This Little Wonder

Remember those little chicks that my son brought home? Well, here is the drawing that has begun and is based on a pic of my husband holding one of our smallest chicks. The drawing will be roughly 9 x 7". The dimensions may change when I get to the background. I am not really happy with the area to the left, so it might get shaved down a half of an inch. As you can see, not much goes into my initial rough. It is mainly done to get the outline to the main characters. The background is not even roughed in. I find that since my backgrounds are usually in some form of 'out of focus' that is usually best to have no semblance of hard lines visible. There will not be as much detail to this drawing, so it will be fun to see how it transforms.

I had thought about alternating subjects and getting away from the 'hands' theme on this one, but I fell in love with this pic from the beginning. The photo was taken as I began the last drawing, and I spent the whole time creating that one and thinking of this one. :-( That took a considerable amount of fun out of the creative process. At any rate, I am going to get this one in progress! As always, this drawing will use Bristol as the support, a 2b mechanical pencil, 9b wood case pencil, kneaded eraser, stick eraser, and several stumps!!

Speaking of the chicks, here they are present day. Whoops, Whitey is showing everyone his fine tail feathers. It is hard to get good pics when they are constantly in motion!! They get to wander in their little flock outside now. (Only under supervision.) They taunt each other and jump strait up in the air like little jumping beans. It is so funny to watch. Now and then, one will bully another, the whole flock will start jumping up and down, and run in circles. Poor little Blackie will taunt the air. (I think he has imaginary enemies ;)! ) He is extremely energetic and a lot smaller than the rest of the group, but he is a tough little guy!! So many different personalities. I could spend hours watching them play. Unfortunately, they will be leaving soon. I can honestly say this was a great group to end my chick raising days with. Their antics are better than any prime time show!!

Chick in Hand Finished

Happy Birthday to me!! I kept a promise to myself that I would be able to put this one up in its entirety on my birthday, and I am happy to say, "Mission complete." My first completed work of the start of my 42 nd year of life. I look forward to completing many more!!

It seems like a long time since the word finished has been written here. It will sit on the board for a few days before I revisit and touch up. The finished work is 8 x 7 inches. The background photographed a little grainy. It must be the work lights, but I was determined to finish up and post tonight. I look forward to moving onto a drawing with a little less detail!

Chick Drawing 5

The dreaded cuff has now come into view!! I would have really liked to come onto the blog this morning and tell you that the cuff was nowhere near the challenge my mind had made it into... but that would be far from the truth. So many lines!! Honestly speaking, the graph was the sanity saver in this whole scenario. Normally the graph is used to be a loose form of line placement. For the cuff, I clung to it pretty tightly to show me where all those little lines needed to be placed. In the end, I had to do the 3 foot step back and make the piece cohesive with my eyes. It is pretty close right now but will probably get some alterations before it is called finished.

One thing learned during the progress of this drawing is that I must be building more confidence in my abilities as an artist. When I start a drawing, my normal method of building a project is to go object by object of my choosing. (Not very smart I know, but it is my brain I am dealing with! ;-)) In the Dani Exercise Drawing, I picked the most difficult object first...the ball. In this drawing, I knew that the cuff was the problem, and it was put in the final slot of the three main objects. (Natural avoidance!) I never would have taken a chance like that at the beginning of the year. I really didn't think about what I had done (thank heavens!) until I had reached the lower third of the cuff. I'd like to think this is some breakthrough...Time will tell!!

Back to the drawing, I did have to break out the 9b pencil. The shadows between the fingers were darkened, and it had a huge impact on the depth of the cuff. During the drawing of the cuff, I threw a piece of paper over the chick and hand. I was careful not to shift my hand without lifting, so not to smear the drawing underneath. The paper could have been turned during this process to avoid that, but I really didn't want to add to the challenge of the cuff. I will turn the paper when doing the background. With all the dark values on the paper, the chance of smearing the work is so much higher. So this is where I am at right now. Very relieved and ready to go on to the background.

Chick Drawing 4

The little chick has finally emerged! I am not use to working with such light shadows. It took a good part of a day for him to make his entry onto paper. The shadows will still have to be refined, but I think there is enough of him here for you to see where I am headed. He will not get much darker, only in a couple of areas. The fluff on his body will be put in after the background is added. Ah yes the background... the reference pic shows a dark background with a lot of detail. I do not mind it being dark but do not care for all the details. So, I think there will be some artistic license taken, and the background will be simplified and muted. For some reason I am avoiding the sleeve. Between you and me, I would say it is the ribbing on the cuff that is the cause!!

Chick Drawing 3

All the fingers are accounted for... onward to the chick! This is where I am at right now on the drawing board. There will be a few alterations here and there where the fluff of the chick comes onto the fingers. I am pretty happy with the progress when compared to the time that has been (or hasn't been) spent at the drawing board. I will get some good time in tonight and tomorrow, so it will be exciting for me to pick up a little speed on this one. So far, I am only working with my 2b mechanical pencil. When the drawing gets closer to completion, the overall look will tell me if the 9b needs to come into play.

I wish my drawing was progressing as fast as the feathers on my chicks! Look at all those wonderful little feathers coming in. If you look at his feathers right behind his head, you will see how the curl up. It makes them look as if they have a fluffy boa around their neck. My black chick is nowhere near this point. I do not know why, but his little body is taking its time on filling out. Of course, he was born a day later than this little guy. We were surprised to find out that one of the yellow chicks is getting in a brown variegated feather. I have never had one of that color. He is a lethargic little bird and will only set down when taken out of the cage. He can walk fine but just doesn't care to do it much. It concerns me greatly, but my son tells me that I am just being paranoid... that could be. ;-) All chicks have such individual personalities. I love how they try to act so tough, but when you go to take them out of the cage, they scramble and hide in a pile in the corner. I thought about taking them outside today, but the weather is not cooperating... maybe tomorrow!

Chick Drawing 2

Making a little progress this week. I find myself going back and making things darker. The bottom part of the hand is finally where I want it to be. The bottom section definitely was the most challenging part of the hand. This drawing is going back to my traditional way of constructing a piece. I have a tendency to do one object at a time. The draw back to this method is smear ability! That is why I jumped to the bottom of the hand and am working my way up. Unfortunately, the sleeve is to the left of the composition and that will make the drawn hand become the resting point for my drawing hand. (That is the problem with my method.) I could always turn the drawing and reference pic and work upside down which is always a great way to brush up on skills, but I'll see when the time comes. More than likely, I will throw a piece of tracing paper over the hand. ;-)

Just a little update on my chicks. They are growing fast! See the wing feathers, they start to curl when they come in and make the chicks look fluffy and larger than their actual size. If you look at the feet, you will notice that feathers are appearing on their legs and down one toe. These will get very prominent. They actually resemble big feathery shoes when they are grown and gives them such a fancy, ornate look. It won't be very long and they will have all their feathers in. Chickens are amazing with how fast they grow up!