Daily Offerings by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Daily Offerings

5x7 

 copyright Leada Wood 2014

Bootman brought in his produce from the garden and laid them on the counter. Glowing with the sun's warmth...vivid colors...begging me to paint them! So I did. The hardest part of daily sketching is not piddling too long on the paper. Trying to keep the sketch fresh and not overworked, loose.  I used contour line with an orange watercolor pencil and then began laying in the local colors. The shadows came next with just a touch of calligraphy to define some edges.
I hope you enjoyed my daily offering.

#leadawoodart #mixedmedia #watercolor

                                                                   

Leada  Wood

 Live Joyfully!

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San Patricio, by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

                                                     

                                 La Inglesia de San Patricio by Leada Wood copyright 2014

I am still working in my sketchbook...trying to cultivate daily painting habits. This study was done from a photograph my brother took when we were visiting New Mexico. La Inglesia de San Patricio was built in 1875 and has been painted many times by artists and probably thousands of photograph have been taken there. I myself painted Plein air there several years back, and have wanted to revisit and paint the old church again.

A few tips I learned from Liz Steel, in sketchbook skool when drawing buildings:

See patterns

Spend time observing the overall shape

Look for the center line and other major divisions, important ledges, count windows, check proportions 

Look at details, draw them in the air. Then draw them on paper, individually so you know them.

All this is done in thumbnails before you sketch the building.

Then:

Do a setup of the overall shape and major divisions in watercolor pencil, are you happy with the proportions ? Correct as you go with pen and ink, make sure it is waterproof. Then paint with watercolor.

It really does help when you break it down and get to know the building. But remember it is a painting not a photograph so enjoy the wonkiness of your lines. It makes it more interesting and personal! 

I'm A Little Tea Cup by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

 I have been enjoying Liz Steel's class this final week of Sketchbook Skool. Liz is an architect and lives in Australia and has given us invaluable information on sketching fundamentals. She gets to know her subject, whether a tea cup or an amazing building, by drawing thumbnails and breaking them down into grids. Sure makes you see differently when you do this. That was what the whole skool was about...seeing. I think the more you sketch in your sketchbook, the more freeing it becomes and the better you see things. It trains your eye to take the subject in more quickly and to really look at the shapes and the lines.

I guess you might think that drawing a teacup and saucer looks fairly simple, but is in fact quite a challenge. Go ahead get yourself a pretty one out of the cupboard and give it a go! Who knows...it just might lead to a series.

copyright, Leada Wood, 2014

#leadawoodart #mixedmedia #watercolor

Leada  Wood

 Live Joyfully!

my website

galleries

Daddy's Keys, by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Daddy's Keys

 

 

copyright2014Leada Wood

 

 

 I have been doing Sketchbook Skool the past 5 weeks and one of this week's assignments was to do a drawing of a collection. I had a bunch of antique keys for clocks from my dad laying around, so I decided I would sketch these as a tribute to my parents.

 

Their anniversary was yesterday, August the 8th and they would have been married 65 years! My mom and dad had a jewelry store and they both repaired clocks and watches. Clocks hold a dear place in my heart as I was always around the chiming and heart beats of their steadfast ticking. Their continual ticking can still be heard in our home and the chiming of the hour. It will be a sad world when they are no more. Something about them is comforting...familiar...homey. 

 

This sketch was done with a Bic Velocity Gel pen in blue because it was my dad's favorite color. I leaned a lot from drawing with only a lowly ballpoint pen and think my shading got a little better toward the end of the drawing. I plan on drawing the keys again in some way with another medium.

 

One of the things I have enjoyed the most about Sketchbook Skool is that it reminded me of my love of drawing. I have also enjoyed seeing artist's work from around the world. It's a small world after all!

  

 

 

 

 This is their wedding day photo. Don't you just love old black and whites? 

 

 

 

 

 

#leadawoodart #mixedmedia #watercolor

Leada  Wood

 Live Joyfully!

my website

galleries



 

 



Drawing The Blues by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

I have been busy trying to absorb all the information coming at me the last five weeks in Sketchbook Skool, and keep up with all the assignments. It has been awesome! Artists from all over the globe have been sketching to their hearts content and sharing them online. It is awe inspiring to see all the wonderful work that everyone is doing.

This week I have been studying with Andrea Joseph from England. She does ezines and draws with ballpoint pens. This lesson was about drawing a page in our sketchbook of various objects all in one color ballpoint pen. Sound easy....well it is NOT! You have to learn the feel of the pen and how to make the lines so there will be value changes and shading. The humble ballpoint has a lot to teach me. It has been an interesting learning curve. This was my first go with the pen.

We also are learning to write creatively with our ballpoints. We wrote personal favorite quotes connecting each word and not lifting our pens and then embellished the words so they would pop and make the quote readable. Very tricky! You should give it a try...it's fun!