and add more layers of pencil, but changed my plan while working. This is only pencil, no water added. All pencils are water soluble but give enough colour to make a nice woodpecker on this tinted paper.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Flickr account.

Emperor Penguin - pencil drawing

 

A few days ago the prompt in the Sketch A Day app was 'South' and that made me look into my 'archive' of reference pictures taken from magazines. I wanted a penguin as these animals live in the southern part of our planet.

The picture of an Emperor penguin was selected and I made this drawing with different types of pencils.

I really like the result, so I decided to show it here.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Sparrowhawk - a pencil drawing

 

Today's prompt in the Sketch a Day app was 'hawk' and as I went looking for a nice reference picture in my 'archive' of nature pictures I found this Sparrowhawk.

I decided to make a drawing on tinted paper using my Drawing Pencils. 

Working with these pencils is nice but it can be difficult to get a sharp point because they are softer than my other pencils. The result is not very detailed but that usually is just how I like it to be.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Ladybug - a pencil drawing

 

In the Sketch a Day app the prompt for today was 'Beetle' and I decided to draw a Ladybug on a postcard-size paper.

For the beetle I first put down a layer of colour and I 'awakened' it with water. The grass has only one layer of pencil colour for the contrast between my subject and its surroundings.

After the water dried I added more colour, using more pencils than in the first layer to get the depth that can be achieved with watercolour pencils.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Peacock - a pencil drawing

 

A few days ago the prompt in the Sketch A Day app was 'Peacock' and after looking for some references I decided to draw the head and neck of a peacock with my watercolour pencils on a black background.

As I did before, after the first layer of pencil I used a bit of water to 'awaken' the colours and after that had dried I added another pencil layer for depth.

I still have the idea that I am not really good at drawing animals, but with a reference for the proportions and overall shape I get nice results. 

My to-do list for the coming years is about getting more practice and building confidence.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Quickly into the tree! - for a challenge/contest

 

The third week of the television programme 'Project Rembrandt' is about movement in animals. The contestants in the show had a stuffed panther from a museum as model and they had to draw it as if it was moving. The people at home are allowed to use any animal for reference, just make the movement visible. Materials to be used are charcoal and/or crayons and white paper.

Last autumn we were on a short vacation and there were squirrels and my husband succeeded in making some pictures. I tried as well, but I only got a blur of a tail in my picture and that is not enough for this contest. One of the pictures my husband made is my reference for this drawing.

This time I used my Conté crayons and the pencils for the smaller details, I worked on a small size sheet of paper. For the suggestion of movement I blurred the tail and the shapes of the 'hands' and 'feet' even more than they already are in the picture.

The squirrel is my subject so that is where I used colours, the tree and grasses are only in black for contrast. Without the tree it would not be understandable what the squirrel was up to and without the grass the tree would have no beginning and no end.

The result is even better than I hoped I could do so I am happy with my contribution to the contest.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this drawing and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Lapje - a pencil drawing

 

When I am walking in our neighbourhood, to post a letter, to go to a shop or anything that might be needed that moment, I often meet the cats that live there. Saying 'Hello' is polite, so that is what I do. When I get an answer, we sometimes talk a little (me: 'How are you?' - he or she: 'Meow' and so on) and sometimes I ask permission to make a picture.

This beautiful Calico cat gave me her permission to make some pictures and I used these for a pencil drawing. I might also make a watercolour painting, but when I made the drawing I was at the 'Af-en-toe Kunstroute' and brought only some drawing materials with me.

The title is based on the Dutch name of a Calico cat: Lapjeskat, so it had to be Lapje. She was not very talkative and did not give her name, allowing me the freedom to choose a title.

For the black patches of her fur I mixed some dark colours, just like I would du when painting with watercolour paint because I had no black watercolour pencil with me.  Some of the dark hairs were more brown than black and using the mixing technique I could add brown to the fur without unnatural colour transitions.

The colour mixing may not result in a perfect black, it had to be a natural colour and I think I achieved that.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of the drawing and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Red Panda - a mixed media drawing

 

Last December we made the best of the weather and we visited 'Diergaarde Blijdorp' on a nice Saturday. There were lots of restrictions due to the Covid pandemic, but the animals were there and those that like the colder weather were outside. 

One of my favourites is the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) and when it was walking outside I made some pictures, hoping for the best. This one was the best, the other pictures had the panda with its head in the other direction, so the face was not visible. This picture was not perfect either, the panda was walking so there are some parts that are not as clear as I hoped them to be.

For this one I decided to make a mixed media drawing, using watercolour for the background and the big trees where the panda usually goes for a good nap. I also added the tree stumps and some bushes behind the red panda.

I left the shape of the red panda white (not painted) and used watercolour pencils and Graphitint pencils to draw the walking panda, the grasses, herbs and fallen leaves on the ground.

The paper I have used has some structure and that is still visible where I used my pencils.

Once again the conclusion has to be that I need more practice, but I have no problem with that. I love red pandas so when the Zoo can reopen (after lockdown) I will certainly be back to make more reference pictures and in warmer weather I make sketches on the spot.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work can be found in my Tumblr blog