attempting to sketch

I've long held the wish that I could draw / sketch.  My artistic commitment to myself this year is that this is the year I tackle that challenge. I had perspective drawing years ago as an interior design student, but I never really "got" it. I've purchased and read a zillion books on it, and while intellectually, I kinda understand, as soon as I sit down with pencil in hand, I'm lost.

So, I purchased a Perspective for Sketching video class on Craftsy.com and took a free sketching class at Daniel Smith last night. The journey begins................

My first effort for my first video lesson was to draw an elevation view of a building. I chose a photo of a door that I took in Paris last fall.

Sketches don't scan very well, but you get the idea.  Below is my reference photo.

I feel like I did a decent job of getting the proportions right - I'm excited to expand my sketching skills this year!

branching out

I was challenged to "branch out", try something new, be bold. So I did.....tried a couple things I've been meaning to work on for years - image transfer for one.

I created a background with an acrylic wash and stamps on a 90 lb paper. Printed out a photo of mine on a laser printer and went to work.

I covered the base paper with matte gel and rubbed out all the air bubbles from my photo (with a little tear).  It dried overnight.

The next day, wet the paper and rub and rub and voila....the image appears.  Why was I so intimidated by this again?

I like how the stamping can be seen through the transfered image - and the rough, rubbed away edges adds a vintage or aged feeling. I did a couple more - don't like the next one because I feel like all the detail in the dark area was lost - but it's all an experiment, right?  The other is a photo I took in Paris last fall and again, my fave part is seeing the stamps through the photo.

Also - a quick update....I shared my round robin journal page start earlier in the month. Here's the finished pages:

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