Alternative Drawing Methods

Apart from the normal method of drawing with a graphite pencil I would like to suggest some other methods of drawing, which will give you a different finish to your work. I occasionally use these methods to create additional interest in the work.

Consider using a stylus to work into the paper before you lay the graphite over the surface. where you have indented the paper you will get a nice clean white line as the graphite does not go into the scored section of the paper. This is a particularly good technique for drawing hair, it allows you to introduce very fine highlights.

The other technique which I enjoy using is taking a sharp blade and scraping the graphite off the end of the pencil.This gives you a fine graphite powder which you can use with a tissue to apply backgrounds over a large area. It is easy to control the amount of graphite you apply so you can effectively work in different layers.

When I am doing my outline drawings, I often use a hard 3h to create the outlines. I also add additional lines into the drawing to create interest. When you draw over these lines, additional texture is easily created which gives the drawing more depth and interest.

Try using small little circles to create a dynamic texture. I often use this technique to reproduce trees, concrete, leather, in fact it is a great technique for producing a lot of different textures.

 

Subject Matter.

There are many factors that come into play when you are evaluating a drawing.

Today I want to chat about subject matter this is very personal and each artist will have their own preferences of what they enjoy drawing.

The truly great drawings involve the viewer they tell a story or evoke an emotion. The subject matter is fairly unimportant.It is how the drawing is crafted that matters.So if you love drawing landscapes, buildings, people or still life, tell a story involve the viewer. If you are doing a still life, placing an apple on the table with a bowl of flowers is not going to create much interest if it is not exciting.

The treatment of the drawing can be very interesting if you use light, texture, contrast etc.

Have a look at Van Gochs landscape drawing.

The subject matter is just another landscape nothing too interesting, but note how he captures your attention.

Contrast the dark land on the left the lighter land on the right.

Perspective the lines in the earth in the center of the drawing that leads you through the page

The trees on the left are heavy the ones on the right are light and wispy.

The flat horizontal lines heavily underlined in the background stop you from moving off the page he takes you so far and no further.

The figures on the right are interacting with each other, can you imagine what they are saying?

Notice the land in the front of the drawing it is the exact opposite of the land in the middle of the drawing i.e. dark on the right and light on the left.

A perfect balance to the entire drawing.

 

There is a story here and he takes you through the drawing like a grand master.

Online representation

Online sales and promotion is the way the world has moved there are some great art sites out there and it is a good way to get to meet fellow artists look at the work and get inspired. I have been involved in the online community for some time now and these are my favorite sites,

Draw space my top site hosted by Brenda who has written many books on drawing. i am a teacher on the site and I have posted more than a hundred of my drawings online. Bluecanvas another favorite of mine I started a drawing group which I moderate and have more than forty members who have joined and posted their drawings online.

Red bubble a must visit great artists from all over the world.

Artwanted a great site for selling your work online.

Get involved with the online art community there are some fantastic sites out there.

Cheers Wayneo  

Oshogbo temple Oson state

My wife and I decided to travel to see the Oshogbo temple in Soon state so we left on the Ibadan expressway early sat morning travelling on a very busy road in bad condition it takes about three hours to get to the temple so we decided to stay overnight in Ibadan Africa’s largest flat city

We found a local hotel that was reasonably priced and had air conditioning very important in west Africa that evening there was a party on at the hotel so we ended up around the swimming pool with our driver having a couple of beers and enjoying the evening the pool area had a few plastic palm trees and many pool noodles in the pool. After an early start the next morning we were on our way to the temple

The temple was built by a Brazilian woman an artist who created a fertility temple that was actively used by woman every Friday. it was situated in the local forest and I was very keen to visit the area

After about another hours drive we arrived at the forest and on the way to the entrance I noticed low mud walls with faces and figures carved into them there was the odd figure also looking at us from the trees  We paid the nominal entry fee at a small hut to the side of the entrance which was a huge vagina which you could walk through we decided to take the other route into the forest and started our exploring The ground had a funny look to it shining and sparkling with minerals which I think was feldspar Everywhere you looked there were giants statues of figures and many smaller ones in the walls even down by the river there were specific statues alongside the banks

We came to the actual temple which was still being used and the local priest asked us if we wanted to be blessed so we agreed and went through the ritual in the temple took about half an hour all in all. Afterwards we were interviewed by a local press crew that showed up photos were taken and lots of fun was had by everyone

 

Mozambique

What a lovely place, the family and I spent a week close to Inhaca island .we rented a land cruiser and left from SA early in the morning with a full load of food and water The family was very excited to make the long trip by road as we were planning on going through the elephant reserve to get to where we were staying. We had two vehicles with us one a full off-road vehicle and the other one a two by four with a diff lock. My family and their friends are very keen paddlers so on the roof we had two canoes strapped to the top. The trip up to the border post at Komatiepoort went off fairly smoothly with a pit stop of fried eggs and bacon along the route.

