A Sketch Blog Recording my Attempts to Render Pretty Feminine Faces in Pencil with Occasional Use of Charcoal, Crayon, and other Artistic Media

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Short on time for sketch viewing? See the first 272 (or so) sketches I've posted in a 34 second music video!

Sketch #242

The woman in this sketch struck me as a little old-fashioned looking, so I went with grayscale to emphasize that aspect.

Ted

Sketch #241: "Julia thru the Julia Set"

I used the Julia set fractal to create a sort of "thru the window" effect for this sketch after scanning it.

Ted

Sketch #240

I was going for the "exaggerated hairdo" look with this sketch. I think I succeeded :)

Ted

Sketch #239

Here's another sketch which started as a "normal" drawing and ended up as a tracing. I also (obviously) added some color and did a fair amound of digital editing on it.

Ted

Sketch #238: "Rose"

I thought the title "Rose" appropriate for this sketch given the tint I gave it after scanning (and timely as well, since a rose goes well with the first day of spring). She may bear some resemblance to the subject in my previous post as I traced over that drawing to create this one. I think I made enough changes, however, (intentional and otherwise) that similarities between the two are limited. Possibly sisters, but definitely not twins.

Ted

Sketch #237

I did a fair amount of experimentation with various filters and lighting effects after scanning this sketch, softening the original sketch a bit and adding a little more atmosphere.

Ted

Sketch #236

I thought the previous sketch really had some areas where it could stand improvement so I tried tracing it and making some changes (switching to a close-eyed smile look among others). Due in part to my lesser familiarity with the very different properties of tracing paper it took a couple of tries to get one I was willing to post. I thought it produced a look rather different from my usual sketches, more abstract in some ways, but perhaps more realistic in others, almost like a watercolor.

Ted

Sketch #235

I lightened this sketch up quite a bit after scanning. One of the blessings of living in this digital age is that I don't have to worry about how light or dark I draw the sketch. It's the relative lightness or darkness of the various components of the sketch with which I need to concern myself :)

Ted

Sketch #234

This is the first profile I have posted recently. It is not the first that I've drawn recently, but the others turned out way too awful to post :)

Ted

Sketch #233

Although it was tempting to add some color to this sketch after scanning it into the computer, I resisted as I thought the original (mostly) grayscale suited it well enough that it was best left as is. I was pleased to see that the contrast between the subject and background turned out better than has often been the case for me.

Ted

Sketch #232

This post is actually a tracing I made from a sketch which I thought had some nice aspects but also some serious flaws (too short a nose and too wide in part of the face). Tracing had its own challenges. The paper is more fragile and smearing tends to be worse, but I am happy to say that the result turned out to be a distinct improvement over the original in this case.

Ted

Sketch #231

She has a few imperfections and is perhaps in need of a haircut, but overall I'm reasonably happy with the way the woman in this sketch turned out. As is often the case for me, quite a few adjustments, erasures, and re-drawings were involved. I'm glad that the sketch paper I use (Strathmore) is able to take a little punishment :)

Ted

Sketch #230

Whereas yesterday's sketch looked best to me in grayscale, I thought today's was one best presented with a red tint.

Ted

Sketch #229

I played with the lighting a bit after scanning this sketch, but refrained from any color manipulations (such as in Saturday's sketch). I think this one just looks better in grayscale.

Ted

Sketch #228: "Golden Dreams"

A somewhat abstract sketch of a woman smiling in the sunshine. Spring is just around the corner :)

Ted