Tag: challenge

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January Sketchbook Challenge

Sketchbook Challenge – Day 19

For today’s prompt: Draw an open book!

Previously you drew a stack of books. Now today, choose one book. Maybe it is your favorite one to date, or the most influential in your life.

If you can, try to find a book that fans out with a good amount of pages. The picture above is a good example. 

Play with looking at it from different angles, then decide on one to sketch from. This prompt will help you strengthen your ability to see your subjects better. Look at the angle of how the pages lie. Try to see where there are darker and broader lines versus thin, softer lines. When it comes to drawing, learning to see is key. And, you get better at seeing when you start to look. I mean, really look. Sketching ordinary objects are great for this. Actually, taking the time to sketch anything, in my opinion, helps you to starting seeing more. 

So, find a book. Open it up. Look at it from different angles and try to capture the depth, the variance in lines and values. 


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January Sketchbook Challenge

Sketchbook Challenge – Day 18

For today’s prompt, let’s honor a hero – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

He stood for peace, for love, for togetherness. So, for today, in your sketchbook, draw something that inspires just that – love, peace, togetherness.

Today’s prompt is very broad in scope. So if it helps, here are some ideas:

  1. Draw MLK or some snapshot from his life.
  2. Draw something or someone that inspires love, peace, togetherness. 
  3. Draw something that you dream and hope for.
  4. Or, play with typography. Ink or paint a quote from either Dr. King or another quote that encapsulates the ideas mentioned above (love, peace, togetherness).

After sketching it, send it into the world, and let’s fill social media with messages and images of hope, love, and peace. 

What do you say? 

Happy birthday, Dr. King. Thank you for sharing your dream so that we can do better.

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January Sketchbook Challenge

Sketchbook Challenge – Day 16

Yesterday, we played with contrast by sketching something light in a dark environment. For today, we are going to reverse that.

Today’s prompt: Sketch a dark object in a light environment.

Again, feel free to go the literal or metaphorical route.

If you chose the literal route for both, reflect on the two sketches for a moment. 

Was one more challenging than the other? Why? Did you have to change how you saw your object?

As a challenge, try not to just block in the dark object in a flat black. Try to find a way to create the darker tones within that object. 

Happy sketching!

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January Sketchbook Challenge

Sketchbook Challenge – Day 15

Today’s prompt: Sketch a light object in a dark environment.

You can take this one of two ways: One is literal, while the other way being metaphorical. Choose whichever you would like to explore.

For the literal route, see if you can capture the tonal range and the stark contrast of the light vs. the dark. Maybe even challenge yourself to see the richness of the darks. Trying capturing them rather than blocking out the background in a flat black.

For the metaphorical route, perhaps you will explore what brings you light during dark times. 

Here is a quote I love from Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings: “It is the everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love.

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January Sketchbook Challenge

Sketchbook Challenge – Day 13

 

Today’s prompt! Draw something from your pantry!

Will it be a can of soup? Or, how about a classic– A box of macaroni and cheese?

Whatever you choose, again, set it on a flat surface to give it perspective! If you do choose something round, try curving the lines slightly as you shade around the edges.

Let’s fill a pantry of our own with sketches!

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January Sketchbook Challenge

Sketchbook Challenge – Day 12

Today’s prompt: Draw your shoes or one shoe!

Find one that is your favorite, or one that rarely gets picked to step out into the world. 

It can be simple or elaborate with long laces and fine stitching.

A helpful tip?

Look at the overall shape. Start with the contour lines.

See the shoe as an object built shape by shape. Are there circles, ovals, rounded rectangles?

In other words, try not to draw the shoe by ‘seeing’ the shoe as a whole. Try drawing the shoe by noticing the shapes of the spaces within– the shapes of the sole, the toe, and the shapes shadows make. Break the whole into those smaller shapes and place them where they fit in relation to the overall outline of the shoe.

Remember, a sketchbook is a place for practice and mistakes. It is not a place for finished pieces that you put up for sale. Well, maybe you get lucky every now and again, but do remember that is not the first purpose of a sketchbook.

Give yourself permission to draw a very wonky shoe today.

Let’s draw!

Autumn

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January Sketchbook Challenge

Sketchbook Challenge – Day 11

 

Today’s Prompt: Draw a mysterious doorway or staircase.

One thing of many that I found striking when traveling abroad is how differently doors, doorways, entryways appear. 

When my husband and I traveled to Malta, we were immediately enamored by the narrow, brightly covered front doors of the dwellings that only had about a foot clearance to the main road. 

Each door was incredibly inviting and stood out among the stone walls. They were beautiful and were works of art in and of themselves. 

This care taken with front entries suggested that behind this door there lies more than meets the eye. That you must enter because if you don’t, you will miss out on an adventure, on new insights, on a sprinkle of magic. And, you have a choice! Will it be the red door with the narrow slots at the top? Or, maybe the weathered blue door with raised wooden panels and touches of black filigrees? 

I loved this about Malta, and many other places I visited. It’s welcoming and enchanting. 

So today, draw a mysterious or ornate doorway. You can always use a door in your own dwelling and add to it! Or maybe you will search online for ‘mysterious doorways’ and work from an image. If you want, you can work from the image in this post! 

And, if you feel so inclined, add a little caption or story that hints at what is behind the door or up the staircase.

-Autumn

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January Sketchbook Challenge

Sketchbook Challenge – Day 9

Today’s prompt is Random. 

Look around your dwelling and find some random object you have lying around. Is it a figurine, a random sock without a match? 

Maybe you have forgotten how you acquired it. Maybe you have no idea why you really keep that random thing. But, somehow you just can’t seem to let it go.

If the word random doesn’t spark an object to sketch today, then what does it symbolize for you? Maybe random is an idea or a person. Did anyone randomly send you a letter? Call you?

Whatever the first thing is that comes to mind when you think of the word random, try to capture it on the page. 

Find some rest and treat yourself today,

Autumn

 

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January Sketchbook Challenge

Sketchbook Challenge – Day 7

Scroll through your photographs from your phone or device of your choice. Keep scrolling until you find one that sparks you. Use that photo as inspiration for today’s page. 

Try not to feel overwhelmed by the entire photograph. If it helps, pick one object or aspect from the photo to focus on in your sketch. 

It might help to pick something with high contrast – something with clearly defined highlights, mid-tones and shadows. But it’s not a deal breaker. 

If you don’t see anything you like, scroll Instagram or Facebook and borrow an inspiration image from someone else!

Happy Sketching!

-Autumn

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January Sketchbook Challenge

Sketchbook Challenge – Day 6

Let’s practice more of our observational drawing skills!

Grab a fork and/or a spoon and place them on a flat surface. (You can add the knife if you want.)

They can be metal or plastic –  any material will do. Feel free to draw one of the utensils or more. You can choose the perspective you want to draw from. For me, I like to draw from a side angle.

Draw the utensil(s) once or repeat the object to form a pattern and fill the frame. It’s really up to you.  

Again, you will want to sketch by having them grounded somewhere, thus the flat surface. This will help with the proportions and the shading. 

Add lines for volume and tonal ranges for shading. Choose a more realistic approach, or go with your imagination and turn them into something more! 

Remember to start with the contour lines of the overall shape and then add the details. You know, those little lines and hatching for shading.

If you are adding shading, try to achieve the highlights, the mid-tones, and the shadows. The darker tones are key to making the piece pop. Don’t be afraid to push those!

Experiment. Make mistakes. Fail. And, most importantly, have fun and keep your practice going!

Autumn