Eye Sketch

Eye Sketch - 19cm x 19cm - Sanguine

OK, this was quick, it was fun. I was trying to draw an eye, any eye, from memory. The eye is so intricate and there are so many planes that are easily overlooked even when drawing from life. For some strange reason, I like this eye. Done in Sanguine. Not the best medium for detailed work on a small scale, but what the heck, it got the juices flowing.

Experiments with drawing with Conte chalks

Full size portrait - Christina MacLeod

Well, today I really got down to it. I finally started drawing again. After my broken finger episode and annoyingly dark days this Winter over the weekend, I have found a sunny day. I am on leave from work for two weeks, so it is wonderful to relax and just draw. All these drawings I will be doing for the next few months are experiments with a new style of academic drawing that I am trying out. Needless to say, there is a lot of work to be done and a lot of this was done in haste. It is not the most useful thing to draw from a photograph but I don't have a live model, and I suppose that practicing a technique calls for any inspiring object to copy - and my grandmother, Christina, was very beautiful and inspiring.

Head and Shoulders - Christina MacLeod

Here she is in a close up - head and shoulders version. I found this technique of using white and black conte on blue paper rather difficult. I decided to have a go based on some 'lessons' I had found on the web on how these classical academic drawings were created. It's fascinating and I am still very much a beginner in this regard and, in this experiment, I found out that I needed soft and hard chalks, as well as some conte pencils for the fine work. But, even though the likeness of my grandmother is very dim, I am happy with it. The likeness could have been closer if I had finer pencils to do the detailed work around the eyes.

Close up of Head - Christina MacLeod

I thought I would include this close up of the head to remind myself just how difficult it is to reveal those gradual nuances of the planes of the face and the details of the eyes. Photographs really do reveal the mistakes as well as make the work probably look more beautiful than it is - a funny dichotomy. It is so dark outside now, and it is only 15.45 here in London, UK. What would artists like me give for a little bit more sunshine to get more work done? It is absolutely impossible to paint or draw under electric lighting. So, that's it from Anne C M Campbell and the Drawing Vault for today! Tomorrow, sunlight permitting, I will be getting out my paints and hopefully putting up some work on my other blog - Painting Vault. Clouds, clouds, go away.

Some More Drawings

While I am in the mood for starting this drawing blog, I thought I would download some drawings I made when I was taking a Life Drawing class at Heatherley's College in 2003. For some reason or another, I just like this drawing. My only apology is for the quality of the photography. I have so much to learn with taking photographs of artwork, that it beggars belief, but if I hold myself back
for lack of expertise I will never get this
blog going.



Here is another visual of the same drawing, but in close up, which I feel works better than the large one. See if you agree.

Tomorrow, with a bit of focus, I will be doing more drawings worthy of framing with the Anne C M Campbell signature.

The Start.....Old Drawings

I thought I would start this drawing blog with an old favourite drawing of mine. Not really a drawing, but a drawing and watercolour. It is old, from C1973. It has been with me all those years and has stood the test of time. Maybe it was the first artwork that Anne C M Campbell framed all those years ago.....