A Life in Lines: Exploring My Drawing Styles and Sketches
Sketching, drawing, and doodling have basically been my shadow since I was a kid. I was that student doodling in the margins of every notebook during class. Miraculously, I never got in trouble for it! I even remember being allowed to draw all over a wall in our apartment during a remodel. It felt like total freedom.
These days, I try to keep that energy alive. I make it a priority to hit up life drawing sessions every week. There is something so raw and exciting about capturing rough gestures from a live model in just a few minutes. But I also love cozying up at home to work on more detailed pieces. Whether I am sketching portraits, inventing fantasy characters, or jumping into the latest online art challenges, my sketchbook is rarely closed.
This section of the blog is a giant umbrella for all those scribbles and masterpieces. It is where I share my drawing styles, from the messy 30-second gestures to the polished character designs. I hope you enjoy browsing through my visual diary as much as I enjoyed creating it!
Drawings
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Gesture Drawing of Standing Female Figure
My favorite medium for gesture drawings is a thick willow charcoal stick. I like that it can be used to make either thin lines with the tip, or broad strokes with the side. This quick gesture drawing depicts female figure from a side with the legs crossed. This pose is quite difficult to portray as
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Standing Female Figure on Blue Paper
Normally, I use newsprint paper for gesture, but occasionally I feel like adding some color with toned paper. I used blue Canson Mi-Teintes paper for this drawing. However, I think it’s a little too dark for charcoal alone. Still, it’s a good practice and experiment!
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Drawing of Kia Leaning on a Stool
I don’t mention model’s name most of the time. However, as I look at these drawings, I realize that I recognize the models. So I’ll try to mention them from now on if that’s the case. I’m actually surprised, I recognize them as I never aim for likeness with these drawings. Rather, I try to
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Female Figure Sitting in the Chair
Here’s another sanguine drawing of a female figure. This time, she’s sitting in a chair. I like the upward direction the pose is giving to the drawing, but I’m not entirely happy with the chair perspective. Still, it’s a good practice drawing and I think I captured the gesture of the pose well. I used
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Sanguine Drawing of Sitting Female Figure
All of the previous gesture drawings I posted were done with charcoal. But here’s a sanguine drawing! Most of the time, I use willow or vine charcoal for gesture drawing. Occasionally, I use sanguine such as Pipo’s chalk or Conte. It is a less forgiving material, but I do like the look and it allows
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Standing Female Figure Looking to the Left, Drawing
I drew this gesture from live model in 2019. I used charcoal on light-gray paper. Depicted here is a standing female figure from the front. She’s looking to the left with her arms behind. She’s leaning on her right leg, which throws her hip to the side. I like the overall gesture of this pose.
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Leaning Female Figure Front, Charcoal Drawing
This is a gesture drawing of a female figure from the front leaning on a stool. I drew it 2019 from life model. It was probably a 20-minute pose as back then I didn’t have the habit of signing every drawing, and can’t be 100% sure. Looking at this drawing now, I see a lot
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Portrait Drawing Workshop 2018
I’ve been an artist my entire life, but I have never seriously considered drawing or painting people. I did try several times when I was in school, but I would not call those artworks a serious portrait. Ever since I learned about the Society of Figurative Arts, I have been challenging myself with more serious
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Plumeria – Botanical Copic Drawing
When I visited Sydney, Australia for the first time, I was mesmerized with plumeria flowers and decided to make a drawing of them. I never saw this tree bloom before, and its leaves looked familiar. Apparently, it’s just a look-a-like, but a completely different tree. It’s interesting how completely different things might look similar in
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Pears Copic Drawings
There was a time, when I never held a Copic in my hands. Thankfully, this was promptly changed by a wonderful gift from my hubby. The pear drawings presented here are my very first experiments with this wonderful medium. I immediately fell in love, and wanted to get more colors. It took me a while
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Reclining figure, charcoal drawing
This piece took me about 30 minutes, and I wish I had done it on a better paper. I used rough newsprint, and it’s not the best paper for longer poses. Still, I’m fairly satisfied with the results, especially considering that I didn’t get the best vantage point for this pose.
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Heroic, charcoal drawing
Sometimes, I think of characters from video games while drawing, and then I end up with something heroic ^_^