Early steps in art...

You pick up that pencil, yet something intangible is holding the graphite tip back from the pristine sketch paper. Can you do it? Do you have the eye, the heart, the interpretation? Can you share something worthwhile, even inspiring?

Many potential artists face this obstacle, and and some simply avoid trying for the sake of protecting themselves from the experience of failure. But truth be told, we must all be willing to fail a little. The adventure is worth all that it holds, and growth, strength and patience begin to mold you further, as you persevere and love what you do.

As with many endeavours, improvement in art seems largely to be giving much time to it and producing a lot of work... learning and practicing new techniques, and figuring out how to improve your weaker drawing/painting areas. Don't get discouraged! It's an incredibly rewarding and even relaxing pursuit. Sometimes it's as simple a matter as discovering different ways to use your art mediums or just getting to know them better.

So I will be sharing with you my early steps in art... Today, three sketches...

Sketched from a real pine cone, using cross-hatching for shading

 I started with a very light outline sketch (called blocking in) of the cone's shape, and then blocked in each individual cone "stalk". Then I began shading, first straight lines for the lightest shadows, then crosshatching for the darker areas, and finally cross-crosshatching for the very darkest areas. I used the side of my softest pencil (6B) to shade in the shadow.

A study on light and shading on a sphere...

As you will see, the darkest area of the object is just above the bottom edge, leaving a bright strip curving along where object meets table. This is because light is reflecting off the table back onto the sphere's bottom rim. This is a good principle to remember for drawing any similar objects.

This was to capture the sweet spirit (though not physical appearance necessarily)
of my childhood pony

And a piece in pastel...

From a photo of mini pumpkin bread
rolls

I think investing in good art materials is key to enjoying your work and producing satisfying results. And keep learning - how was that effect achieved? How do you draw hair? (here's a great link: http://www.elfwood.com/farp/theart/maeryhair/maeryhair.html) How do you create the sensation of light and shadow? What colours were used to create that rippling effect?

Fascinating stuff!