Falling Peonies
February 8, 2017 § Leave a comment
I haven’t posted in quite some time. I’m afraid the the winter doldrums had set in. So here’s a colored pencil of peonies past their prime falling over one another.
Lauren Reading; Gesture and Blind Contour
November 18, 2016 § Leave a comment
I haven’t posted for some time now and so I thought I’d throw in a drawing of my daughter, Lauren using a quick gestural and sometimes blind contour.
Three different Vantage Points of a Floral
April 14, 2016 § Leave a comment
In this series of a floral setting, I chose to frame in different areas. In the first, I chose to look at a fully bloomed flower and its relationship to its budding elements.
In the second I explored how the composition played out in a horizontal format highlighting its repetitive qualities and creating a sense of motion.
In the third, I centered on the relationship the floral elements had to the surrounding space.
Using Contour as the Framework
January 24, 2016 § Leave a comment
I will be recommending books that I believe will help you along your journey of self discovery through drawing and will start with my book the Little Book of Drawing; a Friendly Approach. This book is unlike others in that it highlights the contour line as the framework for your personality and emotion, composition, and reveals form and depth. My drawing of Lauren illustrates the importance of the contour. Notice that my contour is unique with its curvilinear quality and quirkiness. Yours will be much different. By allowing your hand and pencil to become an extension of your eye, you lose your inhibitions and connect with the subject. This gradated pencil drawing allows that line or contour to show through.
Still Life in Pencil
January 14, 2016 § Leave a comment
This is a still life completed in pencil and was one of the first pieces in a series based upon the subject of reflection. Here, I inserted a small mirrored image of myself.
Dynamic Composition
June 25, 2015 § Leave a comment
This pencil drawing illustrates the creation of balance on the page. The fan like light leaves spread out over the dark foliage of leaves and stems. The light value of the leaves connects with the space and shadows around the plant providing a strong pathway from objects nearest to us and those furthest away. The result is a dynamic composition filled with dramatic movement
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Gradated Pencil Drawing of Persephone
June 18, 2015 § Leave a comment
Here’s another vantage point of the gradated pencil drawing of Persephone
Pairing the Contour with the Finished Gradation
June 11, 2015 § Leave a comment
In understanding the power of the contour to provide the framework for your finished work, it always helps to pair both. In seeing the lights and darks of the line drawing to inform you of the light source, point of focus, the layout of the composition and reveal your personality alongside the gradation based on that contour, it helps to clarify things. Here is the side view of Persephone in contour and gradation.
The Power of Telling our Stories
April 28, 2015 § 2 Comments
I am showing you a contour of a still life consisting of garlic. This tool does much of the work for you, It is revealing of form by demonstrating the light source, laying out your composition, and letting your personality pour out onto the page. This contour is part of a two drawing series that merely looks at a changing light source. Here are the gradations that were based on informative contour. We can begin to say more about our subject material when we examine ways to say something different about it. Here, we keep the placement of the still life the same and change the light source.
Garlic Still Life
April 8, 2015 § 2 Comments
I’m showing the informative nature of the contour as it provides the framework for the finished gradation of garlic and cloves. 
Notice how the contour allows you to reveal your thought process of compositional considerations, the light source, area of emphasis. Once you have determined those elements, you are free to keep your eye on the subject and allow your personality to flow out onto the page. At this point, I keep my eye on the subject, let my hand become an extension of the eye, and rarely look at the surface of the paper. The contour line moves from light to dark describing the three dimensional nature of the subject, the light source, and the storyline you have set forth. Notice how my contour is curvilinear in nature. Yours will be very different. You can find examples such as these in my book The Little Book of Drawing; a Friendly Approach. My teaching style is encouraging in nature and allows you to try different media, techniques, and to find your own personal style of story telling through drawing. 
Dr. Mary McNaughton and Drawing 