the Red Stone Art Blog: daily drawing challenge

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

30 Drawings in 30 Days! Part 2

Let's jump right back in with the second post about my 30 Drawings in 30 Days challenge! Here is a link to the first post, with days 1-10.

11. Draw something using crosshatching (drawn in pencil) This one was really interesting! I struggled a bit at first with my lines, then found a good rhythm. It doesn't help that I picked the shiny side of a pressed penny as my subject! In the end, I'm quite happy with how it turned out, and would love to use this technique in future drawings!

A photograph of a pencil drawing in a sketchbook. The drawing is of a smashed penny on a chain, shaded with crosshatching.

So shiny!

12. Draw a dragon (drawn with pencil, inked with pen, colored with multicolored colored pencil) Now this one was more my style! I had recently discovered a colored pencil with six different colors in one pencil in the depths of my supplies, and thought it would be the perfect way to give this fluffy dragon a magical sort of look!

A pen drawing in a sketchbook. The drawing is of a furry dragon with no wings, two front legs, and linear antlers. It's body swirls around itself, and it is shaded lightly with multiple colors.

I bet he smells like cookies.

13. Draw your non-dominant hand (drawn with pencil) Pretty sure it's a right of passage to have pages of hands drawn in your sketchbook. Maybe not. But hands are hard, which is why I always say "Practice, practice, practice!"

A photograph of a pencil drawing in a sketchbook. The drawing is of a relaxed left hand, palm to the viewer.

Welp, it's a hand.

14. A blind-contour drawing (drawn with a brush ink pen) Blind-contour drawing is when you don't pick up your pencil (or whatever you are using to draw with) until you are finished, and you also don't look at your paper, you only look at your subject. I did accidentally lift my pen in this drawing, you can see the broken line where it happened. I picked my daughter, Alex, as the subject for this one. She was watching TV on the couch a few feet away from me, and was a perfect still model! I love the way blind-contour drawings turn out, and should really do more of them.

A photograph of a pen drawing in a sketchbook. The drawing vaguely resembles a scribbled person sitting, with the notation "Alex watching TV".

You can kind of tell it's a person!

15. A motorized vehicle of some sort (drawn with pencil, inked with pens) I probably should have picked a car, as my car and truck drawing skills are MIA (missing in action - as you can see in the tiny sketch below) but instead I chose a Segway!

A photograph of a pen and ink drawing in a sketchbook. The drawing is of a white Segway machine.

I've never ridden one, have you?

16. A landscape of your choice (drawn with pencil, inked with pen, and colored with colored pencil) Of course a toaster was going to make an appearance at some point in this challenge!

A photograph of a pen and colored pencil drawing in a sketchbook on red fabric. The drawing is of a fantasy landscape, with black forks for trees, a lion in the clouds for a sun, and a single white toaster jumping in the air.

Be free, little toaster!

17. A drawing with pointillism for coloring/shading (sketched with pencil, drawn with markers) Another toaster?! This wasn't my favorite one so far, but it was interesting. I'd do more pointillism (using "dots" to create an image) in the future, I think.

An image of a marker drawing in a sketchbook. The image consists of multicolored dots, and forms an image of a stylized toaster.

Even the lines are dots!

18. A scene with single-point perspective (drawn with pencil, inked with pen) I had started off with this being a cityscape because I loooove cityscapes but after one side of flat, bland buildings I wanted this drawing to get wEiRd!

A photograph of a pen and ink drawing in a sketchbook. The drawing is of a lone figure, with a long strait road in front of them. On the right are large buildings. On the left is a giant chess board on it's side, with huge chess pieces. above the figure are clouds in the sky, but they are sideways instead of upright.

After 20 years, finally some proper surrealism!

19. A non-motorized mode of transportation (drawn with pencil) The whole point of this challenge was to try techniques/subjects I don't usually use in my art. We have proof that realism isn't my specialty (sorry again, Jessica!) but I do keep trying! For this one though, I wanted something a little more my style. And in the end, I really like how it turned out!

A photograph of a pencil drawing in a sketchbook. The drawing is of a unicycle, in cartoon style, moving quickly from right to left across the page. It has no rider.

I've never ridden one of these, either!

20. A non-scary monster (drawn with a soft brush pen) I had DC, a couple of toasters, a city... it only makes sense that I'd include one of my monsters as well! This time with classic reclining style!

A photograph of a pen drawing in a sketchbook. The drawing is of a stylized monster, with a round head and no facial features except large teeth. The figure is reclining, with the text "HEY..." above it's head. It has a heart on it's chest, and it's hand is forming the shape of a heart.

Oh my.

Well folks, we are two-thirds of the way through the challenge! Again, here is a link to days 1-10, and here is a link to the last set, days 21-30.

