Topic: Cat drawings: critique requested (Read 5802 times)

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #25 on:** January 19, 2007, 23:20:26 PM »

Yes thats the way I would have done it LOL.

We had art classes at school but it was heres a piece of paper some paints and brushes and paint halloween, we never got taught how to do any thing. Never heard of still life till I left school.

However dont like still life as in veggies LOL or even people but I want to be able to draw anything so I guess we need go through the processes and thennnnnnnnnnnnnnnn maybe I will be able to do the things I really want, well. I can hope

I not clever enough to learn it without help, so these classes are my salvation cos i can do some drawing now and couldnt do that in September.

Reynard · « **Reply #24 on:** January 19, 2007, 23:04:32 PM »

Quote from: Gill (sneakiefeline) on January 19, 2007, 19:14:11 PM

I am doing year one of both classes but some in our watercolour class are in year two art and saw a picture drawn by one of them on Wed and it was a dogs head in pen and brilliant. Snag with pen is that once making a mark, that is it, you cant change it and she had done it without a any mistake that I could see. So we got that to come next year

You draw it faintly in pencil first, then go over it in ink, then rub all the pencil marks out!

Quote from: Gill (sneakiefeline) on January 19, 2007, 19:14:11 PM

I am fed up of doing vegetables lol and we have moved to flowers and portraits and I think a horse is next week.

That's why I didn't really like art classes at school!

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #23 on:** January 19, 2007, 19:14:11 PM »

I gonna stick with the traditional oil paints cos I love the smell LOL. We will be doing acrylics and oil next year but this year we are drawing in pencil, pen, crayon, watercolor pencils, pastels and charcoal.

We are doing pen and wash next week in watercolour and we get demostrations of how to do things and then we do some but everyweek its something different cos its called an access class which gives credits at end of year which could be used to get into college, not that any of us are thinking of that.

Its two hours for each class every week and we had a months break at Christmas which was terrible, cos its so nice to be with others all doing this.

We have learnt so much since the beginning but watercolour is very hard and we have a long way to go.

I am doing year one of both classes but some in our watercolour class are in year two art and saw a picture drawn by one of them on Wed and it was a dogs head in pen and brilliant. Snag with pen is that once making a mark, that is it, you cant change it and she had done it without a any mistake that I could see. So we got that to come next year

We will be doing a pastel landscape in a couple of weeks that teach says will take about 3 weeks to complete so it should be really good.

I also find it very relaxing but the water colour I did last week was like fighting world war 3 and it was great when it was finished! Wish current one was going better!

I am fed up of doing vegetables lol and we have moved to flowers and portraits and I think a horse is next week.

Its a great learning experience and when something comes out fairly good it is wonderful

Reynard · « **Reply #22 on:** January 19, 2007, 18:56:46 PM »

I usually work in pastels Gillian, but I fancied a bit of a change. Swapping mediums occasionally gives a fresh outlook on things and as I'm at a mate's for a while, the pencils are more readily portable. What I do love about soft pastels though is being able to blend and shade with my fingers. Oil pastels can be fun too.

Sometimes I dabble with oil paints proper, but again, I can't say I'm very good with them. Plus it's a bit stinky as I have the traditional pigments. Have too much money invested in the paints to bin them and get the new water soluble ones.

Gillian Harvey · « **Reply #21 on:** January 19, 2007, 18:36:08 PM »

Oh yes, I can relate to the enjoyment and relaxtion part - when I did my pastel drawing class, for just 2 hours on a Friday morning - I could forget about everything else and just focus on drawing - pure bliss!

Yes, I 've seen the water soluble pencils in the SAA catalogue and wondered about them, but I'm really sold on pastels at the moment. I did art at school, got my art o-level (yes, long time ago!) and then did nothing with it until recently when I took up pastels. I did briefly have a go with watercolours - but my painting looked like a child had done it! I think I'm better with pastels

Reynard · « **Reply #20 on:** January 19, 2007, 18:25:38 PM »

Quote from: Gill (sneakiefeline) on January 19, 2007, 17:48:53 PM

Noooooooooooo Witty it was for me, just hadnt associated name with water till you said LOL. So you can put foot down cos it must taste horrible

Naw, but I think I'm going to need the help of a chiropractor tho...

The classes do sound like fun, Gill.

I think that art is more about the enjoyment and relaxation that I get from the creative process rather than the actual end result anyway. But when I get something spot on, there's always that sense of achievement which has me reaching for the celebratory chocolate. Hence the need for the chiropractor to un-pretzel me...

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #19 on:** January 19, 2007, 17:48:53 PM »

Noooooooooooo Witty it was for me, just hadnt associated name with water till you said LOL. So you can put foot down cos it must taste horrible

I started doing a drawing class and a watercolor class in Sep and they are great. I havent touched a paintbrush for 25 yrs and was self taught tooooo but pretty useless. The water colours are really hard and the drawing is coming better, I think.

I thought maybe I had got a bit of the hang of water colours last week but I dont think so cos current masterpiece not very good

I am wasting even more time now with a sketch pad or something on the go all time

Em · « **Reply #18 on:** January 19, 2007, 16:46:26 PM »

MEANT to say: Fab drawings!! They really capture the cattiness...

Em · « **Reply #17 on:** January 19, 2007, 16:44:50 PM »

Never got the hang of watercolours either - always preferred acrylics as they're sooo versatile...

Having said that, I've not lifted a paintbrush for years now unless it's to decorate a house, so I'll shut up now...

Reynard · « **Reply #16 on:** January 19, 2007, 16:37:10 PM »

Gill, was that

meant for me? Well I do have an alarming tendency to put foot in mouth and then run out of feet...

My appologies if I stated the obvious a bit too obviously.

