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Friday, November 12, 2010

Feathery Friday and A Blind Contour

I am still trying to get better at drawing birds and have decided that I spend way too much time erasing when I draw, so I am drawing with a pen - a Micron pen. I love Micron pens. The problem is that my drawings are much messier than I am used to and they are quite tight. I must learn to hold the pen more loosely and draw from the shoulder (or at least from the elbow) instead from the wrist.

Here is a little drawing of a grosbeak:



And it is blind contour Friday as well, so I present you with today's attempt.


I hope you aren't totally sick of this poor eagle, but I've decided to stick with him until I get it right. I must say I find him to be quite cute even when his beak doesn't meet.

I am looking forward to having my son's Little Miss 7 overnight tomorrow. We will spend lots of time doing art. His little one is quite a natural and has a whimsical personality as well. I am hoping to make a few butterflies for The Butterfly Effect. You can read about it here.

Update - just got a call from the daughter. I have Little Miss 3 and her Little Miss 7 will ride the bus here today. She has an early release and so will arrive sometime around 1:30 and they will be spending the night.

I love this crazy, unpredictable life, but will be happy when things settle down a bit after the end of the year.

xoxo


12 comments:

  1. Start at the point of the upper beak and draw the break first............then the head.......try that....you will get it.lol
    I draw a lot of parrots............
    Debby

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  2. Your birds are great, Vicki! I like your blind contour.

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  3. I love the Micron pens - use them all the time. Nice grosbeak. These blind contour drawings are maddening, aren't they? I can't stand doing it!

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  4. that is a lovely grosbeak and even though the eagle is minus a beak it is definitely an eagle.

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  5. Good idea to draw with a pen, just keep sketching without rubbing out, the more you do it the better you get

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  6. I never thought of blind contours as something to 'get right'. I enjoy them for the crazy results I get, and oftentimes they are my more 'creative' sketches! Especially when color is added! Your bird sketch is wonderful!

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  7. I'm loving the eagle more and more - he's just so much fun! Your bird drawing in ink is very good! You're getting better and better at this, that's for sure! hugs, nancy

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  8. I think you have got the eagle just right! It is blind contour and it is the interesting lines that we make when doing it. I see a lot of progress in your bird drawings. Your grosbeak came out wonderfully.

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  9. I just came upon a few blind contours of France Belleville's, who used to post to EDM all the time. Do you remember her? (I hadn't looked at her flickr page in a while!) check out this link...you see how good her drawings are, but her blind contours don't match up either. Check it out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wagonized/4396238901/ ps thanks for the comment!

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  10. Great contour drawing! I find the more you revisit a subject, the more "muscle memory" takes over and you can really improve your skills that way.

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  11. Love your blog--these are charming! Thank you for visiting my blog and for your kind comments. I appreciate the well wishes for my sister. Xoxo

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  12. Love your Grosbeak and the contour of the eagle as well. Practice makes perfect. Well done!

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