It's Been a Long, Long Time!!

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I have posted to my blog!! I have made it through my first year as an art teacher. They say they first year is the hardest, so I am looking forward to an easier 2nd year. As I think ahead to next year, I am looking at my own short-falls this year. Some of my drawing skills are lacking. I have always struggled with bodies. Heads, I can do... bodies, not so much! So, this summer (along with working up new lessons) I am setting a challenge for myself to start drawing bodies. I have not decided on a time frame yet. As much as I'd like to do 1 a day, that does not seem realistic to me. I'll shoot for 1 a week (minimum) and see what happens. I will be posting some student work as well.

Zentangle, Zentangle, and more Zentangle

I have been looking for a teaching job this summer, so I have been working on lesson plans. I decided to put together several Zentangle lessons, since I enjoy doing them so much. Following are the samples I did up to go along with each lesson.

This first one was to create a unique shape to hold the tangles.


This next one was to find an art history image that would be easily recognized and draw tangles in the negative space.



This last one was a Mandala project.

Random Works

I have been doing quite a bit of drawing as of late. I thought it would be a good idea to actually post them.

This one was done with a cheap ink pen and some colored pencils. This is one of my favorites, and was a lot of fun to do.

A random abstract drawing using the same cheap ink pen and some green pen for color. Again, very fun to do. I find these very relaxing to draw.

Another random abstract with patterns.

Another random abstract drawing.

I got another pen and finished this one (from an earlier post).

This time with pen and colored pencil.

Pen and ink with watercolor. Caricature of William H. Macy.

Abstract Gel Pen Drawing

I've been taking my sketchbook with me when I am subbing and it has proven very helpful in allowing me time to actual create some art. I finished this one a couple of days ago. I'm not sure how much I like the end results of these, but I find it very therapeutic.

Cells - Ink Pen

This was done with an ink pen, which ran out before I finished it. I guess this will have to be called "done". The ghost image in the white area is the next page in my sketchbook showing through, it's not part of this drawing.

Hermosa (Drawingboard.org)

It has been quite some time since I have posted any new work. The reason is because I have not done any new work, until now that is. This was drawn from a photo posted at drawingboar.org in the caricatures' caricatures thread. I believe the person's user name there is Hermosa.

Artist Trading Card Lesson

WOW!! It has been quite some time since I last posted here. I've been super busy with my student teaching the past 6 weeks. I have two weeks remaining at the primary level and then I go to the middle school. I can't wait to get to the middle school! Anyway, I have been doing ATCs with the 5th graders and they seem to really enjoy the lesson. Here are a few samples the students made.

You can read more about his lesson and other at http://artedunite.proboards85.com/index.cgi .

Every Day In May #18 - #22

So much for the every day in May! I did make it 22 days, even though I am just now posting many of them. It really was a good exercise (I just wish I had not gotten so far behind and given up). Oh well, here they are anyway. Some you may recognize, the others are people from caricature boards.

Every Day in May #16 & 17 (Faces)

I'm having a hard time keeping up with these. I think I might be spending too much time on some of them. It has helped to develop some skills though, so I think I'd rather be behind than to hurry through them. This first one is a really bad caricature of Robin Williams, done with a skewer stick and drawing ink (fun technique).
This next one is Tommy Lee Jones done first with pencil and then with a Bic pen. I like going in with the pencil first. I have been trying to work on my exaggerations and that is hard to do straight with the pen. As you can see, I didn't finish the shading on this. It takes too much time.

Every Day in May #14 & 15 (Faces)

I've been keeping up with the drawing, not so much with the posting. Here are the ones from the past couple of days. The first one was done with a Bic pen, penciled in first. The subject is Nicolas Sarkozy. This next one is supposed to be Jim Croce done with Prismacolors on cardboard. Not one of my better drawings.

Every Day in May (Faces) #8 - #13

I have been down the past few days with a nasty case of the stomach flu. I am feeling much better today and managed to get all caught up with the challenge. The first one was done using only a Bic pen. It is a caricature of the guy who plays Dr. House on the TV show. I am pretty happy with how this one turned out.

This next one was also done with a Bic pen and is supposed to be a caricature of Bruce Willis. I'm not so happy with this one. That is the bad part about drawing with pen... no room for messing up!

This next one is another caricature of Subway surfer. He posted some really good expressions on his blog. Expressions is something I need to work on. I think this one turned out much better than the last one of him. Another Bic pen drawing.

Caricature of Kid Rock. First drawn with pencil and then with a brush pen.

Same technique as above. This one is of a member from The Drawing Board.

Again with the brush pen and another member of The Drawing Board.

Every Day in May #7 (Faces)

I am not at all happy with this one and almost didn't post it. I have always had trouble with exaggeration and showing expressions. I tried both with this one and failed. The gentleman in the drawing is Subwaysurfer who is a wonderful caricature artist. His work amazes me. The other day he posted a couple of pictures of himself so I thought I'd have a go at him. I think I might try this one again another day. First, I think I should spend some time studying the face!