I'm just rather klutzy with brushes, whether that's with water, oils, etc. Prefer using things that give me more control over the results e.g. pencils, pastels & charcoal. Things like cotton buds or those rolled paper sticks really do help.

I'm also faaaaaaaaaaar too messy with paint, especially if Toby decides to help me!

Sorry for being nosey Gill, but do you take art classes? I'm entirely self taught - well, apart from three courses on engineering drawing that I took in my undergrad days. Art teacher at school never seemed interested in what I did as I never drew bowls of fruit or vases of flowers.

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #15 on:** January 19, 2007, 14:31:46 PM »

Aquarelle--water

LOL yes I know bout watercolor pencils but havent got the hang of em yet. Watched my teach using them ob Wed but she makes everthing look easy hissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!

Thanks Witty for the tips and I know about too much water and too little water but getting it right is artform all of its own

Reynard · « **Reply #14 on:** January 18, 2007, 22:57:43 PM »

The Siamese is based on my best mate's cat, tho that is a blue point. I prefer the darker points myself, hence the change...

Aquarelle pencils are colour pencils that are water soluble - they're also sometimes marketed as artists's pencils or watercolour pencils. You use them as you'd use ordinary coloured pencils (which I often do) and you can blend them dry using a wad of kitchen roll or a finger, but you can also blend them using water.

There's two ways of doing that. One is to dip pencil in water and then use and the other is to dry blend your shades and then use something wet to give a watercolour effect. Personally I use both mixing methods, but if I'm using water (like I did with these drawings) I avoid using a brush to blend as I'm klutzy with brushes and always pick up too much water. Instead, I use a damp cotton bud, picking up the moisture from wet kitchen roll. (I fold a sheet, stuff it in a jam jar lid and dribble water on it till it's wet but not dripping.) To be honest, all you need is a slight dampness to be able to blend the pencils like paint. And it's a lot less messy than paint or pastel.

The pencils I use are Bruynzeel but AFAIK you can't get them in the UK - mum brings them over from Belgium for me. I guess the brands you should be able to get here are Caran D'Ache, Daler & Rowney and Derwent. Best place to get them is an art shop - you don't have to buy a whole tin, you can just get the shades you want which is kind of handy.

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #13 on:** January 18, 2007, 22:25:10 PM »

I was wondering about the aqurelle pencils too.

Ellie · « **Reply #12 on:** January 18, 2007, 21:08:14 PM »

Hi Witty I remember your drawings from CC and these are just as FANTASTIC

I wish I had half your talent

The Siamese is super

Gillian Harvey · « **Reply #11 on:** January 18, 2007, 15:53:03 PM »

Hi Reynard,
Very good work, I particularly like the Siamese. Well at least you DID actually draw the whiskers - when I showed my pastel drawings of a couple of cats - I had forgotten to draw them in on one of them!

What are the aquarelle pencils like to use? I've not tried them.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #10 on:** January 18, 2007, 07:44:08 AM »

Wow!! I would love to be able to draw!!

Reynard · « **Reply #9 on:** January 17, 2007, 22:13:04 PM »

Thanks folks, you are all too kind.

I am glad you like them, especially since art is, as Sue P says, very much a matter of taste.

Gill, the whiskers are done in pencil - I use something like a 3H but don't put much pressure on the lines. As these are photos of the originals rather than scans, they don't show up particularly well since the flash drowns out the faint lines.

Anyways, I finished the Siamese and had a go at a Havana Brown - both attached below.

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BellaBengals · « **Reply #8 on:** January 17, 2007, 11:00:54 AM »

They are brill...i love the 1 of the blue/white bi colour

You have a true talent

Michelle (furbabystar) · « **Reply #7 on:** January 17, 2007, 10:36:27 AM »

I think they are fantasic -

Fancy doing some of my babies ? lol

Duncan and Findlay · « **Reply #6 on:** January 17, 2007, 10:26:26 AM »

Quote from: Fiona2 on January 17, 2007, 09:16:20 AM

I like these especially the second one, you say it's not quite finished but I like the sketchy loose feel of this

Gotta agree here. You say it's not finished, but in a styled way - it is. Hair and animals are very difficult to do, so well done for being brave and having a go anyway.

M.

Fiona2 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 17, 2007, 09:16:20 AM »

I did graphic design years ago and am a bit arty, I like these especially the second one, you say it's not quite finished but I like the sketchy loose feel of this, sometimes people can overwork drawings and they loose a certain something.
great stuff, let us see more

Sue P (Paddysmum) · « **Reply #4 on:** January 17, 2007, 07:03:31 AM »

Well, as the saying goes "I don't know Art but I know what I like..." and I like these Witty.

Iluvcritters · « **Reply #3 on:** January 17, 2007, 04:13:27 AM »

Love the first one beautiful oriental face!

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #2 on:** January 17, 2007, 00:05:24 AM »

I want to be able to this.......I think they great. I love the eyes of the first one.

The only comment I will make and I am having a problem with this, is where are the whiskers?

I have a prob cos all my cats have white whiskers and i cant figure out how to do white whiskers against white!

Reynard · « **Reply #1 on:** January 16, 2007, 23:24:39 PM »

As some of you folks already know, drawing & painting is a bit of a hobby of mine - something I dabble at in the evenings. My usual subjects are racing cars and portraits but I've been working on a couple of cat drawings these last couple of days.

One is a blue bicolour longhair (finished) and the other is a seal tortie Siamese (not quite completed); both are worked in a mixed medium of graphite and aquarelle pencils on white paper.

What I'd like is just a good honest opinion on these. Have I captured the cats correctly?

Comments and critiques welcome as always.

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Author Topic: Cat drawings: critique requested (Read 5802 times)