Drawing doesn’t come easy for me but I am amazed how just a little practice can improve my skills.
I am taking Carla Sonheim’s year long online class called, “Y is for Yellow.” You can find out more about it here: http://www.carlasonheim.com/2016-y-is-for-yellow/
Lately, I have been drawing LOTS of animals. One of the exercises that helps me to really SEE an animal is to draw with my non-dominant hand. Here are a couple of my pages:
After drawing the animal with my left hand – which takes quite a bit of concentration, I draw it with my EYES CLOSED! I have to say that my eye-hand coordination is starting to improve – here are a couple of my pages from my third day of practice:
The bird on the right is a Flamingo if the legs don’t give it away! hehe!
The other drawing I have been doing is called “smudgies.” I define the head and the body of the animal with soft pastels and smudge it. Simple details are added with pencil to complete it. I have to say that I like this exercise the best! Here are a couple pages:
I hope you give some of these drawing exercises a try and tell me what you think!
Happy Drawing! 🙂
Jill's Art Journal 
I have looked at her classes but practice is the best thing ever. I look back at my things from just a year ago and see an improvement just by doing something every day. I want to draw realistically but also don’t want to lose the ability to just draw fun simple things. The best thing I ever did was stop looking at my lines and start looking at darks and lights. These are really fun and I can tell what they all are lol.
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Yes, I agree with you, Suz! Practice helps the most! 😄 Glad you found a way to draw that helps you. 😍🎨👍🌟
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These are fun! Worth a try I think…(K)
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Yes! I think they are fun! At first, I really struggled with them but the more I do them, I start to really enjoy the exercises. 😃
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Fun exercises!
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Thanks Jodi! Yes, I’m learning so much! 😄
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What wonderful practice and drawing out of the box, thanks for sharing your progress. I like the drawings with your eyes closed. 😌
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Thanks Sharon! ❤️ These can be quite hilarious sometimes! 😜
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We need hilarious!
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Woo, love that frog Jill! I find looking at the negative space helps me a lot. Especially when I first sit down and getting loose. The angle of the first line for me is pretty key so I always look at the shape on the other side of the line in the reference and see if it looks similar or do I need to adjust the angle. Good for you, keep rolling, lady! 💛
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I really enjoyed hearing your process, Laura! I’d love if you could demo that on your blog sometime! 😃 Yes, seeing the negative space helps me too but I had not thought about the angle of the first line. Good tip! 👍🎨🌟
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Sure, I’d love to do that. Remind me if I forget, Jill. Maybe this weekend? Not sure, we have an actual snowstorm headed this way, lol. (We’ve only had a trace of snow all year so far – it’s all gone to you hehe).
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That would be awesome if you shared your process, Laura! Thank you! 😃 Yes, we still have LOTS of snow on the ground but we so needed it! ❄️💙❄️
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Those are terrific exercises and you did a wonderful job with them! Another thing to do, which I’m sure you’ve learned already, is to draw something upside d0wn so it doesn’t look like one’s preconceived notion. I find that very hard, too. 🙂
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Thanks Teresa! 😃 Yes, drawing upside down – especially faces helps me but it isn’t easy! 😜
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I know it! It hurts my brain to do it. 😉 x
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LOL! 🙂
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I really like you drawings. I also visited Carla Sonheim’s website. Thank you for the link. I really like her what she does and what you are doing!
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Thanks Carmel! I love Carla’s teaching style! 😄 She makes drawing fun! Have you ever tried to draw with your non-dominant hand?
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Jill, I have not. I will give it a try. I just love her style. You are into a good thing. I am knee deep into a watercolor class so need to focus but really enjoy seeing your work. I bookmarked her website. Thanks again for sharing!
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I understand- it is hard to do it all! Lol! 😜
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What fun! I need to try these exercises!! Your results are fantastic Jill! 💕💕😃 I love seeing your explorations. They’re inspiring!!
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They are fun, Charlie! 😃 I think the eyes closed one really is an eye-opener! Lol! 💖💕🌟
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Haha!! So true! 😃👍🏻 I’ll have to try it!
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great exercises! Love the pen drawings, simple but effective and fun! xo Johanna
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Hi Johanna! Glad you like them! 😄💖xo
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