sketch...

I've been serving at The Story again since the beginning of March.  It really helps to keep me actively involved in art on a regular basis.  I love being there and getting to paint every week.  It has uncovered hidden talents that I didn't know God had blessed me with & stretched me in ways I never thought possible.

That said, my first love will always be pencil sketching.

My friend, Olivia, recently had a birthday.  When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday (and after stipulating that "nothing" was not an option) she asked me to draw her something.  I gave it some thought and was a bit stuck trying to decide what I would draw.

I am very specific in the type of art that I do.  I generally need a photograph or something to look at in order to create something.  I can't just conjure up an image in my mind and draw it.

This project was very different.  I was getting ready one day, all the while thinking about what in the world I was going to draw.  I went through a list of things in my mind that I know Olivia likes and remembered that Tahoe was one of her favorite places.  Suddenly, the completed image of what I wanted to draw just popped into my head.  I immediately stopped what I was doing and ran to the computer to search for images to help me out.

And this was the result...

Generally, I don't like most of the stuff that I draw.  I have a tendency to be too much of a perfectionist and I pick things apart until I despise them.  Again, this drawing was abnormal...  I actually liked this sketch a lot.  I also love typography of any kind and I ended up being really happy with the lettering.  

Ashlyn has been very interested in art for a while and more recently has tackled Japanese anime.  She was very curious during the course of my drawing this picture; she would frequently come in and peer over my shoulder to see how it was coming along.  She asked me a lot of questions about how I did certain parts and inspected all of my drawing tools.

A couple of days later Ashlyn came to me and asked if I could teach her how to draw a person.  I suggested that she start with something a little smaller like an eye or a hand and then work herself up to an entire person.

Ashlyn and I watched a tutorial online on how to draw an eye.  This was her very first attempt…
I am quite aware that because I am her mom I might be slightly biased but you know what?  I think she did an awesome job!  It is really cool to see my kids sharing in some of my interests and watching them succeed in their own talents.

I have another project in the works right now but more on that later...