After being immersed in a failed oil painting portrait and a major home construction project it was wonderful to return to sketching despite feeling rusty. The funny flat peaches in the drawing above are called “Donut” peaches. They’re just as yummy as the round ones and way better for you than donuts. Below are more banana and peaches sketches.
In the foreshortened banana sketch above I was experimenting with the “Flatting” brush in Procreate.
Which do you like better, the colored version above or the one in blue “pencil” below? These are lumpy lemons from the interior of my lemon tree where they’ve been growing unnoticed to nearly the size of oranges, plus other random stuff on the table as I found it.
Below is the original “pencil” sketch in blue. I accidentally drew this with Procreate’s hard airbrush instead of my usual favorite sketching pencil, the Brush Up Ultimate Pencil (didn’t check what brush it was set on until it was too late).
It’s fun drawing random stuff that ends up on the table. This time it is old bottles used as vases that held hydrangeas, a bottle cap, silicone tea cozy, emory board and garlic.
Usually when I draw in Procreate on the iPad I start with a “pencil” sketch and then color it by using the selection tool to draw a shape, then fill the selection using the eye dropper/paint bucket tool. Above is the colored sketch and below is the digital pencil sketch I colored.
A sunny morning, two bowls of lemons and a vase of hydrangeas. What could be better than sunshine and happy summer colors. The series of digital still life paintings I’ve been posting were done last summer while my kitchen was being remodeled and I was using my studio as my living space so it was easier to paint digitally than on canvas.
It also meant that during the remodeling months from June to October my life was so crazy I didn’t really have time or mental bandwidth to post to my blog, hence finally playing catch-up now.
My hydrangea plant lives just outside my kitchen window and each year I enjoy painting it. This time I was going for a more abstracted feel with soft, soothing beautiful colors and just the tease of a bent post-it note.
I hope all the rain we’ve had this winter will help it continue to produce fabulous blooms! This painting is available in my DPW gallery.
I love the way the petals range from pink to blue to lavender from the soft yellow when they first sprout. Below is a photo of the setup.
Sketching before breakfast again. This time with peaches, bananas and a favorite wonky ceramic cup full of stuff, just as they were found on table. Looking to simplify with abstract shapes and happy colors.
And more random stuff on the table on another morning during the kitchen remodel, always a notepad on the table to keep track of everything going on.
I was attracted to draw Fasyali (above), by the photo he posted on the Sktchy App because he just looked like such a nice person and I loved his bow tie and ears. I drew it first in one of the pencils on Procreate and then added a layer of color beneath the pencil so it colorize the sketch.
Below is another sketch from a fun photo of Paolo in the Sktchy app.
I love the way digital selfies make noses and ears so prominent. They’re so fun to draw.
I drew Ernest from his photo on the Sketchy App with Procreate’s “Ink Brush” on my iPad and then superimposed it on a photo of the package of lox I had for my breakfast. I was inspired by how pretty the smoked salmon looked on it’s gold packaging and thought it would look nice under his rough hewn face.
Below is the original drawing before I added the salmon layer.
Above is my lovely plastic skull replica I named Morton Skullman with a bouquet of hydrangeas from my garden in my grannie’s milk glass vase. I’m continuing to experiment with simplifying light and dark and abstraction.
LOL! I just realized that Morton’s nickname, “Mort” means “DEAD” in French!
Below is Mort with a cantaloupe that’s bigger than his head and below that is Mortie wearing Grandpa Simon’s old fez from his days as a Mason.
Back to the series of sketches at the dining room table before (and sometimes after) breakfast. I have struggled to find the planes on lemons. Yes, I know they are spherical, not rectangular, but being able to break objects down into planes really helps to figure out where the light is hitting, where it is turning away from the light so the values become more clearly understood.
Jana Bouc, Artist 