Komatiepoort is a great little town with a supermarket banks a few restaurants and nothing much else

The local golf course was great with a view over the valley river and border post we spent the afternoon with a cold bottle of wine taking photos of the surrounding countryside.

We stayed over at a local guest house which had a pool and braai facility a great afternoon was had around the pool and the boys braaied under the carport for supper the next day was an early start for us as we had been told by some of the locals that the border would open very early so at 3 in the morning we set off to cross the border

The border was chaos as most African borders are the endless lines of traffic and people when we reached the border some of the locals tried to scam us out of some money saying that we had to have travel insurance to cross over luckily I spotted the scam and warned some German tourists who were about to be taken of the situation my kids joined the long line of people trying to get their passports stamped after about an hour of getting nowhere I decided to explore and paid a protocol officer to get us through about twenty minutes later we were through the border and into Mozam which by now was pouring with rain.

It was a pretty long drive to the turnoff into the elephant reserve but the roads were in pretty good condition so no real problems getting there. We turned off onto a dirt road and into the forest we went the roads became waterlogged and full of mud with the usual bad road conditions I remember at one stage watching a local vehicle in front of me a small little Toyota bakkie that was skidding from side to side on the road most of the trip he was going sideways eventually I managed to pass him and we carried on to the gate of the reserve.at the entrance to the reserve we stopped and took photos next to a large elephant skull and had a look at the curios in a small office at the gate.

The road conditions got much worse and from here on in I handed the vehicle over to another driver who was far more experienced as the other vehicle kept on breaking down in the mud and narrow roads after about four hours of extreme forest and not a single elephant in site we came to an open plateau and lake which connected to the ocean it was great to see hippo in the water at least about eight or so enjoying the water.

We arrived at our camp just as the sun was setting just as well as travelling through the forest at night was not a great idea the accommodation was spacious with many rooms and a great deck you could walk for about five minutes and you were at the ocean what a great place to stay. We spent the next week exploring the area some of the highlights for me was a Douw trip to one of the other islands we set off by sail up the coastline to a large island which had a market hotel and a main street with markets and small pubs what a day great fun to explore and eat the local food with a cold beer or two the trip back the tide had come in so we had to wade out to the Douw on the way back our small outboard motor had a spark plug problem and as we were going against the current we would not get back without it so we all sat on the Douw and swan in the ocean while our guide swam ashore to find a spark plug eventually we were back on track and into a fierce storm everyone was wet and cold on the journey back and the ocean came up so the swells were fierce we did see dolphins following the boat

We landed at a coastal village and the villagers all swamped the boat to offload the supplies we had picked up at the other island an early night was had by all as we had had a day full of adventure

The next day we explored the local village and some of the beaches it was spectacular the beaches are pristine clear blue water and fantastic rock formations

Some of the hotels and beach homes are superb it is a great place to have a break  that evening the resort had a big fire on the beach and the folks that were staying in the area all came down for sundowners it was old year’s night and we could see the fireworks from Maputo, the town was celebrating  

The trip back was long and dusty we went through a separate border post which was checking every vehicle for pork there was an outbreak of foot and mouth disease so the officials were concerned about people bringing meat back into the country.

What a trip Mozam I would love to go back this the next time I will fly to Maputo and get a ferry across to the island.

 

Angel

 

Angels come in many different forms when you least expect them,this angel was unexpected.i enjoyed producing this drawing ,I tried to play with the light coming off her head and the telephone cables in the background.

Bright white space with a figure that progressivly gets daker at the base. Some texture and two very vertical shapes to offset the drama.I hope that you enjoy it as much as i did.

Wayneo

Drawing the cornerstone of the visual arts

When you come to think about it, drawing is the basic cornerstone of creating artwork,sculptors, painters, designers would all produce preliminary drawings of their artwork before they proceed to the final piece. Learning to draw teaches you a lot of the skills required to produce great artwork.
the same lessons that you will be learning are also used in creating any art piece. Even a photographer uses balance, composition, lighting, texture to create his photo ie the same elements one would consider when producing a great drawing.

I am going to include in the blogg a glossary of terms to help folks understand the different terms used in drawing. I will also rate each lesson according to the difficulty all of the lessons. I have uploaded are for beginners the intermediate lessons will be tagged as such. Dont forget to prcatice as much as you can it may even be a good idea to carry a small sketchbook around with you draw whenever you have some free time available. Do quick sketches on the bus or in the office during your lunch break it will  improve your technique.

Practice, practice, practice and have fun.

Street seller Lagos Nigeria

Gum Boy
After a hard day selling in the traffic of Lagos Nigerai 

Out on the town in mainland Lagos

Lady Jane
Woman in traditional outfits with stunning fabric and headgear.


 

Downtown

Spagettini
In the traffic off to shop