Sunday, February 17, 2008

A Towel, Popcorn, and an Experiment

I bet you thought this post was going to be about some crazy homeschool science experiment. Nope. Sorry to let you down but this is just me catching up with the Everyday Matters weekly challenges.

The towel is for Everyday Matters challenge # 157, draw a towel. This is one of our old, well worn, hand towels. I can say "old" because I recently purchased new sets of bathroom towels for our home. We were way overdue. There's nothing like a new fluffy towel to offer a feeling of luxury.

Here is challenge #158, draw a piece of popcorn. Popcorn is very challenging to draw but I had fun with this one. I actually covered the area with graphite first and then used a kneaded eraser to 'draw' in the popcorn shape. Then went back with my usual mechanical pencil to enhance the shadows and form.

Both drawings are graphite in my usual hand.book journal.




And now for my experiment. I have been seeing some incredible drawing lately done with Derwent's Graphitint pencils. So I added a set of 12 to my latest art supply order, just to try them out. After making the color swatches in my larger Aquabee sketch book to see what these pencils will do I sketched my wallet for the Everyday Matters challenge #3, purses, wallets, or bags. Despite problems with perspective I enjoyed drawing with these pencils and their subtle color palette. Then I tried washing my drawing with water, and well, you can see that is where I went too far. Of course, restraint with watercolor is what I don't have and exactly what is needed for a successful watercolor sketch. But it was fun anyway. And I'll keep experimenting with the Graphitints and my Faber-Castell watercolor pencils as I'd love to get comfortable enough with them for sketching landscapes.

And for those still wanting a science experiment I am sorry I don't know of one using a towel and popcorn but I did find this, making glue from milk. (note - I have not actually tried this experiment and cannot vouch for its success, but it does look interesting.) Have fun!

14 comments:

Sherry Pierce Thurner said...

Brava for finishing three challenges! I am intrigued by the idea of covering an area with graphite and then lifting out the whites. I have never tried that. I have experimented with Graphitints though, and I also find them interesting to use, especially for landscape work.

Sherry

andrea joseph's sketchblog said...

Nice work. The towel is gorgeous. Soft and fluffy.

blog queen said...

Wow! I love the towel, but all of your drawings are fantastic.

Unknown said...

Hey Ann, I tried your popcorn technique with the EDM paper bag challenge. Fun to do. Nice to try something different, too. Love the fluffiness of your towel, that hits you right away. I have not heard of the graphitints before. Intriging! As for making glue from milk... The simple life was not so simple!...a good experiment for pioneer study maybe? LOL -- a fellow homeschooler.

Rita said...

Nice job with all the sketches Ann! I too have seen some excellent work done with the Graphitints, I hope you'll share more of your experiments with us! :)

Anonymous said...

Ann - The textures on all the drawings are superb.

Unknown said...

These are beautiful, I love the colors of he graphitint pencils too..very usual colors

seesue said...

ohh, the lushness of that TOWEL! That's the soft, fluffy towel that I WANT to draw. grin

Shelly McC said...

Wonderful drawings!

Dee said...

This is a great post, Ann!! Putting things together that have absolutely nothing to do with each other and making the 'come and check me out' title. Cool!!! Great attention getter. Nice drawing job too!

Serena Lewis said...

Lovely work, Ann! That towel looks so soft and fluffy.

Lynn said...

I always enjoy what you draw for the EDM challenges, and these are lovely. Interesting technique for the popcorn.

Laurel Neustadter said...

Both the towel and popcorn are fantastic.

Ann said...

Wow! You all are so kind! Thank you so much for stopping by - I wish I could respond to each of you individually but time just got away from me this week. It is so encouraging to get all these great comments, thank you all so much :)

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