Challenge myself, Do something with my art everyday!

WOW, has it really been this long since I've posted in my art blog?
Life sure gets in the way sometimes.

I picked up my pencils for the first time in almost a year to actually draw something besides doodles two days ago!!

Does anybody else deal with artist slump? To try to alleviate the slump I've been in dealing with my health issues and after the passing of my Dad, I decided to challenge myself to picking up my pencils everyday to do more than doodle!
I started on this gorgeous horse image used with permission Artist Reference Photos by Karen, owned by Karen Broemmelsick two days ago.

I'm attempting a more realistic look by blending and making sure I have my darks and lights pushed by checking my values with the value finder tool.
This little drawing is a 5"x 8" and not on the best paper. Sketch Book 75lb 110 gsm.
Here is Day 1 and Day 2 together.

Day 1:
I started with getting the image drawn out on this paper. I drew this image freehand with a lot of measuring for accuracy and erasing and starting over but finally I'm happy with what I've gotten down on the paper. I have tried the grid method and for learning to be more accurate it is a great tool to use but for me, most of the time I find using the grid method more of a pain than it is worth and I've even pressed too hard while drawing the lines and then been able to see them in the final image.

Once I was finally happy with the image, I starting mapping in where the darks will be and preserving the highlights.

This is the part that is fascinating to me as the image starts popping off the page.




















Day 2:
Worked on this guy for about and hour pushing the darks and getting the texture and value closer to reality.


Thanks for stopping by!