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

30 Drawings in 30 Days! Part 1

There are hundreds if not thousands of daily drawing prompts you can find online, all laid out nicely for months of creative inspiration and practice. Many of them consist of a single daily word that leaves all sorts of room for interpretation, like “red” or “enlighten.” I thought it would be fun to build a list of my own, and share the results. My goal was to stretch my artistic muscles a bit, so some of the prompts I came up with are very different from what I normally draw! This will be a three-part post, with ten prompts and images included in each post, in the end totaling up to 30. I started this on July 1st, 2022 (but Haley, aren't there 31 days in July? YES! And on the 31st, I took a break!)

A digital image, with a teal and salmon background. It lists 30 drawing prompts, one for each day of a 30 daily drawing challenge.

Let’s dive right in (pun intended) with 1. Mermaid/merman/aquatic person (drawn with pencil, inked with pens) This character is called Rema, and she's a water fairy from a fantasy story I've been rolling around in my head for a while. In this drawing, she's pregnant and about to birth her egg!

A photograph of a pen and ink drawing in a sketchbook. The drawing is of a pregnant water fairy, she is surprised.

Bloop, bloop!

2. Self-portrait in pajamas (drawn with pencils and gel pens) I'll admit, the first thing I reach for in the morning is my robe! I've probably mentioned this before, but every time I draw a self-portrait, I represent myself as this demon-cat-princess named DemoniCat (DC for short.) It's also how I sign all my artwork (prints get signed with my full name.)

A photograph of a gel pen drawing in a sketchbook. It is of a female demon-cat wearing a robe and looking sleepy.

Anyone else rock the robe life?

3. A cat/dog/domesticated animal (drawn with pencil) This is our Jack Russell terrier, Lola. She didn't sit still long enough for me to finish, but it's a pretty good likeness!

A photograph of an unfinished pencil drawing in a sketchbook. The drawing is of a Jack Russel terrier laying down.

She's a good pupper.

4. The view from your front door or window (drawn with pencil) Across from our house are some fields and a little wooded area where we regularly see wildlife - I don't usually draw landscapes, so this one was fun to do!

A photograph of a pencil drawing in a sketchbook. The drawing is of a scribbled wooded landscape.

No wild toasters, though.

5. Draw what your feet are currently doing (drawn with pencil) It's funny, but I didn't really consider what I do with my feet when I'm sitting - turns out I tuck my legs up on the couch, feet together, and cross my legs or ankles when I sit in a chair!

A photograph of a pencil drawing in a sketchbook. The drawing is of two feet, resting together on a couch. The words under the feet say "Snugglin' on the couch."

That one's lefty, this one is righty.

6. A portrait of a celebrity (drawn in pencil) Oh Jessica Alba, I am sorry! 😂 I know if I put in more time, I could continue to adjust her features and eventually get it right, I just didn't want to put in that much time. This is why I don't draw realistic portraits!

An image of a drawing on the left, with a screenshot on the right. The left is a picture of a pencil drawing in a sketchbook: it is a poorly proportioned portrait of Jessica Alba. The image on the right is the reference photograph of celebrity Jessica Alba.

It's okay to laugh, that's what I'm doing!

7. A piece of furniture (drawn with pencil, colored with markers) This is a tiny wooden rocking chair for my girls that used to be mine when I was their age!

A photograph of a marker drawing in a sketchbook. The drawing is brightly colored and quickly sketched, and is of a child sized rocking chair.

Heirloom status achieved!

8. A character from a book (drawn in pencil) I'm currently reading the Sword of Shannara trilogy, and this is how I picture the druid Allanon in my head.

A photograph of a pencil sketch in a sketchbook. The drawing is a hooded and cloaked figure sitting cross-legged in front of a small fire. The figure's face is shaded and his mouth is smirking slightly.

What does a campfire really look like?

9. Something in the style of Dr. Seuss (drawn in pencil, inked with pen, colored with crayons) I thought using my kids' crayons would be an appropriate medium for this one. This is a self-portrait of me, just finishing up a painting in my studio, when a mouse skittered past my bare feet (we found out it was a mouse when we caught it two days later, at the time it sounded like the size of a small dog!)

A photograph of a pen and crayon drawing in a sketchbook. The drawing is of a female demon-cat, wearing a multicolored dress and holding a phone. Something has run past her feet and scared her. It is drawn in the style of Dr. Seuss.

Nailed it!

10. A single leaf (drawn with pencil) I'm not sure if one segment of a Christmas cactus qualifies as a 'leaf' but it's what I chose! If I was to choose again, I think I'd pick a dried leaf from a tree, I think those just have more character.

A photograph of a pencil drawing in a sketchbook. The drawing is of a single segment of a Christmas cactus plant.

Pointy, yet soft!

There you have it, the first round of daily drawings! Here's a link to the second set of ten, and here's the post about the final ten.