Paint the second branch. This one slightly overlaps the top of the moon.
Month: January 2012
Have you been drawing while I was away? Not as much as you intended to, right? If so, here’s Blue Jay to sketch and entice you back to the drawing board.
Wait – don’t hit that back button yet! You don’t have to draw every single detail of this scene. Draw a study instead, and no persons or Blue Jays shall be harmed (or overdrawn) in the making of the drawing.
A study is just that. Sketch this scene with an eye to proportion, with emphasis placed on the Blue Jay, and not much else.
I used a grid to help keep the proportions right, and made one for you too. It’s at the bottom of the post.
The trick to sketching a scene like this in a quick-ish manner is to skip lots of details. You have to learn to tune them out and see only the building blocks and how they’re put together.
I’ve blurred the photo in Photoshop to give you an idea of what I mean. Imagine that you’re concentrating on the general shape of things so well that the details blur and, like in this image, you’re left with only big lovely shapes and simplified shading.
(I’ve included this photo at the end of the post too.)
Simplifying the drawing ushers us into an understanding of these drawing rules:
Drawing Rule No. 467.25 – Simple is better.
Drawing Rule No. 467.25.a – To keep it simple, leave stuff out.
Drawing Rule No. 467.25.b – Concentrate on one part of the drawing and let the rest of it follow along.
Here’s my line drawing. What I like best about this photo is the Blue Jay, so I concentrated on drawing him well, but then all those leaves got to me with their sexy negative and positive shapes. I listened to their seductive whispers and drew them too. (When will I ever learn.)
Listening To The Muse (Or Whatever)
Here’s the finished drawing. As you can see, I drew very few of the leaves.
The “positive and negative shape” drama was my ego talking. My ego has no taste for hard work though, and takes a hike when it’s time to put the pencil to the paper.
My ego does this to me all the time. It whispers things to me that make my ears tingle. It tells me that if I follow it I’ll be a wonderful artist who creates divinely inspired work! And I fall for this line because I’m human and all that stuff sounds like so much fun … and easy … if only I’d just follow …
… I’d never get anything done!
I know this from lots and lots of experience. The ego’s ideas never work. They’re usually a tiny bit of an idea that’s spun into a overinflated illusion, kind of like cotton candy. (What a disappointment!)
My real Muse is practical. It gives me the information I need to get the drawing done and then it’s ready to move on to the next one. Bingo-Bango, no time to listen for the applause, keep movin’ along there Buckaroo.
Then I get to experience the incredibly good feeling of making progress in the direction I really want to go.
To re-cap:
Ego’s voice = lots of ear tingling ideas that never actually manifest because they aren’t thought out or doable.
Muse’s voice = Get this piece done, start on the next, and don’t look back.
Oh Wait, Is Something Missing?
My dear pencil sisters and brothers, you’re wondering why I veered off course with the Muse talk and where the in-between steps of this drawing are, aren’t you? But the steps are right there in the finished drawing, you big sillies. They always are.
Now I hear someone thinking, “That’s all well and good and Zen, Carol, and we sure are happy that you figured out the Muse thing, but why aren’t you really showing the steps of the drawing?”
The truth is I broke my leg in September. It was wired and bolted back together three months ago, but I can’t get to my scanner, or anywhere else, easily because I’m still wearing a huge (and by huge I mean a Frakking Ginormous, six-strapped, side fortified with aluminum bars with built in rotating knee joints) leg brace, so I told you about the steps of my inner art process instead of showing the drawing steps. I request that you use your imaginations to fill in the visual blanks of this tutorial, please.
Thank you, and keep those pencils moving no matter what big things are weighting you down, or sweet nothings you’re tempted to take a bite of.
Images To Download
A Simplified Grid Drawing Plan
•On the paper, draw the same sized gird that’s drawn on the bird. (Use a window as a back-light to see the grid through the paper.)
•Start with the largest shapes, and then add smaller ones later. Use the lines as landmarks to draw them in the right positions, and at the right sizes.
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Author Carol Posted on 2012/01/09 Categories Sketch Book
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New Blue Jay Kevin Kiermaier gladly switching his centre of attention
DUNEDIN, Fla. — He is all in on his new team now, but Kevin Kiermaier recalls when his fondness for the Blue Jays came for a different reason.
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“I enjoyed the Blue Jays the first five or six years of my career,” Kiermaier, former Toronto killer, said with a smile in an interview here. “The last couple of years, it was different. It was like: ‘There’s some good arms over there — starters, bullpen guys who can get you out and make for some long days.’ ”
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If there is a more enthused addition to Toronto’s beefed-up roster this off-season, we’re still looking for him. The long time Tampa Bay Ray is quickly switching to a Blue Jays state of mind, and at age 32, he is ecstatic about resuming his career with a team he has seen emerge as a contender. “The last couple of years when Toronto came to town, or if we went there, your pitchers know that from one through nine there’s not an easy out in the lineup,” Kiermaier said. “Now I’m wearing the same uni and it’s a beautiful thing because we have all the pieces to have a great year. If we go out and execute at a high level, everything will take care of itself.”
