Field Mouse in Hand Graphite Drawing WIP 8

The months have been flying by.  I went full time at work as of October 1st and have spent the last month training for a new task at my work place.  The past weeks have been a little crazy on my mind with  going back to learning a position from the ground up, but the trade off was a set daytime schedule.  It brings a sense of calmness to my life.  So presently, I am ready to throw myself into finishing this drawing and getting on to some ideas that I would like to try.

 

At this point, I can honestly say that I am tired of working on the dark background.   The layering required for a dark background tires my hand out.  Although, I did start using a Prismacolor Turquoise pencil about half way through and was amazed how easy the graphite adhered to the Bristol. It made me wish that I would have grabbed that pencil to begin with! ;)   The darkness of the background needs to be smoothed out, and there are still some lighter details that need to emerge with the help of a handy eraser, but there is no hurry.  I am going to start looking through some promising photographs and start laying out the next project.  A little overlapping of subjects will do me good. :)    

 

Field Mouse in Hand Graphite Drawing WIP 7

As you can see, the 6b has been put to work on this drawing.  I am in the process of layering it and will add the lighter objects after by pulling them out with an eraser.  Looking back at the progress of this piece, I contemplate background vs. plain Bristol.  Although the stark blank background would give the piece a bold-charged impact of a human hand projecting off of a blank sheet of paper, I like the continuity (my nemesis yet best friend) of the darkness grounding the subject and giving it a more meditative feel.  After all,  this is suppose to be a portrait of sorts.  Hmmmm... Just thinking out loud. ;) 

  

 

 

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Field Mouse on Hand 6

A little more graphite blended onto the hand and here is the progress on the drawing.  It will still need some refining before the decision is made about the background.  There has always been debates on how my backgrounds should be handled.  Many of my peers think that it should be left blank to add to the effect of the hand coming off of the page.  I have always opted to put the background in.  After looking back through my blog, it is obvious where this technique has been successful.   It is equally obvious (to me anyways) on a few compositions where a background left out might have been a slight improvement.  I guess that I am just not sold on celestial free floating objects.  It seems that I need to ground my drawings to the world that they are associated with.  :)  

 

Field Mouse in Hand 5

 

The field mouse made his entry into the composition this weekend.  It was a pleasure to work on such a small area of fur.  I had to make sure and keep my eraser sanded, so his light hairs would be tiny, sharp and clean.  Here he was at the beginning of the weekend...

 

 And here he is now...   His foot is the last area to be completed.  I am leaving that until the finger underneath has been rendered.  A background is necessary when creating the light hairs.  :)

Field Mouse in Hand 4



The wrist tends to be the area of the composition that is so busy.  I intentionally crop my photos to leave a portion of the wrist and arm.  The area is vital to give that extra push of dimension to the hand that is being rendered. It is also the most interesting part for me to draw.  The skin is usually richer in depth as it recedes into the background.  The hair being present is such a wonderful contrast to the texture of the skin.   Most importantly, the wrist is the area most influenced by what lies under the surface of the skin:  muscles twisting, bones pushing, and the subtle shades of the underlying vascular system.   I cannot express how important it is to the impact of the composition for me to have this area present.   The complexity of the wrists sets off the simplicity of the hand in such a strong way.

 

As you can see, the graphite has been worked to the mid point of the palm.  I decided to stop in that area, so the focus can turn to the little field mouse.  This will leave me enough blank area to the right of the little critter to rest my drawing hand without smudging the details. 

 

For those new friends arriving to Sketches, the you will notice that I edge the corner of my drawing with tape.  It is a special non acidic drafting tape.  There mustn't be erasures to the area that it is being applied, or the chance of damage to the Bristol is greatly heightened.  I find that this tape works very  in keeping my edges crisp and clean. 

 

 

Baby Field Mouse in Hand 3

I've had a lot on my mind this week, and there is no better place to sit and think than at the drawing board.  Solutions to every day problems come to me a little bit easier in the midst of sculpting a figure on paper .  The issues of the day are smoothed out with the layers of graphite and dissipate into the air.  It makes me a little ashamed of my tendency to take my art for granted in the fact that it will always be there waiting... 

 

Moving on... Here is the progress on the hand.  The depth of shadows are about where I want them to be.  The decision of the background hasn't been decided yet.  It will be either left the color of the Bristol or will go black like the photo.  I am leaning towards the black... We'll see.

 

 

 

 

The next portion of the composition to be shaded will be from the wrist to the little critter.  Then, the mouse will make his appearance.  The last two fingers will be the finish to the figure drawing.  After that, the background will be drawn in or not. ;) 

 

The composition is moving along steadily.  Usually, after being absent from the drawing board for a period of time, I have to regain my bearings.  Thankfully, this was not the case.  It felt as though no time had passed.  Just like reminiscing with an old friend... ;)  



Baby Field Mouse in Hand Cont.

The hand is transferred and underway.  It is always a little difficult to find the right depth in the beginning to separate the shadows, so I apply the graphite lightly and will work to add several layers after the original blending.  If I go to dark with the graphite application in any area, it will muddy the blending stage.  When that happens, a kneaded eraser can be used to pull out the excess graphite. Sometimes, the graphite embeds to deeply into the grain of the paper and a white eraser is needed (sparingly).  When the clean up looks to be a major project, it is just easier to start over than to deal with problems that can arise from using a more harsh eraser.  Over time I have learned the hard way to resist making a strong initial layout, it is always better to sculpt the image in graphite using layers.