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!

Chick Drawing Cont.

Here is my progress on the drawing so far. I might need to darken the values as the other fingers appear. It always takes me awhile to warm up to skin tones when I have been away from them for a time. The background will probably be indistinguishable and muted. I'm not totally sure yet how I want it to be.

I promised you a picture of Fred and his sisters. Not a very good picture is it? Well his new Daddy came to pick him up, it was late at night, and the pic was taken in a hurry. (Sorry :( ) They were way to big for us to keep, and as I said before, rain delayed his departure by a few weeks. This did not make my husband very happy. (Although I do not know why, he wasn't the one in charge of cage cleaning duty!) So being the ever vigil parent, I told my son that Fred needed to go. It was also made quite clear that this was to be the ABSOLUTE last batch of chicks that would grace my basement. I know it sounds harsh, but you give my kid an inch... he will take a mile. I meant business. If he is the one who loves farming, why am I the one hatching and raising chicks? That's it...NO more...All done...

...So two days later these little guys arrived....WHAT? I have never been accused of being timid or soft spoken. There is no way my son didn't get the message above loud and clear. Could he be deaf, I asked myself??? Oh no... Does he have a death wish? I sometimes wonder... Does he trust to much in the fact that I will fall in love with these little fuzzies, and there by absolve him from any wrong doing? You betcha!

He started by bringing them home in an ice cream bucket, assuring me that he was just as surprised as me. Right?? Okay, he admitted, he let the hen hatch a batch. They were going to be little Frizzle birds. Frizzles?? They have the tiniest little chicks. He appealed to my sense of sympathy. One of the little ones didn't make it, because its mother wouldn't take care of it. Thankfully, I was told, four had made it. Darn it why do they have to be so small and cute? WHY? (Just to gage size the skunk in there with them is a tiny beanie baby. I'd put the smallest at the size of a silver dollar.)

So I regrouped. I would agree to raise this batch as my FINAL farewell. For those that are faint of heart, I will edit out the part where I told my husband. Let me just say he was far from thrilled! But have no fear, my son made sure to be nowhere around during the time of disclosure. I carefully explained that these were the final four. Our son made us a promise...no more.

Take a careful count and check of body colors and tell me how good my son keeps his promises. Is something wrong here?? That's what I thought after my husband and I came back from doing a brush chipping job for our tree business the next day. Did he think I wouldn't notice an extra bird? I think color alone gave this little guy away. Ooops, my son assures me this is really the last one. I wanted so much to be mad, but this little guy is about the size of a half dollar... Probably the tiniest chick we have ever had or that I have ever raised. What's one more? AAAAAGH! If you could just hold this little guy (who weighs nothing) and have him fall asleep in your hand, you would understand. My husband gave my son a look of disgust and disappointment. (But between you and me, I talked him into being the hand model holding these little guys for a future drawing. Trust me he wasn't complaining!) So now, they are downstairs eating and growing. My son put a little porthole on the side of the box and covered it in plexi glass, so if we are ever in the basement, we always have an audience. Don't tell my son, but I will miss these little ones when they are gone... :)

Chick Drawing

Here is the next line drawing. The finished work should be around 8 x 7 ". Since we have had so many baby chicks around the house, it made for a great opportunity for a photo shoot. This little girl is a lot bigger now. She is an adopted sister to Fred the turkey. (We lost Gene ten days after his birth.) Now Fred and his two sisters will be leaving this week for their new home in the country. They should have left some time ago, but rain has delayed the building of their own private home. Their new owners have decided to let them remain their own special family and not separate them. I will try to get some updated pics for you to see before they go.

I think tonight, I might work on another line drawing. My original thought was to do a portrait next. But this picture showed up on my camera, got printed out, and ended up on the board. How did that happen? ;-) I have two portrait pics that are calling out to me. Oddly enough, I feel no need to be orderly right now. So I will take advantage of it and get as many line drawings going as I can stand. Picking compositions has never been easy for me. If I can get a couple of line drawings done in a row, I am going for it! Then hopefully, this blog will not have so much down time in between drawings. :)

Squirrel Drawing Finished

Here it is finally completed. Or at least close enough to post! I will let it sit on the drawing board for a few days and look at it with fresh eyes. Finished drawing is 9x7". I am very happy with the finished product but think I will stray away from the animal scene for the next one. I ended up using a lot of 9b in this one. That made for many layers. On to the next, hopefully lighter, subject!

Squirrel Drawing Cont. 5

Here is where I am at today. I just started to bring the birch branch forward. The main branch to the right will get deeper in value and blended to push it into the background, and then I will do the shading and detailed work on the section in front that is in focus. There will still be some more time tonight to work, but I wanted to post it at this stage. It helps me to chronicle how a piece comes together for future reference. The squirrel has been given heavier cast shadows to match the photo reference. (And now that I am looking at it on the screen, I might darken his back a little more. It is where the light source hits the strongest, but I think I can go a little deeper in value.) He has taken quite a bit of time as I go back and forth deciding how to get that short fur to look right. I must say it has been a learning experience. I know I moved faster than this on my self portrait... AAAAGH!! Back to the drawing board...