Edm challenge 116 Draw something green

I collect feathers and love drawing them. They are usually feathers that I find on the sea shore from sea birds. I thought I would try a peacock feather bcause of the beautiful colours and bought this one from the garden centre. It was tricky matching the colours with my Derwent studio pencil crayons. This is the finished result. It is on a piece of A3 size paper. As it is mostly green I am using it for the Edm 116 challenge.

Three oak leaves

I have been working on these three oak leaves. I started off using Derwent graphitint pencils to draw out the shape and details. Then I used a paint brush and wet the graphitint, my first time at doing this. It gave quite a nice leaf, the colours became brighter and the original drawing stayed true, but I felt it was just a foundation for what I hoped to achieve. After painting over it with acrylic paint and a bit of experimenting with Derwent coloured pencils and more painting, this is the finished drawing of the three oak leaves.
I like playing around with different materials and mixing them with each other. You can often discover new ways of working with your materials. The drawing is on A3 size paper.
I am really pleased with the finished result and the lovely rich colours. I love the shape of oak leaves and everyone is unique. They were collected from a beautiful old oak tree in my village.

My first Moleskine 2008

Well I just had to go and find a shop that sells Moleskine. So this is my first one. It felt a little strange working on the small size page, I usually work on a larger size piece of paper. I have decided to make it a nature journal and hope to use it throughout the year. Here is one of the first pages, red berries and leaves which I found and Collected in January. I like the creamy yellow colour of the paper which again is a change as I usually work on white. So my very first Moleskine with one of my first drawings, in pencil and acrylic paint for the red berries and brown leaf.

Edm challenge 153 Draw something wrapped in plastic

I saw these three peppers in the shopping and thought they would be ideal for the challenge. I really enjoyed drawing them with all the detail in the reflections of the plastic. I was sitting next to a lamp in the evening.
The drawing of all three peppers is done in pencil which I love working with. As I really intended to us colour , I decided just to paint one of them using acrylic paint. It was an interesting challenge. Press the picture to enlarge.

Edm challenge 116 Draw something green

I had a beautiful boxed set of Derwent Coloursoft for my Christmas present. It has two layers with seventy two different colours to choose from. I searched around for something to test out my new crayons on. This green leaf was something I had collected and brought home a few weeks ago . It is a sycamore leaf with the black spotted pattern , some kind of fungi which attacks the leaf. I used twelve different crayons to capture the shades in this autumn leaf. It is lifesize , drawn on a piece of A3 paper.
I like the coloursoft crayons, especially the colour shades which are earthy and ideal for natural objects. They are soft and good for blending but a bit soft if you want to draw a thin line. I was pleased with the leaf. I think these crayons will see me through the year and the changing seasons. Looking forward to some more Drawings from Nature. Click on picture for bigger image.

Feathers and oak leaves

This is a drawing I did earlier this year. I went for a walk and collected all these objects from the ground. The oak leaves, the two feathers , lots of little brown hawthorn leaves and some red berries. When I arrived home I arranged them on the paper into a pleasing composition and then drew them and painted them in acrylic paint.
It was in my exhibition during the summer. It is now in Country Living magazine in the January 2008 . My first drawing to be published, but there is more to come.

edm 91 draw an apple

This drawing of an apple which kind of represents my interest in the natural process of decay. I like watching and recording things as they start to alter and change shape as they start to decay. This apple, which I have recorded as a beautiful fresh green specimen picked from the tree took me days to paint, as the days went by it began to wither and shrivel up . Such interesting shapes formed , the leaves dried and twisted and I just had to draw it. So here is my drawing using a HB pencil. I thought it might interest others , press picture to see in detail.

edm 136 "draw something that is alive"

I sometimes feel so sorry for snails, most peole want to kill them . I actually like them, they are fascinating to watch as they peep out of their shells and then slide along. I find them to be really elegant in their movements and admire the way they can walk up walls. They have great patterns on their shells. I made mine pinky colours using inks and a paint brush, of course they are really browns. They were drawn from observations of the real live snails, so thought this fit the challenge. Press on the picture to see them close up.

edm 139 "something with a handle"

I love baskets and have lots of different shapes and sizes which I have collected over the years. This drawing is of an old vintage basket which I bought from a car boot sale. It is old and a bit wobbly , but has lots of character.
I once went on a basket workshop and made a simple willow basket. I am really proud of my own handmade basket and for a first attempt it is not bad. It made me appreciate the work and skill that goes into baskets, even more than I already did.
My drawing is done with a black ink pen. The coloured bits in paint, as they really are coloured in the actual basket. I did this a while ago, but thought it fits the challenge of something with a handle. It is on a piece of A3 paper. Press the drawing for an enlargement so you can see the detail.