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It would be relatively easy to compile a highlight reel of Kiermaier brilliance in plays executed against the Jays, a point Toronto manager John Schneider has made multiple times since spring training began. To have a selection of those come the other way is the plan. He showed a flash of the outfield theatrics on Saturday in an 8-6 Jays win over the Orioles when he sped his way through centre field at TD Ballpark to make a sliding snag of a Josh Lester liner. Get ready for more of that. That he played for a division rival — thus facing the Jays 19 times a season — allowed Kiermaier to see the evolution of his new team unfold. His first full season with the Rays was in 2014, so he saw the big two seasons to follow, the at times unsightly teardown, and the current return to contender status.
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“I’ve always been a fan from the other side, just with the talent they have” Kiermaier said. “A ton of good players, and now being inside the same walls I know it even more. “I look around and see all the talent in this clubhouse and how guys work every day as a group. I want to be a part of that and I want to win with these guys and an amazing atmosphere. “I’m blown away, to be quite honest.” Kiermaier’s elite defensive prowess is well established and already has been on display during spring training action. But the dynamic, Gold Glove-calibre outfielder is determined to contribute with his bat, figuring the bottom of Schneider’s order is a perfect spot for him to flourish. “I want to be the best nine hitter in the league,” Kiermaier said. “I want to lead the league in scoring from first on doubles. Go play the best centre field you can, bet dangerous from the bottom of the order, get on and then let Bo, George and Vlad do their thing.”
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Kiermaier has designs on being an everyday player — starting 120 to 130 games and being available off the bench nightly. With a rebuilt hip, he is confident the workload is doable. “I know my role and I’m thrilled with it,” he said, before drawing a walk in his first plate appearance on Saturday. “I’m going to try to be the best version of Kevin Kiermaier to ever touch a big league field this year. “I have a lot left. My legs are good. I’m going to play Gold Glove defence and I’m going to show these guys what I’m about.”
NO RUST BELT
Designated hitter Brandon Belt made his Grapefruit League debut on Saturday and the former San Francisco Giant made an impact, drawing a walk and rapping a double off the outfield wall in his two plate appearances.
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“It feels good to be back on the baseball field playing competitively again,” Belt said. “I’ve been out on the back fields just trying to get in shape. It’s nice to get out there with the guys and do something.” As a 34-year-old veteran, Belt believes he knows exactly what to do to prepare for his season. “Early on in my career, I wanted to come to spring training ready to go,” Belt said. “Now I’ve learned that less is more for me. I feel if I get a couple weeks of at-bats in I’m good to go.”
AROUND THE BASES
Kiermaier started in centre and for the first time this spring the Jays rolled out the regular threesome with Daulton Varsho in left and George Springer in right. “Looking forward to seeing it,” Schneider said of the trio. “They can really go get it.” … Springer is heating up at the plate, launching a two-run homer (his second in as many games). He also looked comfortable in right field, his new defensive home … For Belt and his fellow veterans, there’s plenty of time to prepare for the March 30 season opener. There are still 17 more Grapefruit League games scheduled for the Blue Jays, including a Sunday matinee across town in Clearwater against the Phillies, where lefty starter Yusei Kikuchi will look to keep his solid spring going.
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Paint Blossoms
Load your palette with: titanium white, light pink and yellow oxide. Use your #4 round brush and double load it into the pink and the white. Paint 4-5 petal flowers that overlap some of the branches (or float off the branch).
Paint some smaller oval shapes for flower buds.
Then use your #4 round brush and titanium white to paint small white dots in the sky for the stars. Paint a variety of sizes in your dots and paint them in clusters that may be dense or further apart.
Draw Blue Jay
Wait for your painting to dry before proceeding to the drawing of this bird. You can hand draw this bird or use the template to transfer it to your canvas. You can get the PDF version of this bird (sized appropriately) by clicking here!
Start by sketching the body. Draw an elongated oval. Draw the tail as a triangle shape so that it overlaps the branch. Draw the neck and a circle for the head.
Sketch the crest on the left side of the head and the beak.
Sketch the legs as two diagonal lines that go down to the bottom branch.
Draw curved lines that grasp the bottom branch.
Paint Blue Jay
Load your palette with: titanium white, bright aqua green, phthalo blue and mars black. Also, freshen up your yellow oxide if needed. These are the colors you will use for the bird.
Use you’re #4 round brush to paint the tail. Paint diagonal strokes from the bottom of the bird’s body to the end of the tail.
Next, load your brush with titanium white without rinsing the blue off. Apply white over the blue, blending it gently.
Then make the tip of the tail a scalloped edge by painting curved strokes on the edge.
Next, load your brush in phthalo blue and sort of sketch out the back up to the head/ crest and the under side of the wing area.
Use your brush to sketch a very thin line on the belly/right side area of the bird.
Next, paint the wing area. Use a combination of phthalo blue, bright aqua green and some white. Paint in curved strokes forming the shape of the wing. Then rinse your brush and paint the belly area with titanium white.
Then paint the black with mars black. Paint a black stripe area on the left side of the head that dips down and goes to the right under the beak.
Then paint the eye. You can use a smaller round brush for this step if needed.
Then paint small, black curved lines on the tail of the blue jay. Stagger them along the tail.
Paint a few strokes of curved lines that go inwards on the side of the wing.
Next, mix some yellow oxide with titanium white. Paint the right area under the beak with the yellow oxide then blend more white to the left of it.
Paint the legs using your brush double loaded in mars black and yellow oxide.
Add a highlight/dot on the bird’s eye. Also add a white stroke on the top of the black as well as a few white strokes on the wing area.
If any pencil marks remain from the drawing, erase gently with an eraser.
